On Monday, June 6th, we had a very productive case study with Dr. Mike Simmons from the Wabash class of 1988. Our case study was over the Kindle Fire and the race to control the market of tablets in an up-and-coming technologically dominated world. Dr. Mike Simmons ’88 discussed what set the Kindle Fire apart from its competitors. We began to think more deeply about marketing and how Amazon successfully produced and sold the Kindle Fire at a lucrative rate. We discussed why you should understand and know your audience and use that to your advantage when marketing a product.
While discussing what it means to know your audience, Dr. Mike Simmons ’88 spoke on the marketing term PESTLE, which stands for political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental. He then explained that when you are trying to launch a product or service, you must know each of these things about the people you are marketing to because if there isn’t, there is a good chance that you can’t successfully sell and market your product/service. Not only did we discuss how knowing and targeting your market audience was but also knowing what was required and what sets you apart from other competitors trying to make it in the same field. One example from the group case study was to create a new e-reader at Amazon. They looked at all of the issues with others, such as slow page turning, limited storage, and poor screen lighting, and were able to create a product that solved these issues, which allowed for the launch to be successful. These topics will help us tremendously with the marketing portion of our business pitches later in the month.
I extend our sincerest gratitude to Dr. Mike Simmons ’88 for taking his time to come and lead this case study and give us so much insight into marketing and the business world. I also thank Cassie Hagan and Anthony Mendez ’20 for their tremendous efforts in leading the BIP this summer.
