New show "Skins" on MTV stirs up drama for marketers

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20110124/FREE/110129943#

I recently heard about the new show on MTV named Skins, and was a little shocked by the idea that children under legal age are being portrayed on national television in a way that is revealing and called by some "pornographic." When I heard that a lot of companies advertising on MTV asked to be pulled off the air during the show, I was not surprised. It seems like PR is a huge part of marketing. A company treads carefully when its reputation is questioned through its endorsements.

"It's a show replete with all sorts of problematic and offensive content like illegal drug use, illegal activity, foul language and essentially nonstop sexual content," Mr. Isett said. "Compounding that is the fact that the actual actors portraying these characters on the show are in fact children, and it's also equally clear that the show has been marketed to children."

The show Skins just seems wrong on so many levels. First of all, what were companies thinking when they opted in (or at least didn't opt out) of a show that portrayed teenage sex, promiscuity, illegal drug use/activity and bad language? I doubt that Subway could really be considered at fault and I'm sure they just wanted a piece of the advertising/marketing pie that MTV offers, but come on! What's the point of MTV airing all of the "above the influence" ads if they promote just the opposite?

I guess my big question is what would you do if you were being pressured to remove your commercial from the air during a show? Is it worthwhile to submit to the pressure of parental groups? Why is it so necessary to respond to them and do they really have enough power to hurt your business?

In Response to Doug Sack

How do you think these elements influence a job applicant?

I question if there really is any influence on a job applicant in considering the marketing mix. That might just be because I've never used it myself to get a job (though I've had many jobs in the past). I think that when you're a business or management student, you're likely to know what the marketing mix is and therefore might apply it to real life/job-searching.

As a hopeful job searcher, I know that at this point that I might consider the marketing mix and apply it to every application I write.. I think that you could apply it to any essays - like for KSC scholarships - or e-mails or really anything you do, but that might be a stretch.

I feel that if a job applicant knows about the marketing mix by name, it's a good system to follow. If they don't know the phrase "marketing mix," then I'm almost sure they have their own system they use to find jobs and apply for them. In the same way, I don't think the marketing mix is the be-all, end-all of the job search. I think there are many other factors that can be employed in the job market today.

My Marketing Mix

When you're looking for a job, there are so many factors that come into play, and that's where the marketing mix comes in.

You want to know that you're going to be working in a place that fits your lifestyle. If you love to be in a city, you probably won't be happy with a job in Iowa. Once you've made the decision, you can move on to other steps in the process of job-searching. For example, right now I have a lot of options open as far as internship location. I made a decision to apply for as many internships as I could, even if I have to relocate for them. I narrowed down the places that I would like to be (and in some ways, where the competition is fierce vs. not as fierce), and as long as the company offered a paid internship and relocation for summer, I would be happy with it. As you get older, your preferences change and your flexibility decreases. If I were a mother of four and my spouse was working, I would probably feel restricted to a specific region for work.

Is the price right for the job you want? It's not just about how much you "cost" to the company, but how much it costs to live in the place where the job is. If you live in NYC, it will cost much more to live there. Of course, you also want to consider how much money and what benefits you want to work for. Again, it's all about preferences and what works well for you (and possibly your family). Do you have ten pets and want free pet insurance included? C&S offers pet insurance as a part of its benefits package! Do you want bare-bones benefits and lots of money? That's a different story.

The marketing mix also cites the product itself. Not that I want to fall into marketing myopia, but the product in this case is extremely important, because you are the product. In this case, your customer is your future employer, and they want a well-rounded, worthwhile, and affordable product. When applying for jobs, you need to think about what you're putting out there and whether or not you, the product, is something that the employer, the "customer," wants.

The final part of the mix is promotion. Are you getting your name out there? Linkedin, Facebook, Myspace, whatever you're using (hopefully not the last two), you need to make sure that your message is getting across. You need to promote yourself to your best ability or else getting a job will be a disaster. Without self promotion, your hopeful-future-employer will see you as someone without self esteem and possibly without value for the company. That's a bad boat to be in.

So, when you're looking for a job, what do you think of? Is it the marketing mix - is it place-price-product-promotion or is it asking yourself if you've done enough as the product? I wonder if we ever fall into marketing myopia as we search for jobs -- are we considering every part of the job or are we considering every part of ourselves and stopping there?