Monday, October 05, 2026

It's About A Founder's Name And Location. How Did IKEA Become Named IKEA? With 9P's of Marketing

Plenty of logos from the IKEA Museum.

Ingvar Kamprad sold matches with a huge markup, pens, wallets, seeds and more.

The question is "Why is IKEA called IKEA?"

IKEA is named after the initials of founder Ingvar Kamprad, Elmtaryd, the farm on which he grew up, and Agunnaryd, the nearby village. Agunnaryd is even in some of the early logos.




The latest logo changes improved legibility, recognition and proper color reproduction in the digital age. Nowadays, the same logo has to work just as well on a mobile screen as on a storefront or paper bag.

After selling small items Ingvar Kamprad transitioned into furniture delivery and retail.

The question is asked is IKEA the world's larget retailer? No, IKEA is not the world's largest overall retailer; it is specifically the world's largest furniture retailer. The world's largest overall retail companies by total revenue are ecommerce giants, Amazon and Walmart.

Follow me. Plenty of Marketing insights and trivia. https://londremarketing.blogspot.com/

I like Marketing. I like Promotion, one of my nine P's of Marketing

I like advertising, which is one of the eight components under Promotion in my 9P's of Marketing. 

I like copy and selling points. I like finding Marketing opportunities and solving Marketing problems using the nine P's of Marketing. I like teaching them. 

I use my 9P's to illustrate Marketing examples in the classroom, in court as an expert witness, in seminars and to solve Marketing problems and to find opportunities. 

My 9P's of Marketing do include these important concepts, practices and components:

I am using the 9P's with Planning, People, Product, Price, Promotion, Place, Partners, Presentation and Passion to illustrate an unusual insight or example. To find opportunities and problems in Marketing.

  • Planning and Research. 

    • Finding copy points is part of the creative and promotional planning. 
    • Planning for marketing activities, objectives, strategies and tactics. Viewership, revenue, sales. All sales, whether in services, fashion, sports, amusement parks, hotels, resorts, autos, fast food, retail sales or tires, refreshments or cereal, as three examples. 
    • From the founder of Intuit, Scott Cook, said: " A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is -- (maybe from Marketing Research never was is my comment) it is what consumers (“People” in the 9P’s) tell each other it is.
  • People (Segmentation and Targeting)
    • Consumers and users, as in shoppers. Fashion consumers. Add travelers. 
    • In my 9P's, I stress that firms need to look and analyze potential, new, existing and repeat customers and users. 
  • Product and Services, includes airports, sports teams, people and celebrities too. I teach that perfection resides in quality, not quantity.
  • Place (Distribution), includes retail and online. How about locations of airports, team stadiums, amusement parks and resorts?  
  • Price or Pricing, many contingency plans needed.  
  • Promotion: 
    • There are eight (8) major, strategic components or communication elements which are personal and non-personal communication activities. 
    • The activities that communicate the merits of the overall product include:
      • Personal Selling/ Sales Force: Sales persons
        • Listen more than you talk. People who listen more, learn more, plus helps you position your service/product/solution or offering. 
      • Advertising: 
      • Like Super Bowl advertising in February for Super Bowl. Think about this expression "It is only creative if the product or service sells." I wanted to add "It is only good media spending if it sells."
      • Sales Promotion, advertising mascots can fit here, too. Signage would fit here. 
      • Collateral Materials
      • Direct Marketing (also referred to as Action or Direct Response Advertising)
      • Interactive/Internet/Web, Digital Media, Social Media:  
      • Events and Experiences, sampling
      • Public Relations/PR
    • One stop shopping is more important than ever. 
  • Partners/Alliances, can be one of the most powerful of the 9P's if researched, performed and handled well.                 
    • There should be moving forward towards shared goals or goals. 
  • Presentation:
    • The act or acts of strategically presenting any of the different 9P’s© and/or components to your customers, suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, sales force, marketing intermediaries, clients, employees, partners, and/or others. 

      Presentation aspects may be signs, symbols or images that represent something; a descriptive or persuasive account (as a sales person of the product or service). Something set forth for the attention of mind of your targets ("People") and media audiences. I've added "culture," too. I'm adding "culture," too.

  • Passion, including consumers and employees. Think about the lines sometimes of consumers waiting for a new Apple product

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said “ To put your ideas into action is the most difficult thing in the world." But Nike says "Just do it."

I am an experienced, senior Forensic Marketing Expert, Advertising expert, Advertising/ Marketing consultant with Londre Marketing Consultants, LLC.

I created the 9P's. I own a copyright for these Nine P’s/9 P's of Marketing©2007 concepts and Marketing practices, which augment the 1960's Marketing Mix (Product, Price, Promotion and Place) or the 4P’s by the American Marketing Association (AMA), Neil Borden and Jerome McCarthy in the study and practice of Marketing. It's sixty years later and we are in the digital age. Now. 

The Nine P's/9P's of Marketing help identify marketing problems in a number of strategic areas and help develop profitable marketing’s objectives, strategies, tactics and solutions. The 9P's are insightful. The nine P's were created for the digital age. 

I consult and teach using these Marketing concepts and practices of the Nine P's/9P's of Marketing.

For more on ideas, concepts and Marketing solutions: Go to LondreMarketing.com and look under “Articles and Resources” and the 9P’s/Nine P’s ©2007. Specifically you will find them detailed at 9P’s/Nine P’s.

Or for more fun, marketing strategies/tactics and facts: Go to Marketing Trivia with more than 75+ stimulating questions and answers at Londre Marketing Consultants, LLC.  

Sunday, October 04, 2026

One Of The Craziest Hotel Promotions Of All Time. With 9P's Of Marketing

This regional hotel promotion was in 1827 and was created by hotel-owners near Niagara Falls.

Thirty thousand people were drawn to Niagara Falls to watch two bears, a buffalo, two foxes, 15 geese, an eagle, a dog which were launched in a pirate ship tossed over the falls. The Niagara Falls. 

This stunt filled hotels in the area. and the travelers consumed plenty of food, beverages and liquor.

Sad part. Only the bear and the geese survived. 

But the hotel generated plenty of revenue.

Follow me. Plenty of Marketing insights and trivia. https://londremarketing.blogspot.com/

I like Marketing. I like Promotion, but smart promotion, not the killing of animals to generate crowds. Promotion is one of my nine P's of Marketing

I like advertising, which is one of the eight components under Promotion in my 9P's of Marketing. 

I like copy and selling points. I like finding Marketing opportunities and solving Marketing problems using the nine P's of Marketing. I like teaching them. 

I use my 9P's to illustrate Marketing examples in the classroom, in court as an expert witness, in seminars and to solve Marketing problems and to find opportunities. 

My 9P's of Marketing do include these important concepts, practices and components:

I am using the 9P's with Planning, People, Product, Price, Promotion, Place, Partners, Presentation and Passion to illustrate an unusual insight or example. To find opportunities and problems in Marketing.

  • Planning and Research. 
    • Remember that this was almost 200 years ago. Finding copy points is part of the creative and promotional planning. 
    • Planning for marketing activities, objectives, strategies and tactics. Viewership, revenue, sales. All sales, whether in services, fashion, sports, amusement parks, hotels, resorts, autos, fast food, retail sales or tires, refreshments or cereal, as three examples. 
    • From the founder of Intuit, Scott Cook, said: " A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is -- (maybe from Marketing Research never was is my comment) it is what consumers (“People” in the 9P’s) tell each other it is.
  • People (Segmentation and Targeting)
    • Consumers and users, as in shoppers. Fashion consumers. Add travelers. 
    • In my 9P's, I stress that firms need to look and analyze potential, new, existing and repeat customers and users. 
  • Product and Services, includes airports, sports teams, people and celebrities too. I teach that perfection resides in quality, not quantity.
  • Place (Distribution), includes retail and online. How about locations of airports, team stadiums, amusement parks and resorts?  
  • Price or Pricing, many contingency plans needed.  
  • Promotion: 
    • There are eight (8) major, strategic components or communication elements which are personal and non-personal communication activities. 
    • The activities that communicate the merits of the overall product include:
      • Personal Selling/ Sales Force: Sales persons
        • Listen more than you talk. People who listen more, learn more, plus helps you position your service/product/solution or offering. 
      • Advertising: 
      • Like Super Bowl advertising in February for Super Bowl. Think about this expression "It is only creative if the product or service sells." I wanted to add "It is only good media spending if it sells."
      • Sales Promotion, advertising mascots can fit here, too. Signage would fit here. 
      • Collateral Materials
      • Direct Marketing (also referred to as Action or Direct Response Advertising)
      • Interactive/Internet/Web, Digital Media, Social Media:  
      • Events and Experiences, sampling
      • Public Relations/PR
    • One stop shopping is more important than ever. 
  • Partners/Alliances, can be one of the most powerful of the 9P's if researched, performed and handled well.                 
    • There should be moving forward towards shared goals or goals. 
  • Presentation:
    • The act or acts of strategically presenting any of the different 9P’s© and/or components to your customers, suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, sales force, marketing intermediaries, clients, employees, partners, and/or others. 

      Presentation aspects may be signs, symbols or images that represent something; a descriptive or persuasive account (as a sales person of the product or service). Something set forth for the attention of mind of your targets ("People") and media audiences. I've added "culture," too. I'm adding "culture," too.

  • Passion, including consumers and employees. Think about the lines sometimes of consumers waiting for a new Apple product

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said “ To put your ideas into action is the most difficult thing in the world." But Nike says "Just do it."

I am an experienced, senior Forensic Marketing Expert, Advertising expert, Advertising/ Marketing consultant with Londre Marketing Consultants, LLC.

I created the 9P's. I own a copyright for these Nine P’s/9 P's of Marketing©2007 concepts and Marketing practices, which augment the 1960's Marketing Mix (Product, Price, Promotion and Place) or the 4P’s by the American Marketing Association (AMA), Neil Borden and Jerome McCarthy in the study and practice of Marketing. It's sixty years later and we are in the digital age. Now. 

The Nine P's/9P's of Marketing help identify marketing problems in a number of strategic areas and help develop profitable marketing’s objectives, strategies, tactics and solutions. The 9P's are insightful. The nine P's were created for the digital age. 

I consult and teach using these Marketing concepts and practices of the Nine P's/9P's of Marketing.

For more on ideas, concepts and Marketing solutions: Go to LondreMarketing.com and look under “Articles and Resources” and the 9P’s/Nine P’s ©2007. Specifically you will find them detailed at 9P’s/Nine P’s.

Or for more fun, marketing strategies/tactics and facts: Go to Marketing Trivia with more than 75+ stimulating questions and answers at Londre Marketing Consultants, LLC.  


Saturday, October 03, 2026

Old Products Are New Again? Look At The 90's. With 9P's Of Marketing.

THE 90's MAY BE BACK> 

Developing new products can be tricky. But reviving them can be tricky too.

It's flashback time.

Making the products of the 90s new again.

What was in now and was "in the 90s?"

  • Major '90s fashion and beauty trends are making a comeback in 2026. These include supermodel makeup, minimalist silhouettes, and relaxed tailoring with modern, softer updates.
  • Tank & Slip Dresses: Simple, clingy mini silhouettes and Kate Moss-inspired vintage lace and silk.
  • Pokemon is celebrating its 30 Anniversary
  • Baywatch filming in Los Angeles in 2026, will be back in 2027. Get this with some original cast members
  • LEGO is paying tribute to its X-Files Kit with 1,478 pieces.
  • A new product launch for Elmo with the Tickle Me Elmo Giggler Max, He's larger.
  • A Legally Blonde prequel series
  • Pizza Hut is using their "old school" decor
  • The GAP is resurrecting perfume scents

Follow me. Plenty of Marketing insights and trivia. https://londremarketing.blogspot.com/

I like Marketing. I like Promotion, one of my nine Ps of Marketing

I like advertising, which is one of the eight components under Promotion in my 9Ps of Marketing. 

I like copy and selling points. I like finding Marketing opportunities and solving Marketing problems using the nine Ps of Marketing. I like teaching them. 
I use my 9Ps to illustrate Marketing examples in the classroom, in court as an expert witness, in seminars and to solve Marketing problems and to find opportunities. 

My 9P's of Marketing do include these important concepts, practices and components:

I am using the 9Ps with Planning, People, Product, Price, Promotion, Place, Partners, Presentation and Passion to illustrate an unusual insight or example. To find opportunities and problems in Marketing.

  • Planning and Research. 

    • Finding copy points is part of the creative and promotional planning. 
    • Planning for marketing activities, objectives, strategies and tactics. Viewership, revenue, sales. All sales, whether in services, fashion, sports, amusement parks, hotels, resorts, autos, fast food, retail sales or tires, refreshments or cereal, as three examples. 
    • From the founder of Intuit, Scott Cook, said: " A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is -- (maybe from Marketing Research never was is my comment) it is what consumers (“People” in the 9P’s) tell each other it is.
  • People (Segmentation and Targeting)
    • Look at demographics, geographics, Psychographics, Technographics and behavioral characteristics. 
    • Consumers and users, as in shoppers. Fashion consumers. Add travelers. 
    • In my 9P's, I stress that firms need to look and analyze potential, new, existing and repeat customers and users. 
  • Product and Services, includes airports, sports teams, people and celebrities too. I teach that perfection resides in quality, not quantity.
  • Place (Distribution), includes retail and online. How about locations of airports, team stadiums, amusement parks and resorts?  
  • Price or Pricing, many contingency plans needed.  
  • Promotion: 
    • There are eight (8) major, strategic components or communication elements which are personal and non-personal communication activities. 
    • The activities that communicate the merits of the overall product include:
      • Personal Selling/ Sales Force: Sales persons
        • Listen more than you talk. People who listen more, learn more, plus helps you position your service/product/solution or offering. 
      • Advertising: 
      • Like Super Bowl advertising in February for Super Bowl. Think about this expression "It is only creative if the product or service sells." I wanted to add "It is only good media spending if it sells."
      • Sales Promotion, advertising mascots can fit here, too. Signage would fit here. 
      • Collateral Materials
      • Direct Marketing (also referred to as Action or Direct Response Advertising)
      • Interactive/Internet/Web, Digital Media, Social Media: Influencers.  
      • Events and Experiences, sampling
      • Public Relations/PR
    • One stop shopping is more important than ever. 
  • Partners/Alliances, can be one of the most powerful of the 9Ps if researched, performed and handled well.                 
    • There should be moving forward towards shared goals or goals. 
  • Presentation:
    • The act or acts of strategically presenting any of the different 9P’s© and/or components to your customers, suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, sales force, marketing intermediaries, clients, employees, partners, and/or others. 

      Presentation aspects may be signs, symbols or images that represent something; a descriptive or persuasive account (as a sales person of the product or service). Something set forth for the attention of mind of your targets ("People") and media audiences. I've added "culture," too. I'm adding "culture," too.

  • Passion, including consumers and employees. Think about the lines sometimes of consumers waiting for a new Apple product

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said “ To put your ideas into action is the most difficult thing in the world." But Nike says "Just do it."

I am an experienced, senior Forensic Marketing Expert, Advertising expert, Advertising/ Marketing consultant with Londre Marketing Consultants, LLC.

I created the 9Ps. I own a copyright for these Nine Ps/9 Ps of Marketing©2007 concepts and Marketing practices, which augment the 1960's Marketing Mix (Product, Price, Promotion and Place) or the 4Ps by the American Marketing Association (AMA), Neil Borden and Jerome McCarthy in the study and practice of Marketing. It's sixty years later and we are in the digital age. Now. 

The Nine Ps/9Ps of Marketing help identify marketing problems in a number of strategic areas and help develop profitable marketing’s objectives, strategies, tactics and solutions. The 9Ps are insightful. The nine Ps were created for the digital age. 

I consult and teach using these Marketing concepts and practices of the Nine Ps/9P's of Marketing.

For more on ideas, concepts and Marketing solutions: Go to LondreMarketing.com and look under “Articles and Resources” and the 9P’s/Nine P’s ©2007. Specifically you will find them detailed at 9Ps/Nine Ps.

Or for more fun, marketing strategies/tactics and facts: Go to Marketing Trivia with more than 80+ stimulating questions and answers at Londre Marketing Consultants, LLC.  





Friday, October 02, 2026

Under Place and Product With My 9P's Of Marketing, What Was The First Product Scanned With A UPC Barcode?

The first product ever scanned with a Universal Product Code (UPC) barcode was a 10-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum. 

It cost 67 cents (or 6.7 cents a pack) and was scanned on June 26, 1974, at a Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio.

Why chewing gum? The developers wanted to use their new barcode technology on small surfaces and could the bar code be read by a laser. 

I remember working on the advertising account of Vons Grocery at Grey Advertising and KABC did a negative story on scanning. Wow, they were on the wrong side of history.

Today in 2026, a standard single pack of chewing gum (usually containing 14 to 15 sticks) generally costs between $1.30 and $2.50, depending on the brand ("Product") and retailer ("Place").

Follow me. Plenty of Marketing insights and trivia. https://londremarketing.blogspot.com/

I like Marketing. I like Promotion, one of my nine P's of Marketing

I like advertising, which is one of the eight components under Promotion in my 9P's of Marketing. 

I like copy and selling points. I like finding Marketing opportunities and solving Marketing problems using the nine P's of Marketing. I like teaching them. 

I use my 9P's to illustrate Marketing examples in the classroom, in court as an expert witness, in seminars and to solve Marketing problems and to find opportunities. 

My 9P's of Marketing do include these important concepts, practices and components:

I am using the 9P's with Planning, People, Product, Price, Promotion, Place, Partners, Presentation and Passion to illustrate an unusual insight or example. To find opportunities and problems in Marketing.

  • Planning and Research. 

    • Finding copy points is part of the creative and promotional planning. 
    • Planning for marketing activities, objectives, strategies and tactics. Viewership, revenue, sales. All sales, whether in services, fashion, sports, amusement parks, hotels, resorts, autos, fast food, retail sales or tires, refreshments or cereal, as three examples. 
    • From the founder of Intuit, Scott Cook, said: " A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is -- (maybe from Marketing Research never was is my comment) it is what consumers (“People” in the 9P’s) tell each other it is.
  • People (Segmentation and Targeting)
    • Consumers and users, as in shoppers. Fashion consumers. Add travelers. 
    • In my 9P's, I stress that firms need to look and analyze potential, new, existing and repeat customers and users. 
  • Product and Services, includes airports, sports teams, people and celebrities too. I teach that perfection resides in quality, not quantity.
  • Place (Distribution), includes retail and online. How about locations of airports, team stadiums, amusement parks and resorts?  
  • Price or Pricing, many contingency plans needed.  
  • Promotion: 
    • There are eight (8) major, strategic components or communication elements which are personal and non-personal communication activities. 
    • The activities that communicate the merits of the overall product include:
      • Personal Selling/ Sales Force: Sales persons
        • Listen more than you talk. People who listen more, learn more, plus helps you position your service/product/solution or offering. 
      • Advertising: 
      • Like Super Bowl advertising in February for Super Bowl. Think about this expression "It is only creative if the product or service sells." I wanted to add "It is only good media spending if it sells."
      • Sales Promotion, advertising mascots can fit here, too. Signage would fit here. 
      • Collateral Materials
      • Direct Marketing (also referred to as Action or Direct Response Advertising)
      • Interactive/Internet/Web, Digital Media, Social Media:  
      • Events and Experiences, sampling
      • Public Relations/PR
    • One stop shopping is more important than ever. 
  • Partners/Alliances, can be one of the most powerful of the 9P's if researched, performed and handled well.                 
    • There should be moving forward towards shared goals or goals. 
  • Presentation:
    • The act or acts of strategically presenting any of the different 9P’s© and/or components to your customers, suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, sales force, marketing intermediaries, clients, employees, partners, and/or others. 

      Presentation aspects may be signs, symbols or images that represent something; a descriptive or persuasive account (as a sales person of the product or service). Something set forth for the attention of mind of your targets ("People") and media audiences. I've added "culture," too. I'm adding "culture," too.

  • Passion, including consumers and employees. Think about the lines sometimes of consumers waiting for a new Apple product

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said “ To put your ideas into action is the most difficult thing in the world." But Nike says "Just do it."

I am an experienced, senior Forensic Marketing Expert, Advertising expert, Advertising/ Marketing consultant with Londre Marketing Consultants, LLC.

I created the 9P's. I own a copyright for these Nine P’s/9 P's of Marketing©2007 concepts and Marketing practices, which augment the 1960's Marketing Mix (Product, Price, Promotion and Place) or the 4P’s by the American Marketing Association (AMA), Neil Borden and Jerome McCarthy in the study and practice of Marketing. It's sixty years later and we are in the digital age. Now. 

The Nine P's/9P's of Marketing help identify marketing problems in a number of strategic areas and help develop profitable marketing’s objectives, strategies, tactics and solutions. The 9P's are insightful. The nine P's were created for the digital age. 

I consult and teach using these Marketing concepts and practices of the Nine P's/9P's of Marketing.

For more on ideas, concepts and Marketing solutions: Go to LondreMarketing.com and look under “Articles and Resources” and the 9P’s/Nine P’s ©2007. Specifically you will find them detailed at 9P’s/Nine P’s.

Or for more fun, marketing strategies/tactics and facts: Go to Marketing Trivia with more than 75+ stimulating questions and answers at Londre Marketing Consultants, LLC.  



Thursday, October 01, 2026

What Do S'Mores Have To Do With Marketing? And The 9P's Of Marketing


Plenty. It's the fall and I picked an October date for this post. It's colder. 

S'Mores are a "product" and made with basically three ingredients, which each one promoting themselves. 

Plus I've seen hotels "promoting" their properties by saying you get "free" S'Mores supplies. 

Make them yourselves. 


You've got Kraft Marshmallows, Hershey chocolate and Nabisco graham crackers involved.

I thought it would be Boy Scouts but it was Girl Scouts who are associated with S'Mores, which comes from "some more" and sell a ton of cookies in the spring. One of them has the name S'Mores but isn't even close to the real product

Here's the original recipe. 

It comes from two different sources. From an encyclopedia, it says 1927 (Girl Scouts of America handbook "Tramping and Trailing With the Girl Scouts.") or "People" magazine had the date of 1925. 

Original S’mores Recipe

The original “Some More” S’mores recipe probably comes from the 1927 Girl Scouts of America handbook "Tramping and Trailing With the Girl Scouts." 

It’s credited to the Girl Scouts and is the earliest recorded version of the campfire treat. 

I

ngredients (makes 8 s’mores)
16 graham crackers (any plain chocolate bar, broken in half)
8 chocolate bars (e.g., Hershey’s plain chocolate bar)
16 large marshmallows
8 toasting sticks (metal or hardwood)

Follow me. Plenty of Marketing insights and trivia. https://londremarketing.blogspot.com/

I like Marketing. I like Promotion, one of my nine P's of Marketing

I like advertising, which is one of the eight components under Promotion in my 9P's of Marketing. 

I like copy and selling points. I like finding Marketing opportunities and solving Marketing problems using the nine P's of Marketing. I like teaching them. 

I use my 9P's to illustrate Marketing examples in the classroom, in court as an expert witness, in seminars and to solve Marketing problems and to find opportunities. 

My 9P's of Marketing do include these important concepts, practices and components:

I am using the 9P's with Planning, People, Product, Price, Promotion, Place, Partners, Presentation and Passion to illustrate an unusual insight or example. To find opportunities and problems in Marketing.

  • Planning and Research. 

    • Finding copy points is part of the creative and promotional planning. 
    • Planning for marketing activities, objectives, strategies and tactics. Viewership, revenue, sales. All sales, whether in services, fashion, sports, amusement parks, hotels, resorts, autos, fast food, retail sales or tires, refreshments or cereal, as three examples. 
    • From the founder of Intuit, Scott Cook, said: " A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is -- (maybe from Marketing Research never was is my comment) it is what consumers (“People” in the 9P’s) tell each other it is.
  • People (Segmentation and Targeting)
    • Consumers and users, as in shoppers. Fashion consumers. Add travelers. 
    • In my 9P's, I stress that firms need to look and analyze potential, new, existing and repeat customers and users. 
  • Product and Services, includes airports, sports teams, people and celebrities too. I teach that perfection resides in quality, not quantity.
  • Place (Distribution), includes retail and online. How about locations of airports, team stadiums, amusement parks and resorts?  
  • Price or Pricing, many contingency plans needed.  
  • Promotion: 
    • There are eight (8) major, strategic components or communication elements which are personal and non-personal communication activities. 
    • The activities that communicate the merits of the overall product include:
      • Personal Selling/ Sales Force: Sales persons
        • Listen more than you talk. People who listen more, learn more, plus helps you position your service/product/solution or offering. 
      • Advertising: 
      • Like Super Bowl advertising in February for Super Bowl. Think about this expression "It is only creative if the product or service sells." I wanted to add "It is only good media spending if it sells."
      • Sales Promotion, advertising mascots can fit here, too. Signage would fit here. 
      • Collateral Materials
      • Direct Marketing (also referred to as Action or Direct Response Advertising)
      • Interactive/Internet/Web, Digital Media, Social Media:  
      • Events and Experiences, sampling
      • Public Relations/PR
    • One stop shopping is more important than ever. 
  • Partners/Alliances, can be one of the most powerful of the 9P's if researched, performed and handled well.                 
    • There should be moving forward towards shared goals or goals. 
  • Presentation:
    • The act or acts of strategically presenting any of the different 9P’s© and/or components to your customers, suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, sales force, marketing intermediaries, clients, employees, partners, and/or others. 

      Presentation aspects may be signs, symbols or images that represent something; a descriptive or persuasive account (as a sales person of the product or service). Something set forth for the attention of mind of your targets ("People") and media audiences. I've added "culture," too. I'm adding "culture," too.

  • Passion, including consumers and employees. Think about the lines sometimes of consumers waiting for a new Apple product

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said “ To put your ideas into action is the most difficult thing in the world." But Nike says "Just do it."

I am an experienced, senior Forensic Marketing Expert, Advertising expert, Advertising/ Marketing consultant with Londre Marketing Consultants, LLC.

I created the 9P's. I own a copyright for these Nine P’s/9 P's of Marketing©2007 concepts and Marketing practices, which augment the 1960's Marketing Mix (Product, Price, Promotion and Place) or the 4P’s by the American Marketing Association (AMA), Neil Borden and Jerome McCarthy in the study and practice of Marketing. It's sixty years later and we are in the digital age. Now. 

The Nine P's/9P's of Marketing help identify marketing problems in a number of strategic areas and help develop profitable marketing’s objectives, strategies, tactics and solutions. The 9P's are insightful. The nine P's were created for the digital age. 

I consult and teach using these Marketing concepts and practices of the Nine P's/9P's of Marketing.

For more on ideas, concepts and Marketing solutions: Go to LondreMarketing.com and look under “Articles and Resources” and the 9P’s/Nine P’s ©2007. Specifically you will find them detailed at 9P’s/Nine P’s.

Or for more fun, marketing strategies/tactics and facts: Go to Marketing Trivia with more than 75+ stimulating questions and answers at Londre Marketing Consultants, LLC.  

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

How Good, Accurate And Effective Are The Traveler, Hotel And Other Reviews We Read? Should We Trust The Ratings? With The 9P's Of Marketing

It seems everyone is asking for reviews. 

Should we trust them for accuracy? Not always.

Here’s more. Buyer and user reviews for products, car rentals, books, restaurants, purchases on eBay.com and Amazon and hotels have impacted and changed how potential purchasers and travelers make buying decisions. 

TripAdvisor dominates the hotel-review area but so do the online sellers such as Expedia, Amazon, Priceline, Travelocity, Orbitz, hotels.com. 

Should we trust travel hotel ratings? Sometimes.

A wide range of factors affect user rankings. The number of hotels listed; do they verify that the reviews are “real?”

TripAdvisor knows about the review “mills” according to WSJ. These “creative” firms offer to “create” better reviews for hotels looking for more positives, “adjustments.”

Hotels offer incentives to write good reviews. The United Kingdom Advertising Authority ruled that TripAdvisor’s advertising claim of “trusted advice from real travelers” was misleading because fake comments could be posted without verification. Interesting to note that Expedia, hotels.com and Priceline.com limit their guest reviews to those customers who booked hotels through their websites.

See if the reviews are spaced out over time or written by verified purchasers. Did the reviewer actually buy the product or service?

In late 2019, Fakespot said that more than a third of online reviews are fake, and generated by robots and people who write fraudulent reviews. Now there are alternatives to fakespot; they include ReviewMeta and TheReviewIndex.

Don’t forget to read the comments listed. Plus customer reviews are quite different from traditional “star ratings.”

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I like Marketing. I like advertising. I don't like scammers. I like copy and selling points. I like solving Marketing problems using the nine P's of Marketing. I like teaching them. 

I use my 9P's to illustrate Marketing examples in the classroom, in court as an expert witness, in seminars and to solve Marketing problems and to find opportunities. 

My 9P's of Marketing do include these important concepts, practices and components:

I am using the 9P's with Planning, People, Product, Price, Promotion, Place, Partners, Presentation and Passion to illustrate an unusual insight or example. To find opportunities and problems in Marketing.

  • Planning and Research. 

    • Finding copy points is part of the creative and promotional planning. 
    • Planning for marketing activities, objectives, strategies and tactics. Viewership, revenue, sales. All sales, whether in services, fashion, sports, amusement parks, hotels, resorts, autos, fast food, retail sales or tires, refreshments or cereal, as three examples. 
    • From the founder of Intuit, Scott Cook, said: " A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is -- (maybe from Marketing Research never was is my comment) it is what consumers (“People” in the 9P’s) tell each other it is.
  • People (Segmentation and Targeting)
    • Consumers and users, as in shoppers. Fashion consumers. Add travelers. 
    • In my 9P's, I stress that firms need to look and analyze potential, new, existing and repeat customers and users. 
  • Product and Services, includes hotels, airports, sports teams, people and celebrities too. I teach that perfection resides in quality, not quantity.
  • Place (Distribution), includes retail and online. How about locations of airports, team stadiums, amusement parks and resorts?  
  • Price or Pricing, many contingency plans needed.  
  • Promotion: 
    • There are eight (8) major, strategic components or communication elements which are personal and non-personal communication activities. 
    • The activities that communicate the merits of the overall product include:
      • Personal Selling/ Sales Force: Sales persons
        • Listen more than you talk. People who listen more, learn more, plus helps you position your service/product/solution or offering. 
      • Advertising: 
      • Like Super Bowl advertising in February for Super Bowl. Think about this expression "It is only creative if the product or service sells." I wanted to add "It is only good media spending if it sells."
      • Sales Promotion, advertising mascots can fit here, too. Signage would fit here. 
      • Collateral Materials
      • Direct Marketing (also referred to as Action or Direct Response Advertising)
      • Interactive/Internet/Web, Digital Media, Social Media:  
      • Events and Experiences, sampling
      • Public Relations/PR
    • One stop shopping is more important than ever. 
  • Partners/Alliances, can be one of the most powerful of the 9P's if researched, performed and handled well.                 
    • There should be moving forward towards shared goals or goals. 
  • Presentation:
    • The act or acts of strategically presenting any of the different 9P’s© and/or components to your customers, suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, sales force, marketing intermediaries, clients, employees, partners, and/or others. 

      Presentation aspects may be signs, symbols or images that represent something; a descriptive or persuasive account (as a sales person of the product or service). Something set forth for the attention of mind of your targets ("People") and media audiences. I've added "culture," too. I'm adding "culture," too.

  • Passion, including consumers and employees. Think about the lines sometimes of consumers waiting for a new Apple product

I am an experienced, senior Forensic Marketing Expert, Advertising expert, Advertising/ Marketing consultant with Londre Marketing Consultants, LLC.

I created the 9P's. I own a copyright for these Nine P’s/9 P's of Marketing©2007 concepts and Marketing practices, which augment the 1960's Marketing Mix (Product, Price, Promotion and Place) or the 4P’s by the American Marketing Association (AMA), Neil Borden and Jerome McCarthy in the study and practice of Marketing. It's sixty years later and we are in the digital age. 

The Nine P's/9P's of Marketing help identify marketing problems in a number of strategic areas and help develop profitable marketing’s objectives, strategies, tactics and solutions. The 9P's are insightful. The nine P's were created for the digital age. 

I consult and teach using these Marketing concepts and practices of the Nine P's/9P's of Marketing.

For more on ideas, concepts and Marketing solutions: Go to LondreMarketing.com and look under “Articles and Resources” and the 9P’s/Nine P’s ©2007. Specifically you will find them detailed at 9P’s/Nine P’s.

Or for more fun, marketing strategies/tactics and facts: Go to Marketing Trivia with 75+ stimulating questions and answers at Londre Marketing Consultants, LLC.