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As we work in the area of Marperations, it is important to understand the origin of the marketing-operations divide. This understanding will help us figure out why operations cares so much about efficiency and why marketing has an eye single to effectiveness. A look back in history shows that the 18th and beginning of the 19thcentury marked the rise of production. Producers focused their energy on producing more, making efficiency suddenly more important than ever. But the ongoing focus on efficiency came to a point where, in the1940s, production started to surpass demand. The country gradually evolved into a sales era to move surplus inventory. In order to bring more structure to sales, the concepts of marketing evolved and came into being in the 1950s.From the start, marketing primarily came into existence to counter the effectiveness of operations. Since marketing came into being to sell surplus inventory, over promising and setting high expectations became common practice among marketers.Marketing did not come in to build demand, but to work in tandem with operations. Operations had already put...

Ever since the inception of the Marperations concept, I have been searching for  examples where operations completely defines a brand and marketing simply must reflect the differentiated operations. Last weekend I found an example where I would have least expected it. I was in the Cherry Creek area of Denver waiting for a meeting. To kill time I looked for a place to get a cup of coffee. To me, coffee has become synonymous with Starbucks. So naturally I was looking for the nearest Starbucks when I came across a local coffee shop called Aviano Coffee, I walked in and immediately realized that this was a different kind of a coffee shop: the décor was modern, trendy, but unassuming and not in my face. They were not trying too hard. I walked up to the counter and ordered my usual, a small cup of coffee with room for cream. My first surprise...

  Pizza Hut goes for slices of real life with employees in ads  By KAREN ROBINSON-JACOBS / The Dallas Morning News  In an era when ordering a pizza doesn't necessarily involve human contact, using workers in ads reinforces the message that "these are genuine human beings who are making these pizzas," said Arjun Sen, president of the Colorado-based Restaurant Marketing Group. "For Pizza Hut it's a great strategy to say, 'Our employees: That's the difference.' It ...

Arjun Sen was featured in the November issue of PGA Magazine as the expert source on price and value in Don Jozwiak's cover story article. The article keenly applies to industries outside the golfing realm and is well worth the read. Click here to jump to the article. "Given the current economy, pricing is a hot topic across the golf economy. Knowing what value a golfer expects a given offering - from a round of golf to a lesson or a golf vacation - is an important step in determining how to set prices. That's the firm belief of Arjun Sen, a marketing expert with more than two decades of experience in consumer research and strategic planning...

 It was a pleasure and honor to moderate a Sports Marketing panel at Dine America hosted by QSR Magazine. We had a great team of panelists that included Tracy White, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, and Chief Sales Officer for the Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Thrashers and Philips Arena; John Kittredge, Fabri-Kal; and Bruce Skala, VP, Taco Mac.  Based on the lively discussion among panelists, I arrived at the following five take-away's:Right fit for the brandIt was very clear that finding sports that are the right fit for the brand is the first step.  Brands should not just go for what is available as this is an area where effectiveness is more important than the efficiency.  To identify fit, there are three areas a brand must look at:Fits the brand’s target audienceFits the brand’s personalityConnects with the brand’s target audienceSize of opportunity does not matterA common thought is that only...