Patt Morrison for Thursday, 4/1/10

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE
APRIL FOOL’s EDITION

Thursday, April 1, 2010

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE JIM PANETTA BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

 

1:06 – 1:30

OPEN

 

 

1:30 - 1:58:30

The Big Short: how to make a killing off of financial ruin

Maybe a dozen or so people in the entire world saw the financial meltdown coming – and it wasn’t the people who might have stopped it.  The book “The Big Short” brings us the men who made billions betting on red – red ink and financial ruin – and how complicating all that risk managed to hide it from the rest of us.  Michael Lewis, author of “Moneyball,” “Liar's Poker,” and “The Blind Side,” chronicles the 2008 financial collapse through stories of the people who realized what was happening to the U.S. economy as it was happening — and made fortunes by betting against the markets.

 

Guests:

Michael Lewis, contributing editor to Vanity Fair and author of “The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine,” “Liar's Poker,” “Moneyball,” and “The Blind Side”

IN STUDIO

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

Are national math standards a solvable problem?

Tasked with creating a national standard for public education the National Governor’s Association enlisted educators and experts. Those in favor believe that the standards will increase academic proficiency and better prepare students for college while those opposed believe that the standards are not only too low but absolutely obtuse. Here in California the tension has multiplied over math. Before the window for public comment closes on national education standards we discuss the great divide also known as California’s math wars.

 

Ze’ev (ZAH-evv) Wurman, a Palo Alto high-tech executive and former advisor to the U.S. Department of Education

CALL HIM:

 

UNCONFIRMED

James Milgram, professor emeritus of mathematics at Stanford & a member of the National Board for Education Sciences

 

Representative from the National Governors Association

 

 

 

2:30 – 2:58:30

Recession marketing: How are companies and consumers adapting to the recession?

Free food for a year? Who wouldn’t sign up for that? That’s exactly what companies like Denny’s (win a “Grand Slam for a Year”) around the U.S. are banking on to get customers in their door and spending money during the recession.  Subway is giving 71 customers free sandwiches for a year to promote its “Five Dollar Footlong” sandwich.  The marketing strategy is cost effective (the promotion adds up to about $260 per year, per customer) and successful.  It’s estimated that 30% to 40% of free food coupons are redeemed as compared to just 1.5% to 2% of coupons offering discounts.  And speaking of coupons, coupon redemption is up a whopping 27% from 2008.  That amounts to the largest year-over –year increase in twenty years since they started keeping records.  So, what have we learned? Free food and coupons work in a tough economy (duh)! Let’s find out how companies are adapting and how consumers are responding to recession marketing.

 

Burt Flickinger III, manager director, Strategic Resource Group

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SRG is a retail and consumer goods consulting firm with three decades of experience working with top US and global retail chains, wholesalers, suppliers and investment firms.

He is teaching a case study on the future of retailing and marketing at Cornell University the first week of May

 

Lori Walderich, principal and chief creative officer, IdeaStudio

CALL HER @

 

IdeaStudio specializes in chain-restaurant marketing and promotion

 

UNCONFIRMED

John Dillon, VP marketing, Denny’s Corp.

Tony Pace, chief marketing officer, Subway

Spokesperson, Safeway Corp.

Matthew Tilley, spokesperson, Inmar Inc.

 

Inmar Inc is a coupon-processing agent

The number of redeemed coupons rose 27% to 3.3 billion from 2.6 billion in 2008

“The year-over-year percentage increase was the largest since they started tracking the statistic more than 20 years ago”.

 

 

 

Jonathan Serviss

Producer, Patt Morrison Program

Southern California Public Radio

NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles

89.3 KPCC-FM | 89.1 KUOR-FM | 90.3 KPCV-FM

626.583.5171, office

415.497.2131, mobile

jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org

www.scpr.org