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Economics, entrepreneurship, pricing and marketing strategy, print industry in Pakistan.

Undergraduate and first-year graduate level.

The main theme of the case revolves around decision-making by the publisher, Bilal Lakhani, as he operates in conditions of an oligopolistic market. The case focuses on the set-up of a major English-language newspaper, The Express Tribune, in conjunction with the internationally branded and well-regarded International Herald Tribune by a well-known business group of Pakistan. The group already has a major Urdu newspaper, which has been operational for 15 years, and three television channels, as well as a host of other non-media-related businesses. The case tries to go behind the reasons for setting up an English-language newspaper in a market which already has at least five major existing ones and where literacy is not that widespread. Also, experience in much of the rest of the world would suggest that newspapers – i.e. the print media – are in decline, especially because of the rise of the Internet and social media as means for providing news, information and entertainment. The case is set in Karachi, Pakistan's media capital and, in particular, in an organization that has been involved in the business of media for several years. It currently runs the country's second most-circulated Urdu newspaper, Daily Express. Specifically, the time period is three weeks after the paper, The Express Tribune, was launched into a market with a few competitors and high brand loyalty for existing competitors. The publisher of the paper, Bilal Lakhani, is questioning his pricing decision right after the launch of the paper and there are a series of reasons he is looking into on how he set the original price and why should he reduce the price of the paper now.

Students should be able to see, understand and analyze: challenges faced by entrepreneurs of starting an initiative which has a largely unreliable and untested audience; the extent of interdependence in an oligopolistic industry and how it influences the current and future decision-makings of an entrepreneur or any other firm for that matter, especially in a developing economy; the personnel, financial production and regulation issues involved in setting up assembly/ delivery systems that deliver a product for mass use, i.e. a newspaper; and the pricing and marketing strategies involved in the launch and subsequent successful operation of a product, in this case, a newspaper.

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The subject area is strategy and business.

The case can be used for MBA students. This is equally effective in short courses meant for low-to-mid-level working executives. The case is suited for classes in strategy, general marketing, media management and family business courses.

Dainik Jagran – a vernacular daily – is the most read newspaper in India. Under the banner of Jagran Prakashan Ltd.; which is one of the leading media houses in India, the success of Dainik Jagran has been an outcome of the strategic marketing decisions taken by its founder and his successors in the post-independence era. With extensive circulation, it created a large readership base and took bold decisions to launch multi editions to its daily through a series of acquisitions, mergers and consolidations from 1975 to 2010, enabling it to step into product diversification. Readership surveys, investments in technology, advertising, regular branding events and smart phone applications are a few tools that helped. While the group has diversified into other industries, there is an underlying anxiety about the future prospects of its newspaper business. With the onslaught of online news dailies, will Dainik Jagran be able to expand and maintain its readership base using its previous business and marketing strategies? Or is it time to change strategies for businesses in the newspaper and allied media industry in India?

The study has the following outcomes: application of value chain concept in businesses serving two-sided markets; application of environmental analysis, Porter’s five forces analysis and related strategy concepts; and learning to critically approach and develop a sustainable growth strategy framework for a successful family-run newspaper business in India.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Marketing strategy.

The course is well suited for MBA and Executive MBA class on Strategic Management, Marketing Strategy, Brand Management, Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Change in emerging economies. The case can also be taught to senior undergraduate students to explore the issues mentioned in the case as an integrative case for courses like Strategic Management and Marketing Strategy.

Niyogi Books had positioned itself as an independent publishing house with a focus on the niche area of trade books. Due to the internet, digitalization and globalization the dynamics of the book publishing industry had changed considerably, and the company needed to think and reflect on its current position and future strategy. Niyogi Books had added new products and new markets along with other innovations to succeed in the business of publishing. But the way ahead for Niyogi Books was to innovate in light of fast-paced technological advancement. The company needed to balance the digitization of content as well as retailing with its existing print strategy. A related issue is the need to plan an innovative and cost-effective communication strategy to boost sales.

The learning outcomes are as follows: analyze the business environment of the publishing industry, realize the need for a branding strategy for small business and apply communication strategies single/multi-channel setting, understand the need of an organization to purposefully adapt an organization’s (self-) resource base (management capability to effectively coordinate and redeploy internal and external competences) and analyze the role of a growth strategy and how it can be used to devise a product/marketing strategy.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The case describes how Radio Mirchi dealt with competition in the Bangalore FM radio market. Radio Mirchi's market share in Bangalore started declining within a few months of its successful launch, following the entry of new competitors in the market. The case discusses strategies adopted by the company to regain its market share and become the market leader. It describes the initial product offering of the channel, why it felt the need to redesign its product mix, and eventually how the company changed its product offering. The focus of the case is on the dilemma faced by the organization while shifting to a new product and service design in the face of emerging competition. The case highlights the importance of continuously monitoring the market environment and developing a keen understanding of the consumers' behaviour for an organization to gain and sustain its leadership position in the marketplace.

Strategy.

This case can be used on a strategic management course in the second year of an MBA programme, any special elective course on the media and entertainment industry and in executive education programmes to demonstrate the application of strategic management concepts and frameworks.

The Indian film industry was the largest in the world and the seventh largest in terms of revenue. Significant number of movies were made in languages such as Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada, with Hindi commanding the highest number. The film industry in Karnataka made movies in the Kannada language. The industry was plagued by a host of issues with the industry contributing just 2 per cent of the revenues and box office success rate at just around 25 per cent. The state government had set up Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy with the objective of promotion and development of the movie industry in Karnataka. The Chairman of the academy, Shailesh Singh, was extremely concerned about the poor success rate of Kannada movies and was contemplating various options of reviving the ailing Kannada movie industry.

The expected learning outcomes are as follows: application of strategic management frameworks in the context of the movie industry; analysis of industry issues from the long-term and short-term perspectives; study of different entities in the movie industry and the roles they play and their interdependence; applying learning to suggest survival strategies in an extremely competitive market; and insights into the role of government in the media/entertainment industry.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Radio Mirchi is the flagship brand of Entertainment Network India Limited (ENIL). ENIL is the largest private FM radio broadcaster in India. ENIL was able to gain a stronghold in the market due to its strengths of innovativeness and creative content, large operating network, reach among listeners, high quality studio and strong advertisement sales capabilities. The case discusses Radio Mirchi's entry into the Kolkata market in 2003 amidst the competition from three other players—Red FM, Aamar and Power. Kolkata occupied a prime place in the company's growth plans. The case discusses the dilemma faced by the company on developing the entry strategy. Its top management has to decide on the market segment(s) it should target, and the design of the product.

The Mercini Lady Case is a modern statement of the law on the rights of the buyer in a sale contract. The seller has to supply goods in conformity with description, of merchantable quality and fit for the stated use. These rights, the ‘implied conditions’, however, can be ousted by express terms in the contract. The Court of Appeal judgement of the UK keenly considered that the exclusion clause should be interpreted in its business sense. However, it sided with precedence established over hundred years that the exclusion clauses take away valuable rights of the buyer and must be strictly and technically constructed.

The case presents the efforts of Dr. Dhanesh Jain, founder of Ratna Sagar Publications to innovate in children's publishing space. His innovations received mixed response. Commercial success was delayed. Adoption of innovations by the educational institutions did not happen as expected, the innovations, however, created opportunities for other business ventures. Dr. Jain is wondering whether the innovation efforts were worth their while.

By 2006, Wikipedia had achieved the type of success that only a handful of young organizations could ever dream of reaching. It had grown from almost nothing in 2001 to become one of the consistently highest ranked and most visited sites on the Internet. This success brought new problems at a scale that no organization of this type had ever before faced. Exposes students to Wikipedia's brief history, the causes of its success, and the issues it faced going forward. Two topics form the focus: The first concerns the rules and norms for submission and editing, which raise questions about the ambiguity of Wikipedia's authority and the virtual cycle that keeps the site going; The second concerns the need to alter its practices as it gains in popularity, raising questions about what any wiki site, profit-oriented or open source, must do to scale to large numbers of participants and entries. These issues arise as part of a discussion about the site's priorities going forward.

To teach the factors that shape Wikipedia and wikis in general. Students will become familiar with the internal operations of wikis, open-source programs for developing text from many users. Also to facilitate teaching about factors that shape reference sites on the Internet, dividing discussion into three sub-topics: defining what Wikipedia is and what it is not, analyzing how it works, and understanding why it generates controversy in some circles.

Besides the metrics developed to measure the impact of the video campaign run by the company, the case has serious practical implications for all companies in emerging markets selling budget/low-cost products. Marketing managers can take note of these key performance indicators in evaluating the success of their social media campaigns.More importantly, students need to understand how the campaign managed to integrate uninitiated and less-privileged consumers to the world of social media with aspirational sentiments.

The case deals with a digital media planning activity for a low-cost handset company based in India. TRIVIA International Ltd is a manufacturer and marketer of smart phones and feature phone in the price range of below US$70–100 and US$20, respectively. The phones cater to low-income consumer bracket, which forms the vast microcosm of India. The consumer base is huge, but the purchasing power is very low, so they are at times referred to as the micro-consumer in Bottom of Pyramid approach. To approach this consumer base, Trivia planned a very engaging campaign on social media that yielded positive results, contrary to popular belief that only high-income individuals explore the social media intensively through their smart phones. The chapter ends with a set of recommendations for all digital managers who want to analyse their campaigns effectively via awareness, sentiment and engagement metrics.

The case is meant for all post graduate programs in Business Management, which include the MBAs, Masters in Business Administration and the Executive Development program for managers. The case can also be used in Part Time Business Management programs held over weekends for working professionals. Most likely the students are going to handle this case in their second year of a full-time program or at an advanced level of their career development programs. The subjects so mentioned here were offered as electives or areas of specialization. It is presumed that the students undergoing these courses have basic understanding of marketing management.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.