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This case introduces students to the heritage brand Maille. Dating back to 1747, this brand has managed to elevate the image of mustard from commodity to premium product, capitalizing on brand authenticity and adopting the codes and strategies of luxury brands. Present in supermarkets with a premium price positioning, Maille develops its image through creating an elaborate customer experience in its boutiques, as well as through a communication strategy based on storytelling. Yet, the core base of customers who identify as gourmets is aging. To sustain its development, Maille needs to gain appeal among younger generations of consumers, without betraying its identity.

The Maille brand manager was interviewed in relation to the case. Participant observation was conducted in the boutiques in Paris (both Place de la Madeleine and Caroussel du Louvre) and in London, followed by discussions with Maille sommeliers. Data were also gathered through secondary sources. The question “How to seduce younger consumers with mustard” was proposed by Unilever.

This case has been effectively used with MBA and MSc Marketing students in Brand Management classes to demonstrate how brands draw inspiration from the luxury sector to become aspirational, enhance their social prestige and position themselves at higher price points. Students must reflect on how to build on the brand’s current strengths in order to protect it from a decline in consumption and competitive threats. Based on this analysis of the current situation, students must decide on the value of Maille differentiation strategy to younger consumers and on which segments to target without harming the brand’s identity. The rejuvenation of heritage brands (or gaining appeal to younger generations of customers) is a major issue in many sectors, from luxury, to wine and spirits, to food.

The case fosters discussions on core marketing concepts such as heritage branding and brand authenticity as well as differentiation and premiumisation strategies, all concepts that should be developed when answering the assignment questions. Furthermore, students should choose between a segmentation based on demographics (age, generations), and a segmentation based on lifestyle and attitude toward food.

Social Entrepreneurship.

This case study can be used on the module on introduction to social entrepreneurship for postgraduate students specializing in Social Entrepreneurship or Social Work.

This case explores the difference between social entrepreneurship and idealism. It captures the journey of Charlene Vaz and Kavita Gonsalves, two passionate young women, who formed “The Bake Collective” (TBC). Kavita and Charlene are both full-time employees, who spend their weekends and evenings running TBC and through bake sells raise funds for supporting social causes. The women have been able to get a teacher hired for differently abled children, provide water purifiers to victims of the Nepal earthquake, furnish a classroom in a school for less privileged children and provide teaching material for schools in over 400 villages in the State of Maharashtra in India. The case highlights the power of volunteering for a cause that can result in developing a social enterprise. It helps to unfold the steps undertaken to kick-start the cause as well as the risks involved in the start-up stage. It also discusses the measures that can be taken to mitigate the risks in the start-up phase and the ways by which social entrepreneurs can scale and grow their programme.

From this case, students will learn about the factors that lead to the germination of a social enterprise and identify characteristics of social entrepreneurs. They will be able to understand critical factors required to sustain start-up enterprises. The case will also enable students to explore systems and processes that need to be designed to sustain the start-up phase. Further, the case will help students to brainstorm on growth strategies for social enterprises.

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 3: Entrepreneurship.

The subject area is international business and global operations.

The study includes BSc, MSc and MBA students and management trainees who are interested in learning how an industry can be assessed to make a decision on market entry/expansion. Even senior management teams could be targeted in executive education programs, as this case provides a detailed procedure and methodology that is also used by companies (multinational corporations and small- and medium-sized enterprises) to develop strategies on corporate and functional levels.

A group of five senior executive teams of different Swiss luxury and lifestyle companies wanted to enter the Middle East market. To figure out the optimal market entry and operating strategies, the senior executive team approached the Head of the Swiss Business Hub Middle East of Switzerland Global Enterprise, Thomas Meier, in December 2012. Although being marked with great potential and an over-proportional growth, the Middle Eastern luxury market contained impediments that international firms had to take into consideration. Therefore, Thomas had to analyze the future outlook for this segment of the Middle East retail sector to develop potential strategies for the five different Swiss luxury and lifestyle companies to potentially operate successfully in the Middle East luxury and lifestyle market.

The study identifies barriers and operations challenges especially for Swiss and other foreign luxury and lifestyle retailers in the Middle East, understands the future (2017) institutional environment of the luxury and lifestyle retail sector in the Middle East and applies the institutions-resources matrix in the context of a Swiss company to evaluate the uncertainties prevailing in the Middle East luxury and lifestyle retail sector. It helps in turning insights about future developments in an industry (segment) into consequences for the corporate and functional strategies of a company.

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

CSS 5: International Business.

The teaching objectives of the case study are to provide students with an understanding of how strategic marketing tools are applied in an international marketing context and how brands, especially brands that come from emerging markets, are introduced and managed within modern versus traditional trade (e.g. ethnic shops).

This case illustrates the challenges and opportunities related to the introduction of a brand to a new market wherein the product (traditional coffee), although part of a very well-developed product category (coffee), may have been new to consumers in the new market. The brand itself, Zlatna džezva, is a flagship brand in its home country (Bosnia and Herzegovina) within a developing market. However, both the brand and the traditional coffee experience are relatively unknown to other markets. The case study focuses on Vispak’s CEO and CMO who are contemplating their next business move in the new market. Finally, the Dutch market and consumers are presented to facilitate the process of segmentation, targeting and positioning for students. The case study concludes with a task and dilemma for managers of the company.

This case could be used in a variety of undergraduate level classes, depending on what the instructor wishes to emphasize. The authors use the case for following courses: principles of marketing, marketing management and international marketing. In all courses, the case is allowing students to obtain the greater overview of the scope of the strategic marketing decision-making. Before starting with case analysis, students should have some familiarity with central marketing issues and concepts, specifically related to analysis of environment, segmentation-targeting-positioning, product and brand management.

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: 8: Marketing.

The learning outcomes of this study are as follows: investigate a story of growth in a volatile emerging market environment; and discuss strategy development in a stagnating, highly competitive market.

In October 2017, Pavel Titov, the owner and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Abrau-Durso Group, assigned a large international consulting firm to assist him in the development of a new corporate strategy. It was 11 years since the Titov family had taken over the then-struggling iconic sparkling wine manufacturer. The Titovs invested heavily into the enterprise with the dream of reviving the century-old brand, and turned the company around: in 2017, Abrau-Durso was the No. 1 sparkling wine brand in the Russian market. However, the shareholders wanted the company to grow further and believed that it was possible to generate more value. How could the company continue growing and increase its value at a time when the wine market was stagnating and the Russian economy was going through a rough period?

Masters level (MBA, Executive MBA).

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 11: Strategy.