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As marketers love to teach students, differentiation must be the focal point of marketing strategy. But what happens when a firm's competitive set is shared by similar customers, perceived differentiation is weak among rivals, and loyalty is a thing of the past? This was the dilemma the French luxury jeweler Mauboussin faced: how to leverage its iconic brand to access new customers, domestically and abroad, and through new channels, while preserving the image of luxury goods founded on the myth of rarity and exclusivity? The case was designed and used for the latter portion of an international MBA marketing course and would work well in most international business courses.

This study enables to critically assess: what constitutes the consequences of a financial crisis to a multi-national enterprise operating in the emerging market of Russia; the decision-making processes behind crisis management and the corresponding search for informational grounds to be used as decision justification; and the role of sustainable development in times of crisis.

During the 2014–2015 financial crisis in Russia, L’Oréal Russia managed to increase growth by 7%–15%, strengthening its place as the market leader in the country. First, the case illustrates the way Antonio, the General Manager of L’Oréal Russia, had successfully approached this situation by learning from the shortcomings of the company’s strategy during the 2007–2008 crisis and deciding to take a proactive position concerning stakeholders. Then, upon recalling his success story, Antonio suddenly found himself at the dawn of yet another crisis caused simultaneously by the COVID-19 outbreak and oil prices drop. In the face of uncertainty regarding the applicability of prior crisis management strategy for the new economic and social reality of Russia, Antonio was worried about whether the company would be able to achieve the 2020 sustainable development goals of L’Oréal by the end of the year. The case dilemma involves choices Antonio faced during mid-March 2020 about strategy formulation based on an adjustment to the expected consumer behavior patterns and possible need to rethink sustainable development goals priority.

This case is appropriate for an undergraduate or graduate-level program curriculum for courses dedicated to or including topics related to crisis management, doing business in emerging markets, corporate social responsibility and consumer behavior. Before engaging with the case, the students should be aware of basic management- and economics-related concepts and terms, such as strategy, sustainable development, CSR and economic crisis.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The case is intended to assist students to:1. understand the customer’s purchase decision with reference to channel values;2. evaluate and assess the channel strategy using conventional and digital channels; and3. design the channel strategy for start-ups in emerging markets.

The subject area for this teaching case was marketing management. The teaching case could be used for the undergraduation and graduation levels of students. The case was about the marketing channel strategy of a small start-up boutique called Chirmi in India, with the theory of consumption values explained. In this case, primary data was taken directly from Chirmi, whereas secondary data for market analysis was taken from various reports, articles and other sources. Because the owner provided the records and documentation, the account was therefore substantiated by the collected first-hand information. The case uses quantitative methods to make students understand the channel arithmetic and consumption values of all the channels used by Chirmi.

In the course of core marketing classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels, this case may be used. The case addresses the channel structure, including wholesaling, retailing and e-commerce. Distribution channel management, the theory of consumption values and e-commerce marketing management are explained. Evaluation of channel strategy, design, implementation and management is emphasized.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 8: Marketing.

Marketing Management, Business Strategy and Promotion & Advertising.

Associated degree, undergraduate and graduate students as well as executives from profit-making organizations.

Groupon is the world's largest daily-deal Web site and a pioneer in the group-buying industry. The major feature of the company's business model is that merchants use Groupon as a platform to offer coupons with a discounted price, and the coupon buyers can then redeem these coupons. Groupon has done business in over 50 countries and, by 2012, had over 39.5 million subscribers received its daily news. It had a 59.1 per cent share of the daily-deals market in 2013. Groupon is a publicly listed company on the NASDAQ in the USA, trading under the ticker symbol of “GPRN”.

The students' business knowledge and skills will be sharpened by working through this case, and students will be challenged to identify solutions to the marketing concerns: specifically, how the driving approach of its daily-deal business model enabled the company to adopt a growth strategy that will confront the difficulties of the emergent “golden age” of the daily-deal industry in the twenty-first century. In addition, it will also be of help to the students to take the active roles of thinker, analyst, evaluator, decision-maker and implementer to evaluate the continuing changes in a competitive environment and consider how Groupon can seize available opportunities to predict future performance by comparing data from 2008 and 2012.

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

The subject area is retailing in the Indian business context.

The case is suitable for an MBA course on retail marketing. Positioning is that of an advanced elective, trying to educate, apply and synthesize the facets of learning, thinking and assimilating concepts with practicalities.

The case elucidates the trials and tribulations of Bharat Bazar, one of the top contenders in the Indian retail scene. It explores the journey of brand making and customer patronage. Under consideration is a set of options for the retailer's next stage of growth. While the decisions are not to be mutually exclusive, it is clear that the firm has neither the capacity to scale up without proper locations nor unlimited management resources for economic viability. The retailer naturally has to choose the best direction possible and dedicate all efforts to bring the firm to the next level of growth. The strategy has to be robust in any case.

The case will help students to: appreciate Indian macro retail variables; analyse business decisions of a retailer based on location, merchandise, and profitability; and explore future strategy options from the growth perspective as well as a socially responsible player.

Socially, the case is nourishing and enriching as it connotes not only a wealth creation angle, but also a green and efficient supply chain one. Retailers must cater for the choice pattern of the society, whether essential or non essential items of consumption.

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

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.

This case was successfully taught in a second-year MBA marketing course on the science of behavior change. It would be suitable for first-year MBA and executive education programs. The material would work well on courses on women in business, women as leaders and women in data science. The female protagonist creates a tech platform and uses a data-driven model.

Marketing – it was used in a module around leveraging existing insights and creating new ones in marketing strategies. The course is structured around a “pathway to behavior change” framework. This case focuses on the analysis segment of the model, introduces targeted behavioral challenge(s) and lends itself to identifying consumer insights, biases and behaviors. It uses that analysis to learn about the market, competition and gaps to fill.

This case uses a startup in the retail industry to explore the leverage of behavioral science to enrich a business model and structure a marketing campaign. The material unfolds the testing of an innovative process and use of persuasion to align business practices with human behavior and scale. In addition, it gives the opportunity to discuss how a minimal tech solution could bring in market data and provide a test platform to larger clients.The founder of Rohvi, Sara Whiffen, created a platform that allowed shoppers to buy clothing items from local retail stores, use them and after a few wears, return the items for partial store credit. The business model was based on Whiffen’s experience in the automobile industry with used cars. Following her first few years in the business, Whiffen had to make some decisions around engaging clients on two sides – retailers and consumers. How can an innovative startup leverage behavioral science to persuade multiple stakeholders?

• Learn marketing concepts in material and a tech platform featuring a female protagonist and team; • practice evaluating a product and capturing value using behavioral science; • understand consumer/business biases and practice forming and delivering a persuasive message; • learn to leverage and create new insights to aid behavior change in business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) contexts; • analyze behavioral insights to identify new opportunities in a competitive marketplace; • unfold a framework to explore consumer motivation in recommerce; and • explore the use of experimentation in changing consumer behavior and improving decision-making.

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

Females need to be represented in core business education curriculum such as data analysis in addition to classes focused on social equity and business. This all female executive team pursued an innovative process built on a technology platform using a data-driven model to gain enterprise clients. The material offers an opportunity to explore sustainability.

CSS 8: Marketing

The case study is based on a series of in-depth interviews carried out with the owners and directors of the company. The data are complemented by documentary analysis, including descriptions of internal processes and industry information. For the teaching note, the authors opt for an exploratory study using the open-ended approach of grounded theory.

Arette^® is a Mexican family business dedicated to the production and sale of tequila, fusing the artisanal with the new in its production processes. Sales take place mostly in the European and American markets. The foreign market for tequila is very attractive but also very demanding both in terms of financial resources and time. Although the company has managed to enter this market through bars and restaurants, it has not yet managed to reach the final consumers (those who order margaritas in bars). Jaime, Eduardo and Lalo are wondering whether it might be time to invest more resources in ensuring that Arette^® is not just a brand for fine cocktails. Until now, their main promotional tool has been word of mouth, and they are not sure what their next step should be – to focus on the international or the domestic market.

The case study can be incorporated into undergraduate classes, where it could serve as part of an international marketing course, in particular, as an international sales strategy and implementation session. It can be used to teach basic concepts and their application.

This case study focuses on the decision that many small companies have to make at some point in their business strategy, which is to focus either on the international or domestic market: The objectives are as follows:

1. To identify the variables that increase or modify the demand for Tequila.

2. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of focusing on a domestic Tequila market or focusing on an international market.

3. Identify the critical variables that a small company faces if it wants to go international such as.

4. Identify if there are forms of diversification for Tequila Arette such as new markets or new products, or both.

This case puts students in the shoes of Mexican entrepreneur Rodolfo Corcuera of the tech startup Aliada, an online platform that matches maids with customers in Mexico City. With backing from one of Mexico City's newest venture capital firms, Corcuera's business now needs to scale, and he is considering how best to position his offering to those on whom his business model depends–maids and customers. To tackle this, students will learn about basic concepts from psychology that can inform marketers. More specifically, they will learn how basic human needs (nurturance, security) fuel self-regulatory goals (promotion and prevention goals, respectively), which in turn impact how people approach their consumption goals. Students will analyze Aliada's current Facebook ads, watch videos of some of Aliada's current maids and customers to assess whether they seem more motivated by promotion or prevention goals, and recommend optimal messaging for Facebook ads and subway banners in order for Corcuera to be most appealing to these two target audiences who may have different motivations.

Choice Behavior.

The case study deals with cross-gender analysis of impulse buying behavior in apparel shopping in India. Any extrapolation of this study to other markets should take into account that Indian consumers are price sensitive. The buying behavior in apparel shopping may not be directly related to other retail categories such as ready-to-eat food, consumer electronics, etc.

Mr Khuswant Chaddha’s family business is in tatters. Market dynamics have changed over the years and his textile mill is no longer the cash cow it once was. His son, Gaurav Chaddha, a recent engineering graduate, plans to save the business by venturing into branded apparel retailing. A key component of this strategy is to figure out impulse shopping behavior in apparel purchases. The gender angle is used to better comprehend the differences in impulse buying emotions so that males and females can be targeted with greater success. A survey of shoppers belonging to suitable demographics is used as the backbone of this study. The analysis of the data presents several dilemmas in some critical business decisions.

The objectives of the case include: understanding how marketplaces change over time; realizing the fact that businesses should evolve over time and even highly profitable business models can become obsolete pretty fast; studying the factors which influence the choice of an apparel store; understanding impulse buying behavior and how gender plays a decisive role in it and analyzing post purchase behavior with respect to gender.

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.