Search results

Advertising, Marketing Management, Integrated Marketing Communications.

Undergraduate third year/fourth year students. The case is positioned at the beginning of the course.

The case aims to help the students in understanding the concepts of push and pull marketing in the nutritional supplement category which is different from the FMCG sector in terms of the decision-making process and consumer behavior. The brand is bought by the mother, consumed by the kids and endorsed by the doctors. The brand manager faces the dilemma of budget division on push vs pull marketing considering the previous back lash from the doctors when the company shifted toward pull marketing.

By the end of the case, the students should have understood the following concepts: push versus pull marketing, decision-making unit, decision-making process and customer acquisition vs retention efforts.

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

Marketing, strategy, and integrated marketing communication.

The case is suitable for analysis in an MBA level marketing communication course where the theories of hierarchy of effects (HoE) models, push vs pull strategies as well as positioning strategies can be introduced. The case is suitable for analysis in an MBA level marketing course for the module on marketing communications/advertising and promotions.

Sanjay, the regional head of PepsiCo India (eastern region), had been tasked with the preparation of a support plan for a new communication campaign of Mountain Dew, a yellow-coloured drink in PepsiCo's soft-drink portfolio. He had attended a meeting at the headquarters where he had been briefed on the new national campaign roll-out for Mountain Dew – for the first time with celebrity association. While Mountain Dew had been growing its market share in other regions of the Indian market, the Eastern region had been unresponsive to the mass media image building campaigns. During the meeting, the various aspects of Mountain Dew's performance were discussed and Sanjay was asked to prepare a support plan for the national campaign that will help to increase revenues and market share of the brand in the Eastern region.

To understand the complexities of differential impact of integrated nation-wide communications on various segments of the market due to cultural variations, to understand the role of push strategy vs pull strategy in marketing communications, to understand the role of consistency in image between the trade and consumers perception, to understand the impact of celebrity endorsements, an introduction to the HoE communication models and their applications, to understand limitations of the HoE and Think-Feel-Do models in objective setting and understanding the uses of alternative models, to build a communication plan based on pull vs push 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.

The learning outcomes of this study are as follows:

Teaching Objective 1: Students will describe specific characteristics of the rural market in India and will draw out the differences vis-a-vis the urban markets.

Teaching Objective 2: Students will describe about the push versus pull strategy and various channels of distribution in rural areas.

Teaching Objective 3: The students will explain the 4As of the rural marketing mix and apply the same in the context of the case.

Teaching Objective 4: The case can be applied with respect to the health-belief model to help students analyse the behaviour change model.

Teaching Objective 5: Students will analyse the challenges associated with supply chain and logistics in rural areas.

This case study looked at a start-up company Rugved Hygienecare Industries Private Limited and their sanitary napkin brand “Abolee” designed and targeted for rural women in India. Onkar Charegaonkar and Mithila Charegaonkar started this venture in December 2017, realizing that sanitary napkins solved a greater purpose of helping women hygienically manage menstruation, and at the same time, there was no threat to this product because over a period of time, it became a necessity of life. Onkar and Mithila believed in giving back to the society and at the same time generate revenue for their company. Onkar and Mithila needed to make a decision with respect to the distribution structure for Abolee to improve penetration in different rural areas of Maharashtra. Onkar and Mithila needed to strategize to create a remarkable impact in the rural areas. There were multiple challenges that were faced by Abolee, such as: creating awareness about hygienically managing menstruation options among women, ensuring that women consumers continue to use hygienic menstruation management material, creating a preference for Abolee among women consumers and deciding on whether to focus on driving sales through existing channel partners or to invest in finding out alternative avenues for selling “Abolee” in rural areas.

This case study was primarily written for understanding rural marketing aspects of marketing management courses at both the undergraduate level and the postgraduate level. This case study also indicated about the role of gender and its impact on consumer behaviour in rural areas. Although this case study was related to the rural Indian market, it can also be related to other emerging economies.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS8: Marketing.

This case has two primary purposes. First, it allows students to examine how cognitive bias can affect decision making in stressful situations. Students explore why individuals make flawed choices. They learn about how managers shape the context and the process through which teams make decisions. For instance, automation can create a climate in which people then struggle to cope with the unexpected when it happens. Students examine why individuals make these systematic errors in judgment. The case demonstrates that leaders need to be aware of the traps that individuals and teams encounter when they make decisions in crisis situations, and it enables students to discuss the strategies that leaders can employ to avoid these traps. Second, the case provides an opportunity to examine a catastrophic failure in detail. Students discover that it can be nearly impossible to identify a single factor that caused the failure. Instead, they learn how to apply multiple theoretical perspectives to examine a serious organizational breakdown. They become familiar with important concepts from behavioral decision theory, such as complex systems theory and how it interacts with cognitive bias.

The technical report released by the French Aviation Authority along with the primary flight cockpit voice recorder data were used as the basis for this case. Other available public data such as news reports were used to round out the case study.

On June 9, 2009, on a routine flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, Air France 447 (AF 447), carrying 220 people crashed in the mid-Atlantic Ocean. Drawing from various first-hand accounts (cockpit voice recorder) and secondary evidence of the tragedy, the case provides a detailed account of the key events that took place leading up to the accident. The case describes how the pilots on AF447 were confronted with a scenario they had not faced before, and through the confusion made a series of errors. Through many of the quotes in the text, readers gain an understanding of the impressions and perceptions of the pilots, including how they felt about many of the critical decisions and incidents during the last minutes of the flight. The case concludes by highlighting the main findings of the BEA report.

This case study is appropriate for undergraduate students studying organizational behavior. It is also appropriate for MBA-level leadership and behavior classes.

Illinois Superconductor Corp. a technology start-up, came up with an innovative new superconducting filter for use in cellular base stations. It needed to estimate the demand for its filters. The manager came up with a simple chain-ratio-based forecasting model that, while simple and intuitive, was too simplistic. The company had also commissioned a research firm to develop a model-based forecast. The model-based forecast used diffusion modeling, analogy-based forecasting, and conjoint analysis to create a forecast that incorporated customer preferences, diffusion effects, and competitive dynamics.

To use the data to generate a model-based forecast and to reconcile the model-based forecast with the manager's forecast. Requires sophisticated spreadsheet modeling and the application of advanced forecasting techniques.

This case study will allow students to learn about effective segmentation and how to choose an appropriate segment, analyse the attractiveness of the target market by using five-forces analysis and explore business growth alternatives by using Ansoff’s growth matrix.

The Left-Out Store was an online shop that sold products exclusively for left-handers. Maitri Wadher, the proprietor of the store, being a left-handed person and driven by her childhood experiences, started the store to help left-handed people find products for their use. She started the online-only store in September 2018, and in October 2022, she found that, despite the COVID-19 pandemic having abated, her store had not grown as expected. How, then, should she push for growth? Was the niche segment substantial enough? Was her target market attractive? Should she penetrate the market or go for market development? What should she do?

PG level (MBA/PGDM).

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

This teaching case focuses on the field of marketing, particularly, the situation of building a global brand as small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) internationalizing from an emerging market.

It is recommended for postgraduate and post-experience students, for example, in MBA programmes and executive education courses.

This teaching case focuses on the field of marketing, particularly, the situation of building a global brand as SME internationalizing from an emerging market. It is recommended for postgraduate and post-experience students, for example, in MBA programmes and executive education courses. BOS Brands provides an interesting case on the internationalisation experience of a Born Global firm, particularly from an emerging market context. This medium-sized South African business develops, distributes and markets Rooibos-based beverages in Southern Africa and Europe, with eyes on a broader global presence. The case provides insights into the strategic decisions required to successfully take a medium-sized business into competitive foreign markets without the capital and support enjoyed by many larger multinational corporations. Among other issues, BOS Brands provides fertile ground to explore the selection of target country and entry mode, overcoming cultural and physical distance, opportunity recognition and the roles of networks and innovation.

The expected learning outcomes are to: analyse the decision-making process of the internationalising SME in terms of internationalisation factors, timing and phases and evaluation of potential target countries and entry mode options and launch marketing approach; understand the complexities of marketing in a foreign cultural and business context (including cultural and physical distance); and develop alternative marketing strategies for an entrepreneurial SME to grow internationally given limited resources.

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.

Parsana Health Centre Private Limited, a part of the INR 4,500 crore¹ fitness industry, was a fitness centre established at Ahmedabad (Gujarat) in India in December 2002, as an integral part of the organized players of the fitness industry. It had been relentlessly working towards creating and nurturing a healthy lifestyle for the people of Ahmedabad over the previous two eventful decades. Under the able guidance of skilled trainers and dieticians, the fitness enthusiast could enjoy state of the art gym facilities, in the upcoming mega city of Ahmedabad. Parsana Health Centre Private Limited enjoyed the first mover advantage in Ahmedabad and tapped the fitness club² market through its 13 franchises opened in select vantage locations of the city. It was started by the Parsana brothers: Vijay and Dinesh. They strived hard to inculcate the fitness regime in people and attempted to interweave the benefits of fitness with their occupations. However, the road undertaken threw challenges at them – sometimes from people who failed to underline the importance of fitness in their daily schedule, and sometimes from other fitness brands which emerged as strong competitors. The emergence of many individual and branded fitness chains started making inroads into the busy streets of Ahmedabad and they too worked hard to pull out fitness enthusiasts to these social fitness centres by providing personal health counseling, rejuvenation, yoga, etc. Sustaining competitive advantage became a tough task.

During the downturn in the economy, EILEEN FISHER Inc., which had been experiencing significant growth in the years leading up to 2008, had to take some widespread organizational strategic action or potentially lose $11 million. Eileen Fisher and the Facilitating Leadership Team (FLT) met to reflect on the actions that were taken in the last 18 months in order to reshape their organization. From the beginning, the FLT had been transparent with the 800 employees in the organization, informing them that they were facing serious losses. They shared not only identified issues, but their deep faith in the EILEEN FISHER collaborative culture a faith that was reflected in their first step to planning. Turning to the employees, they had asked, What should we do? Teams throughout the company figured out new ways of working and recaptured EILEEN FISHER's profit. Reflecting on the reshaping of EILEEN FISHER and the many actions taken, the FLT team wondered if the creation of the new normal was sound and sustainable for the future. Students must evaluate the effectiveness of EILEEN FISHER's leadership system and determine whether the company can survive the economic downturn while remaining true to the company's core values.

The case is a field-research case and was funded as part of a sabbatical to study leadership at EILEEN FISHER Inc. The primary goal of the long-term project was to research and write cases on socially minded women leaders through an inclusive conceptual lens. Extensive planning with the Chief Culture Officer at EILEEN FISHER resulted in an 18-month deep dive with over 40 in-depth interviews, extensive observation of many different teams and meetings particularly the monthly Leadership Forums, thorough review of internal communications as well as review of other secondary research.

This case was written for advanced undergraduate or graduate organizational management, retail management and strategic change students. The case is best taught later in the course where students are asked to connect various leadership or strategic change theories with organizations and outcomes. The theoretical readings are more suited for advanced leadership students and are a springboard for in-depth analysis and further assignments. The case demonstrates the power of a values-based organization and how this values-based leadership style can be used to reshape an organization. This case can also be used for a retail management course to look at a values-based organization in the retailing industry. Most retailers in the industry have traditional hierarchical organizations; this case shows that there are alternative business models and newer leadership frameworks that explain EILEEN FISHER's management. Retailers are also impacted by every downturn in the economy and challenge to consumer confidence. This case shows how a retail organization can reshape itself with a new value proposition as a result of a downturn in the economy. It also demonstrates how employees can take action and redefine an organization.

Strategic Management, Strategic Marketing Management.

Bachelors, Masters.

Shaheen Ballpoints is a project of Shaheen Group of Industries who, apart from manufacturing and marketing writing instruments, are engaged in diversified businesses of sanitary fittings, sanitary tiles, baby diapers and plastic films. Launched in 2001-2002, Shaheen Ballpoints had to compete against established ballpoint pen brands in a growing market. Shaheen Ballpoints believed that by setting out new standards for technology and packaging being used in the writing instruments industry, they would be able to compete with these giants. Shaheen Ballpoints experienced a mega launch of its ballpoint pens range in 2002. The wholesale market of Pakistan welcomed Shaheen Ballpoints quite generously and they paid in advance for their stocks which, generally, was not a norm of the writing instruments industry of Pakistan. However, soon after its launching, Shaheen Ballpoints realized some of the technical and marketing issues in its systems and had to pull all its stock back from the market just after six months of its launch. All the major resellers avoided Shaheen's stocks which was a major setback for the Shaheen Group. They re-launched the ballpoints in early 2004.

It is expected that the students will be able to understand the: issues associated with using the diversification strategy to grow the business; strategic implications of challenging the established industry norms and practices; and channel relationships within the industry and the need to tune-up the channel relationship strategy according to the varied nature of diversified businesses.

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