Dalian Xinyi: Expanding from Offline Catch Doll to Online Catch Doll

Dalian Xinyi Electronics Co., Ltd. (Dalian Xinyi), founded in 2014 and based in the province of Liaoning, China, had created a catch doll brand, Paw Toy, and operated more than 10 physical catch doll stores across the country. To deal with fierce competition from offline competitors, Dalian Xinyi had developed an online claw game application (app) in 2018 and had become a domestic Chinese catch doll brand, operating both an online app and offline stores. Although the performance of the online catch doll app was improving, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zefei Su, the founder and president of Dalian Xinyi, knew that the online app still faced design flaws such as a lack of ranking and sharing functions, problems with simple brand promotion strategies, and fierce competition from other online catch doll apps. Su was facing an important decision concerning Dalian Xinyi’s future: Should the company return its focus to the operation of offline catch doll stores, even while online catch doll gaming seemed to be a future trend?

This case is suitable for use in undergraduate- and graduate-level courses on marketing management, where it can be used to illustrate and discuss network marketing and strategic choices. By reviewing the development process of Dalian Xinyi, students can understand features of online and offline catch dolls, learn why customers select online and offline catch doll games and how to promote a catch doll brand through social media, and identify the strengths and weaknesses of online and offline strategies. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:<ul><li>Compare and contrast the characteristics of the Paw Toy brand’s online app and offline stores.</li><li>Master the customer delivered value theory and, based on this theory, explain why customers choose a product or service.</li><li>Identify the components of social media marketing, and recommend social media marketing strategies for an online gaming app based on the acquisition, activation, retention, referral, and revenue (AARRR) model.</li><li>Explore the growth strategies chief executive officers can employ based on their vision for their company's future.</li><li>Explain how to strategically combine online and offline channels so that they complement each other and lead to the other's development.</li></ul>

• online and offline
• marketing
• catch doll