個案資料

BoAt Lifestyle (boAt), a digital-first consumer products company founded in New Delhi, India, by Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta in 2014, had launched its first products (wired earphones and headphones) two years after a thorough market study. Over time, the company had entered various high-growth consumer lifestyle–focused product categories, offering its products online at affordable prices. It then attempted to move into the offline market, adopting an omnichannel strategy to engage with a larger customer base and increase its profitability. Despite tough competition from similar brands, it managed to build a reputation among its customers. However, customers and investors were less than happy with its strategy to procure most of its products from China and questioned the high valuation in its initial public offering. To add to the company’s woes, sales its own online and offline channels were not satisfactory. At the end of January 2022, the company was facing an important question: What should boAt do to maintain its growth momentum, appease investor’s patriotic sentiments, and expand sales from its own channels? Which of these challenges should be its priority in the short-run?

The case is designed for use in undergraduate- or graduate-level courses on business strategy, sales, and marketing, including marketing strategy, e-commerce, digital marketing, entrepreneurship, integrated marketing communications, and social media marketing. The case is also well suited for an executive audience. It will be best if the case is discussed at the end of a marketing course, when students can better relate their understanding of various concepts and topics. The case can be used in different courses to integrate learning. This case explores and evaluates the strategies undertaken by a digital-first consumer products company to secure a market position in a highly competitive and price sensitive, yet lucrative, industry. It helps students identify and analyze various aspects of direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands and learn about marketing digital brands, including by understanding consumer behaviour, engaging customers through different market channels, and having a basic idea about omnichannel and D2C markets. After studying the case and working on the assignment questions, the students will be able to do the following:<br><br><ul><li>Explain marketing strategies for a D2C brand.</li><li>Develop deeper insights into the different elements of marketing mix.</li></ul>

• Marketing strategy
• e-commerce
• digital marketing
• entrepreneurship