Revolutionizing Sustainability: Ball Aluminum Cup’s Impactful CSR-Driven Value Proposition

In October 2023, the global vice-president of marketing and partnerships at Ball Corporation (Ball), who was overseeing the company’s aluminum cup business, was on his way to a significant meeting. Given a plastic cup for his drink, he thought about his company’s aluminum cups. Despite initial doubts, Ball’s cups had succeeded, doubling sales and gaining recognition within two years. Now, the company was aiming for further growth and found that scaling up posed a challenge. The vice-president believed that a sustainability-focused marketing campaign could assist, but he knew that consumer awareness of the cups was lacking. Ball needed to rethink its messaging to attract more attention. The vice-president wondered how to effectively capture people’s interest and persuade them to purchase his company’s cups.

This case is intended for students at an undergraduate or graduate level. It is best used as part of an introduction to marketing course or as part of a course or module on marketing, supply chain management and omnichannel marketing, branding, or product growth expansion. The topics addressed in this case include brand value positioning and repositioning, sustainability, and social media. In working through the case and answering the assignment questions, students will have multiple opportunities to discuss core marketing strategy and innovation topics and will learn to do the following: <ul><li>Analyze how effective brand positioning can differentiate a product in a competitive market, especially when emphasizing sustainability as a key selling point.</li><li>Evaluate the impact of marketing strategies, such as sustainability-focused campaigns, on brand awareness, consumer perception, and market penetration.</li><li>Explore challenges and opportunities associated with scaling operations to meet increased demand for environmentally sustainable products.</li><li>Examine methods for effectively communicating a brand’s environmental initiatives and product benefits to target audiences.</li><li>Identify strategies for adapting a brand’s value proposition and marketing approach in response to changing consumer preferences and market dynamics, particularly in the context of sustainability.</li></ul>

• disruptive marketing
• sustainability
• CSR
• marketing
• growth strategy