Launch of mbanx

From a strategic perspective, the Bank of Montreal, a major Canadian bank, has committed to entering the 'virtual banking' marketplace in Canada. There is also the potential to launch later in the USA and Mexico. They plan to do this in a preemptive fashion to gain first mover advantage. This means no extensive pilots and a short time to launch. The decision makers are charged with developing a complete launch strategy. They have two years of tentative ideas to work with, but a number of major decisions on product line, pricing, communications, salesforce, etc. are still to be made. The purpose of the case is to introduce students to the entire scope of marketing decisions to be made in such a situation, including fundamental decisions around targeting and positioning. It also drives students to make decisions in the face of incomplete information and short time horizons. To date, the case has been successfully used to set the stage for marketing management courses, and to kick off marketing management modules in executive development programs. (A nine-minute video can be purchased with this case, video 7A98A025.)

• Consumer Marketing
• Market Entry
• Market Strategy
• New Products