Kat Rose Inc. - Sponsoring All-Star Cricket: A Selling Dilemma

Headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Kat Rose was founded in 2009 to produce small strategic business conferences and corporate hospitality events. After mixed success, it was presented with an opportunity in 2011 to organize a cricket match in Toronto. Although sports were not on its radar, the company decided to use the project as a base for expansion. It put in place an aggressive advertising plan, largely aimed at South Asian and West Indian communities in the city who were fans of the game, and contracted Universal Productions, an ethnic marketing agency, to procure sponsorships. However, with only 10 weeks to go before the International Cricket All-Star T20 Match was scheduled to kick off on May 12, 2012 at the Rogers Centre, Toronto, only $60,000 had been raised; $750,000 was needed to break even. Management had four choices: give Universal Productions more time, offer it a financial incentive to step up performance, switch to another agency with a proven track record in this field or increase its own in-house sales force to focus on countertrade barter agreements. Each option required different skills, knowledge, experience and risk. Given the severe time constraint, any change must be implemented immediately. What should Kat Rose do?

This case will fit MBA, undergraduate or executive level courses in sales management, business-to-business marketing or core marketing. It is also useful in a course that explores organizational behaviour or performance management. After the class discussion is complete, students should understand:<br><ul><li>That sales strategy should be driven by the marketing plan and the strategic options to consider when designing the sales process.</li><li>The business-to-business selling process and the importance of relationships with influencers and people in the decision-making unit.</li><li>That gathering information about a customer’s buying criteria and influences in the decision-making unit is difficult and can require considerable effort and time.</li><li>That selling is an investment of finite time and resources.</li><li>How a management decision can affect company culture and how strategy can be compromised in urgent situations.</li></ul>

• External sales agencies
• performance management
• organizational buying behaviour
• knowledge versus skill
• Canada