Chennai Super Kings (CSK) was the most successful team of Indian Premier League (IPL) till it was banned for two seasons (2016-2017) in 2015. The match-fixing and betting controversy and the resulting lawsuit in the Supreme Court eroded the brand value of CSK from US$72 million in 2014 to $67 million in 2015. Since the ban, key CSK players had moved to other IPL teams, with CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni becoming the captain of Rising Pune Supergiants, and key CSK players Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja joining Gujarat Lions and Rising Pune Supergiants. Since the ban, newer sports leagues have also emerged and gained momentum because of the Indian viewers' new and insatiable appetite for all sports ranging from traditional kabaddi, wrestling, hockey and football to the newer badminton, tennis, boxing, futsal and mixed martial arts. With sports viewership spreading farther and wider than cricket, IPL is in for tough competition to gain and retain eyeballs. Under these circumstances, the return of CSK in 2018 is a challenge in itself. What strategies should CSK management adopt to rebuild the brand? Should it hire more star players to jump start rebuilding the brand? What factors could jeopardize the successful relaunch of CSK? What activities should the team engage in to increase fan involvement? Learning objective: 1. To understand issues in the relaunch of a sports franchise, and the associated challenges; 2. To understand potential strategies for rebuilding a brand in the sports industry; 3. To apply marketing tools and thinking to the sports industry; 4. Understanding brand equity concepts, such as Keller's Customer-Based Brand Equity model; 5. To understand sports consumption and sports fan engagement.

Precia Pharma Private Limited was considered one of the fastest growing companies in the highly competitive Indian pharmaceutical industry. An email from the company's star performing executive in March 2017, highlighting sales pressures and unethical practices in the industry, forced the managing director to face the reality of how the ills plaguing the pharmaceutical sector might affect his company. He wondered what he must do to maintain the company's ethical code of conduct while striving for a healthy balance between ambitious targets and good selling practices. The case explores the strategies of the company for managing the different ethical issues in a pharmaceutical setting.

Many commodities sellers resort to price cuts to attract customers; they fail to realize that their customers will pay premium prices for the right deals. The secret lies in reducing customers' risks.

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. Many firms know about their customers, but few know the customers themselves or how to get new ones. Leaders in customer knowledge management go beyond transaction data, using a mix of techniques, and they aren't afraid to tackle difficult problems. The authors report results from interviews with 24 leading firms and describe seven practices that the leaders share. The companies interviewed--including Harley-Davidson, Procter & Gamble, and Wachovia Bank--have undertaken specific and successful initiatives centered around the management of customer knowledge. Within the practices, two results stand out: First, firms are beginning to rely more on data from actual interactions, such as sales and service. They are seeking creative ways to turn data from these interactions into knowledge. Second, even the most ambitious firms are keeping data from different approaches separate. They are not accepting the notion of an integrated data repository. The authors go on to present the practices of the leaders in customer knowledge management.