Akshali Shah, the promoter of Parag Milk Foods, was excited about the success of her brand, 'Pride of Cows,' which, despite being super-premium, was growing fast in the Indian market. The other two brands- 'Gowardhan' and 'Go' brands were performing well. However, her mind was continuously distracted with the thought of scaling up and 'What next for Parag Milk Foods (PMF)'? The Indian dairy market had been primarily about liquid milk and was highly commoditized due to a lack of differentiation and premiumization. She had to make decisions on how to scale up. Should the company introduce more products or consolidate the existing ones?

Anchal Abrol and Priya Puri faced a dilemma of enticing their children to eat nutritious food. In 2019, they decided to pool all their savings to launch Snaqary. The company’s clever recipes, inspired by traditional Indian wisdom, focused on nutritious ingredients such as multigrain without compromising taste. Though organic growth met initial expectations, the time to launch the brand into the next orbit was upon them when they realized the need to generate a strong preference and pull for the brand to be able to command a position in the grocery retail system. It was March 2023, and they were planning the following year's strategy. Snaqary wanted to scale up and make the brand attractive to investors.

The founders of the app-based credit line MoneyTap shared a vision of creating an inclusionary multi-product banking experience. The company’s gross revenue had surged from its first year, but while the business was doing well, growth was not coming easy because of intense competition. The organization wanted to expand its offerings to include a pay-later feature, credit cards, and digital savings and become India’s first full-stack neobank. The team’s current brand, MoneyTap, was a personal credit-line brand, and to expand it to a full-service neobank required a new brand strategy and a rethinking of the brand architecture. While branding and its concepts were perceived to be more applicable to consumer goods, the founders were convinced that their fintech start-up could only move to the next level by leveraging the inherent power of a strong brand.

Akshali Shah, the promoter of Parag Milk Foods, was excited about the success of her brand, 'Pride of Cows,' which, despite being super-premium, was growing fast in the Indian market. The other two brands- 'Gowardhan' and 'Go' brands were performing well. However, her mind was continuously distracted with the thought of scaling up and 'What next for Parag Milk Foods (PMF)'? The Indian dairy market had been primarily about liquid milk and was highly commoditized due to a lack of differentiation and premiumization. She had to make decisions on how to scale up. Should the company introduce more products or consolidate the existing ones?

Anchal Abrol and Priya Puri faced a dilemma of enticing their children to eat nutritious food. In 2019, they decided to pool all their savings to launch Snaqary. The company's clever recipes, inspired by traditional Indian wisdom, focused on nutritious ingredients such as multigrain without compromising taste. Though organic growth met initial expectations, the time to launch the brand into the next orbit was upon them when they realized the need to generate a strong preference and pull for the brand to be able to command a position in the grocery retail system. It was March 2023, and they were planning the following year's strategy. Snaqary wanted to scale up and make the brand attractive to investors.

The founders of the app-based credit line MoneyTap shared a vision of creating an inclusionary multi-product banking experience. The company's gross revenue had surged from its first year, but while the business was doing well, growth was not coming easy because of intense competition. The organization wanted to expand its offerings to include a pay-later feature, credit cards, and digital savings and become India's first full-stack neobank. The team's current brand, MoneyTap, was a personal credit-line brand, and to expand it to a full-service neobank required a new brand strategy and a rethinking of the brand architecture. While branding and its concepts were perceived to be more applicable to consumer goods, the founders were convinced that their fintech start-up could only move to the next level by leveraging the inherent power of a strong brand.

The case opens with the current crisis for Amazon because of its alleged use of sensitive and confidential business information from third-party sellers on its platform to develop competing products under Amazon's private label (PL) brands, a practice at odds with the company's stated policy. Such allegations not only hurt Amazon's reputation as one of the largest e-tailers but also brought to light a larger debate about the right way to launch PL brands. Although Amazon claims to have prohibited its employees from using nonpublic, seller-specific data, it agrees to have used aggregate customer data like other brick-and-mortar stores to improve customer experience. However, the third- party sellers feel that Amazon's unfair practice of using their private information has hurt them, decreasing their return on investment and compromising their product innovations. Russell Grandinetti, who currently runs Amazon's international consumer business, faces the following dilemma: Should Amazon continue its PL brands? Because PL brands are important for Amazon's business, Grandinetti must find ways to build synergy with third-party retailers while developing Amazon's PL brands. Grandinetti needs to address these concerns in the next shareholder's meeting.

Founded in 2015, GreedyGame Media Pvt. Ltd. (GreedyGame) had a mission to develop culturally relevant gaming content into which ads could be seamlessly integrated so as not to compromise the user experience. Through this approach, organizations would also be able to target their users more sharply. The market looked promising, and the opportunity was ample, but gaming as an industry was still new to India, especially for its inclusion in business. There were many challenges from both the gaming side and the advertising side. GreedyGame had to find the right business model to create an ecosystem with cost-sharing between multiple stakeholders and to expand revenue streams beyond advertisers. In 2017, the company’s co-founders wondered what their go-to-market strategy should be. Should they raise funds and continue on the same path they had been on, or should they look to find new collaborators and partners?

Founded in 2015, GreedyGame Media Pvt. Ltd. (GreedyGame) had a mission to develop culturally relevant gaming content into which ads could be seamlessly integrated so as not to compromise the user experience. Through this approach, organizations would also be able to target their users more sharply. The market looked promising, and the opportunity was ample, but gaming as an industry was still new to India, especially for its inclusion in business. There were many challenges from both the gaming side and the advertising side. GreedyGame had to find the right business model to create an ecosystem with cost-sharing between multiple stakeholders and to expand revenue streams beyond advertisers. In 2017, the company's co-founders wondered what their go-to-market strategy should be. Should they raise funds and continue on the same path they had been on, or should they look to find new collaborators and partners?

In the summer of 2012, the president of the leisure sector of John Keells Hotels needed to discuss marketing strategies with his senior management team. The company was a well-known brand that operated Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts and Chaaya Hotels and Resorts in Sri Lanka and Maldives. Each of the two hotel brands catered to a different set of customers and offered different value propositions. After the terrorist conflict that had plagued Sri Lanka for 26 years had come to a dramatic close in May 2009, an influx of tourists was expected from both Western and Asian countries. The company had a great opportunity to strengthen its two hotel brands and capitalize on the growing global tourism market. Of the two hotel chains, Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts was the portfolio's luxury brand, whereas Chaaya Hotels and Resorts was the economy brand. The senior management team needed to design a brand architecture for the company that would offer a sound business solution and help the company's hotel sector find its rightful place in the global arena.

The family-run Balaji Wafers Pvt. Ltd. (Balaji Wafers), a savoury snack manufacturer, had adopted a phased strategy in taking on the likes of global multinational corporation PepsiCo in India, an emerging economy. After operating successfully for more than three decades in western India, Balaji Wafers was planning to grow and to go national with forays into north and south India. Balaji Wafers had a strong foothold in western India, where in Gujarat and Maharashtra it had left PepsiCo's brand Lay's far behind; however, growing nationally would require more investments, robust business strategy, and marketing acumen. In pursuing growth, should Balaji Wafers expand nationally, or should it strengthen its leadership position in its home territory?

In early 2016, the country head for Seijing Motor Corporation (SMC) in India was worried about stagnant sales of the company's Supreme pickup brand. The Supreme brand had gained only a single-digit market share over the past year, and SMC's share of the growing large pickup market had steadily fallen, from 40 per cent in 2005 to 10 per cent in 2015. SMC's Supreme brand was competing with the market leader in the pickup segment. The pickup needed to be repositioned immediately so that it appealed to customers; otherwise, its market share would erode even further. Should the company fight existing consumer perceptions or leverage them? Should the Supreme brand be repositioned, or should SMC offer new brands in other segments? Should it extend the Supreme brand name into those other segments, or should it introduce new brand names?

In early 2016, the country head for Seijing Motor Corporation (SMC) in India was worried about stagnant sales of the company’s Supreme pickup brand. The Supreme brand had gained only a single-digit market share over the past year, and SMC’s share of the growing large pickup market had steadily fallen, from 40 per cent in 2005 to 10 per cent in 2015. SMC’s Supreme brand was competing with the market leader in the pickup segment. The pickup needed to be repositioned immediately so that it appealed to customers; otherwise, its market share would erode even further. Should the company fight existing consumer perceptions or leverage them? Should the Supreme brand be repositioned, or should SMC offer new brands in other segments? Should it extend the Supreme brand name into those other segments, or should it introduce new brand names?

The family-run Balaji Wafers Pvt. Ltd. (Balaji Wafers), a savoury snack manufacturer, had adopted a phased strategy in taking on the likes of global multinational corporation PepsiCo in India, an emerging economy. After operating successfully for more than three decades in western India, Balaji Wafers was planning to grow and to go national with forays into north and south India. Balaji Wafers had a strong foothold in western India, where in Gujarat and Maharashtra it had left PepsiCo’s brand Lay’s far behind; however, growing nationally would require more investments, robust business strategy, and marketing acumen. In pursuing growth, should Balaji Wafers expand nationally, or should it strengthen its leadership position in its home territory?

Café Coffee Day pioneered retail café culture in India with its entry into the market in 1996. After enjoying success for more than a decade, the brand felt the need to evolve in order to suit consumer preferences and better compete in the market space. The Café Coffee Day management team commissioned a brand image study to better understand consumer perceptions. The results showed that although Café Coffee Day's “regular guy/girl” brand archetype had evolved over time, there was a clear gap between the intended brand identity and the image that was projected. To make the brand relevant to Café Coffee Day’s core target group (i.e., young, urban Indian consumers), the company had to make sure that its positioning was relevant and clear, its brand identity was refreshed, and its café experience was well defined and differentiated. Café Coffee Day wanted to identify various positioning platforms through analysis of the company, its competition, and its customers, and then to evaluate these platforms to arrive at an appropriate positioning choice.

Café Coffee Day pioneered retail café culture in India with its entry into the market in 1996. After enjoying success for more than a decade, the brand felt the need to evolve in order to suit consumer preferences and better compete in the market space. The Café Coffee Day management team commissioned a brand image study to better understand consumer perceptions. The results showed that although Café Coffee Day's "regular guy/girl" brand archetype had evolved over time, there was a clear gap between the intended brand identity and the image that was projected. To make the brand relevant to Café Coffee Day's core target group (i.e., young, urban Indian consumers), the company had to make sure that its positioning was relevant and clear, its brand identity was refreshed, and its café experience was well defined and differentiated. Café Coffee Day wanted to identify various positioning platforms through analysis of the company, its competition, and its customers, and then to evaluate these platforms to arrive at an appropriate positioning choice.

In 2009, the Mahindra Group, a US$16.3 billion multinational corporation based in Mumbai, India, had introduced a new positioning called “Rise” to provide meaning to its brand and help unite its various businesses under a common umbrella. Successful integration and implementation of the new positioning required the company to re-examine its brand architecture, which was currently a complex, inside?out arrangement that resulted in a diffused image. Aligning diverse and legacy businesses would be a complex task, and resources were limited. A clear brand architecture would not only help the company to efficiently allocate advertising dollars but could also help in identifying investment opportunities and risks among the different sub-brands. Landor Associates India, a global brand consulting firm, was tasked by the board to suggest a relevant brand architecture model that would be relevant across geographies. Should the Mahindra brand be used by all businesses, products and services? Should the company follow a conglomerate approach and create a “house of brands” as P&G and Unilever had done, or should it follow a hybrid strategy?

In 2009, the Mahindra Group, a US$16.3 billion multinational corporation based in Mumbai, India, had introduced a new positioning called "Rise" to provide meaning to its brand and help unite its various businesses under a common umbrella. Successful integration and implementation of the new positioning required the company to re-examine its brand architecture, which was currently a complex, inside‐out arrangement that resulted in a diffused image. Aligning diverse and legacy businesses would be a complex task, and resources were limited. A clear brand architecture would not only help the company to efficiently allocate advertising dollars but could also help in identifying investment opportunities and risks among the different sub-brands. Landor Associates India, a global brand consulting firm, was tasked by the board to suggest a relevant brand architecture model that would be relevant across geographies. Should the Mahindra brand be used by all businesses, products and services? Should the company follow a conglomerate approach and create a "house of brands" as P&G and Unilever had done, or should it follow a hybrid strategy?

The co-founders of Evoe Spring Spa need to decide on the positioning of their business in the nascent Indian spa market. Indian consumers perceive spas as an expensive indulgence for the rich, and some spa services are seen as socially and culturally unacceptable. As a result, the co-founders need to build this category by changing consumer attitudes toward spa services. To identify the target segment and the best positioning for Evoe, the co-founders study the market and their competitors and conduct qualitative consumer research. In the end, they must choose from three viable positioning concepts.

The co-founders of Evoe Spring Spa need to decide on the positioning of their business in the nascent Indian spa market. Indian consumers perceive spas as an expensive indulgence for the rich, and some spa services are seen as socially and culturally unacceptable. As a result, the co-founders need to build this category by changing consumer attitudes toward spa services. To identify the target segment and the best positioning for Evoe, the co-founders study the market and their competitors and conduct qualitative consumer research. In the end, they must choose from three viable positioning concepts.