In September 2023, the founders of Pocket Frequency Modulation (FM) Private (Pvt.) Limited (Ltd.) (Pocket FM) reflected on a year of remarkable growth in the expanding audio-storytelling market in India. Launched in 2018, Pocket FM had quickly amassed over 100 million downloads on Google Play (part of Google Limited Liability Company) and in 2022, it clocked an astounding 45 billion minutes of streaming time. Users were spending an average of 110 minutes each day on the platform, drawn in by the innovative content and a robust hybrid revenue model that included subscriptions, advertising, intellectual property licensing, sponsorships, and strategic partnerships. Yet, with international industry giants like Spotify Technology Société Anonyme, Audible Incorporated, and Kuku FM (owned by Mebigo Labs Pvt. Ltd.) now eyeing the audio series space in India, Pocket FM faced significant competition. Standing at a crossroads, the founders debated what would be their best choice of moves to take next to sustain growth and differentiate the platform. Would refining their established hybrid-income model be enough, or was it time to pursue an entirely new strategic direction? The answers to these questions could shape not only Pocket FM’s future but also the broader landscape of audio storytelling in India.
In April 2023, an issue emerged around the elevated level of sugar found in Mondelez India’s nutritional beverage, Bournvita. The sequence of events began with the posting of a 90-second video by a prominent social media influencer, which rapidly gained widespread attention, accumulating more than 12 million views within a short period. The video emphasized the high amount of sugar in Bournvita and brought attention to the company’s transparency procedures. Mondelez India, owner of the Bournvita brand, promptly refuted the assertions put forth by the influencer and categorized the video as “unscientific.” In response to the accusations levelled against it, Mondelez India opted to issue a legal notice to the individual responsible for creating the video. The company’s legal action yielded positive results, as the influencer ultimately removed the video and issued an apology to the company. Nevertheless, public opinion remained mostly unaltered, and the dispute persisted on many social media sites. The leadership team faced a series of inquiries in the following weeks on the wisdom of issuing a legal notice to the social media influencer. Did Mondelez India effectively address the crisis and utilize the appropriate communication channel? What message should Mondelez India have conveyed and what was the most effective method to do so?
The Women's Premier League (WPL) final was contested on March 25, 2023, the atmosphere at the crowded Brabourne Stadium mirrored the phrase for which the competition became famous: "Ye Toh Bas Shuruat Hai" (This is just the start). Fans filled stadiums throughout the event to support the best female cricket players in the world. But the event's organizers did not give themselves the best opportunity to enable the franchises to connect with local fan bases. What more measures could the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) undertake to increase attendance at WPL games? How could they market and position the WPL more effectively among viewers? How should they analyze the values created by the WPL for the viewers?
Amid rising online content, modern consumers want a personalized online shopping experience and to be presented with products, services, and deals that are relevant and specific to them. Anil Bains launched Attryb to create a hyper-personalization stack to deliver a meaningful experience to each website user. Using artificial intelligence, machine learning, and statistical models, Attryb’s predictive intelligence model could assess thousands of customer signals to create meaningful segments that increased acquisition, engagement, and sales for online sellers. However, small and medium companies establishing direct-to-consumer websites often lacked strong technological capabilities and were preoccupied with starting their businesses. How could Attryb convince these prospective clients about the economic benefits of its solution and communicate the value without being overly technical?
When Enrique Layola joined the San Pedro City Agriculture Office, he was highly concerned about the worsening conditions of Laguna de Bay and their affect upon the livelihoods of local fishermen. Improving Laguna de Bay’s water quality was vital to increasing the region’s production of fish. The deteriorating water quality had resulted in the proliferation of water hyacinth, which was likely to increase further due to worsening water pollution. Layola was determined to overcome the water hyacinth problem in Laguna de Bay and carefully considered the most appropriate method for tackling the management of the water hyacinth.
In February 2019, D. K. Ram, the executive director of liquid petroleum gas at Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), read a newspaper headline in his office in Mumbai. The paper reported that two delivery boys had been killed while returning to a distributor of BPCL after delivering gas cylinders. Ram thought of the risks to the safety of delivery people who were transporting cash they had collected from customers. He wondered whether BPCL should seek novel technologies to digitize last-mile delivery. Would BPCL choose to implement an all-encompassing digitization payment strategy, or would it execute a phased approach that entails incremental growth in the digital realm?
At the end of March 2023, Gagan Kanwar, the owner of 39 Bakers, a bakery based in Jammu, India, called a meeting with his store managers to discuss expanding the business by moving online. The bakery had multiple outlets in Jammu, but rival bakeries in the area had successfully transitioned to the online space and experienced notable growth. Customers everywhere were clearly embracing online shopping. Kanwar understood that online was the way forward, as it could be used not only for fulfilling his expansion strategy but also for boosting revenue and improving customer relationships. But he also knew that developing digital infrastructure, such as a website, mobile app, and social media presence, and working with online food delivery platforms would require significant investments of time, money, and labour. Expanding through franchises, on the other hand, could be more cost-effective. Was it the right time to go online? Would the online channel strategy help 39 Bakers strengthen its customer base? How could an offline-dominant retail outlet transition from brick to click?
In October 2022, Licious, the market leader in India’s meat industry, launched its new brand UnCrave in the plant-based meat market segment. The launch was aligned with the company’s portfolio diversification strategy, leveraging its strong core brand equity. Unlike typical plant-meat brands that sold to vegan and vegetarian customers, Licious wanted to offer UnCrave to its core meat-consuming customers as an occasional alternative to meat options. However, several new competitors soon entered the market, while some people questioned the health benefits of plant-based meat. Was it a mistake for Licious to enter the plant-based industry at a time when a sizable portion of the organized meat business was still unexplored. Was the consumer segment Licious had targeted the right choice? Was it a good decision to increase the company’s product mix by including plant-based meat?
In March 2023, Reliance Consumer Products Limited announced the relaunch of Campa Cola, an iconic soft drink brand in India that was discontinued almost two decades earlier. The company acquired Campa Cola for US$2.7 million in 2022 to capitalize on the brand nostalgia and the appeal of a domestic brand offering high-quality aerated beverages at affordable prices, believing that Campa Cola had a deep connection with Indian consumers due to its unique taste and flavour. However, to be successful in the competitive market dominated by two global giants in the soft drink industry—The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo Inc.—Reliance Consumer Products Limited had to craft a meticulous strategy that should address three significant challenges: create a customer value proposition, set the right pricing strategy, and trigger brand nostalgia to appeal to all market segments across generations. However, the company would have to take a leap of faith and assume a great risk. Could Campa Cola emerge as a viable competitor in India’s soft drink industry?
In July 2022, the joint general manager of personnel and administration at the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO)’s Paradeep unit received a call from the Delhi corporate office informing him of a complaint filed by the wife of a deceased employee against a current employee of the unit. The complaint alleged that the employee had defrauded the widow of approximately US$40,000—the sum total of her husband’s terminal death benefit. As the joint general manager worked to investigate the matter and prepare a report for senior management, he found himself struggling with the managerial need to safeguard the organization’s image. As a human resources manager, he contemplated several questions: How could an ethical culture be established and sustained in IFFCO? What strategic human resources measures should be adopted to avoid such situations in future? How could communication be used as enabler in this critical situation? Despite his mixed emotions and the limited time available to present his findings, he knew that he needed to ensure a fair and thorough investigation to resolve the issue.
In August 2022, Neetu Yadav and Kirti Jangra, co-founders of Animall, reflected upon their experience of starting a business in a highly competitive and fragmented Indian livestock management market. The industry suffered from a shortage of skilled workforce, inadequate infrastructure, and needed better access to modern technology. Yadav and Jangra were tasked to consider the competition in the digital space, assess the difficulty in penetrating a geographically and digitally remote market, and to build farmers' trust to grow the business. Yadav identified four opportunities for growing the business: expansion in veterinary services, providing nutrition advice, focus on particular animal breeds, and entry into other Indian states.
Mr. Dharamdas Desai was running a distribution agency in Madhopura, a town in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. He asked his son, Paresh, to analyze the business’s financial situation. Paresh found that the business’s post COVID compound annual growth rate was around 4 per cent and the operating profits had also declined. Paresh looked at the business situation and wanted to revamp the business strategically. Paresh came out with three alternatives to revive their business, Manik Distribution Agency: diversify into new product categories distribution; adopt a hybrid model (distribution and retailing of the products); and enter into the digital/e-commerce market. Paresh wanted to keep the business, so he needed further clarification.
In February 2022, Café Niloufer, based in Hyderabad, India, was contemplating transforming its product lines of Irani tea, onion samosas, and Osmania biscuits, to grow its customer base over several other competitive brands. Anumula Shashank, Café Niloufer’s managing director, wanted to update the brand by strengthening their product portfolio to meet the needs of new-age consumers. Cafes/lounges that provided a variety of beverages were projected to propel the competition in the coming years. Shashank wanted to grow the café business. He had three alternatives: add the products to the existing product line, add a new product line, or open new retail outlets. Shashank also wondered what analysis process and decision criteria he should use to make his decision.
Facebook Inc. (Facebook) rebranded to Meta Platforms Inc. (Meta) in October 2021, intending to break into the virtual world of immersive technologies. However, Meta soon found itself in trouble after an eventful year in the virtual reality industry. The number of Meta users was declining, and first-time Meta users were not coming back. Users were complaining about underdeveloped graphics, programming troubles, instability, and overall poor user experience. Meta’s struggle with technological glitches, disengaged users, and an unclear vision resulted in a sharp decline in its financial performance. The company was also attracting negative comments on social media platforms. What should Meta do moving forward? Should it continue spending on innovative technology and hiring additional talent, return to its roots as a social media platform (Facebook), or consider its competitive advantage via collaboration?
NutriNest, founded by Le Danh Hoang, was the first company to introduce farmed bird's nest products in Vietnam. In January 2018, the company launched a sustainable product line under a new brand called the Green Bird. The Green Bird product line was positioned to meet consumers’ sustainability and health concerns, and quickly became the company’s best-selling products. To continue to grow NutriNest, Hoang was facing a crucial decision. Should he focus on the current portfolio of the Green Bird line or add new products? If he chooses to introduce new products, how should he ensure that these products will attract new segments of customers and increase sales?
In early 2018, WhatsApp—the cross-platform messaging and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service—began testing its WhatsApp Payments (Payments) service, designed to enable digital payment transactions in India. By late 2020, the platform had rolled out the initial launch of its Payments feature within India, with the National Payments Corporation of India agreeing to a staggered launch. However, despite the number of Payments users increasing from twenty million to forty million between November 2021 and April 2022, the platform witnessed stagnation in customer retention due to faulty transactions and inefficient processes that resulted in driving customers away. WhatsApp’s challenge was to review its customer value proposition to gain new customers and retain existing ones. How should it communicate this customer value proposition to its target customer base to attract new users? Would it be more appropriate to launch Payments as a standalone app?
Paytm was India’s first digital wallet service provider. It revolutionized the country’s digital payments landscape, but it was slow to adopt Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments. The entry of WhatsApp into the digital payments industry on November 6, 2020 intensified the competition in the UPI segment of the market that Google Pay and PhonePe already dominated by focusing on person-to-person (P2P) transactions. With a strong 400-million user base, WhatsApp threatened to be a formidable competitor in the P2P segment. Paytm was in third position in the UPI-based payments market, but maintained a firm hold on the person-to merchant (P2M) segment. Should Paytm continue to focus on that segment or should it expand to P2P, which was a larger market with big competitors?
By October 2021, the US social media giant Facebook Inc. had been dominating the social media market globally with the highest number of active users. It owned four of the biggest social media platforms—Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram. However, the company’s history was marked by controversies ranging from ethical matters to social issues. The various crises it had faced to date included thousands of internal documents leaked by whistle-blower Frances Haugen, public criticism by former director Tim Kandell, and data breaches by Cambridge Analytica. These crises were symbolic of the anguish that various stakeholders were feeling. In the aftermath of these events, Facebook Inc. had to contemplate various key questions. Were the controversies destructive to the company, or were they adding value to its growth? Had the company taken the right actions to address its issues, or could it do more to make amends? How could the company prevent the recurrence of such situations in the future?
On the morning of October 9, 2021, almost all newspapers in India carried the news of the re-privatization of Air India. They celebrated the move by the Government of India to hand back the airline to its original owner, the Tata group. Tata Airlines was founded in 1932 as India’s first airline. The Government of India nationalized the airline in 1953. In October 2021, nearly seven decades after its nationalization, Tata Sons and the Tata group, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Talace Private Limited, acquired Air India again, bringing a halt to the years of effort by the government to re-privatize the national carrier. The re-privatization gave the Tata group full control of Air India and its low-cost airline, Air India Express, and a 50 per cent stake in Air India SATS Airport Services Private Ltd (AISATS), the airport and cargo-handling service company. <br><br>However, the restoration of Air India as a renowned, profit-making airline was an uphill battle accompanied by myriad challenges. The Tata group ran two airlines in India: Tata SIA Airlines Limited (operating as Vistara), in which it held a 51 per cent stake; and Capital A Berhad (operating as AirAsia) with an 80 per cent stake. In financial year 2020–21, both airlines incurred significant losses. The responsibility of rebuilding Air India at such a precarious juncture could have become yet another adaunting task for the Tata group. Did the Tata group make the right move by acquiring Air India? What should the Tata group do to make Air India regain its lost glory, and how should it prioritize what needed to be addressed to achieve this? How could Air India overcome the industry- and company-level challenges it faced?