Rituals, founded in the Netherlands in 2000 by Raymond Cloosterman, has had double digit growth over the last 15 years. It had taken the European beauty industry by storm, opening two to three stores weekly. At its current pace, Rituals would soon be opening over 150 new shops per year and expanding to new markets on an annual basis. In addition to having its own stores network, Rituals' sales channels included franchises, travel stores, various partners such as luxury hotels and an online shopping platform in multiple languages. Cloosterman's ambition was to double his business from €1 billion to €2 billion over the next 5-10 years. Part of that plan was a very strong footprint with brick-and-mortar stores, and an online share of 25% to 30%. Offline and online experiences had to become a seamless kind of operation. Cloosterman believed that it would be difficult to reach a €2 billion target without expanding his brand into Asia.
In April 2022, Bhanton Towels (Bhanton), an export-oriented company in the Philippines, received an order from AliTex Enterprises (AliTex), China. One of Bhanton's major customers in Europe had just cancelled an order for 200 metric tons (MT) of towels because of the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Since the conflict was a case of "force majeure," the cancellation terms could not be negotiated. These two events presented Bhanton's management with a major dilemma; the company needed additional orders to achieve its monthly production targets of 2,000 MT for May and June 2022. However, the low price requested for the order from AliTex could potentially have a long-term impact on the company's profitability and reputation in the market. It might also affect its relationship with key accounts like Walmart in the US and IKEA and Sainsbury's (in Europe) if they were to hear of it. AliTex offered Bhanton an opportunity to enter new markets like Australia, Canada, China and New Zealand. Could the company sell its towels at ₱190 per kg to AliTex. And if not, what was the minimum possible rate? The company was also exploring other potential sales and customer acquisition strategies to increase its monthly sales volume by 1,000 MT and reduce dependence on retail customers.
Kineer Services Limited (Kineer) was a social marketing startup set up in 2018 by Lakshmi Narayan Tripathi, a prominent Indian transgender, and Manish Jain, an ex-hospitality industry veteran. Their objective in setting up Kineer was to provide a life of dignity to the socially stigmatized third gender community in India. As a startup, Kineer faced several challenges including finding the right business investors and manufacturing facilities, crafting a suitable distribution set-up, and marketing a commodity product with a differentiated branding strategy. Tripathi and Jain had to try to create a recallable and recognizable packaged water brand using a unique value proposition based on gender inclusivity. They also had to choose between pursuing a consumer market and an institutional market route. Could they hope for a future beyond being a niche brand? Was social marketing going to help them? As B2C sales required massive investments, should the brand continue to pursue the more manageable B2B segment? Should it go ahead with the offer of Cyrus Enterprises to sell its product in the B2C markets? Would selling the product through a third party compromise the brand identity?
In 2019, Toyota launched KINTO, its new mobility services brand, in Europe - to address the increasing shift in consumer preferences from ownership to on-demand usership. KINTO was only the third brand to be launched by Toyota in its history (after Toyota and Lexus). This signaled to the market that the world's largest automaker was serious about transforming from a car manufacturer to a mobility company. The case describes how, under the leadership of Tom Fux, the fledgling company grew through market-by-market deployment of KINTO-branded services across Europe. To build a robust foundation and spur progress, KINTO leveraged the strengths of various Toyota enterprises, including Toyota Financial Services, Toyota Insurance Services, and technological partner Toyota Connected Europe. Toyota's retailer network also played a crucial role. KINTO enabled the retailers to go beyond their traditional sales and maintenance role to offer new mobility services to give customers access to their preferred vehicles when and where they want, for as long as they like. Over time, KINTO's services expanded into car subscriptions, car sharing, carpooling and multi-modal solutions tailored to private individuals, businesses and cities. By 2021, KINTO was well placed to address the demand for smart, innovative and flexible mobility services depending on the maturity of different markets. As Tom Fux moved to his next role in Toyota, Miguel Fonseca took charge as the new CEO of KINTO Europe. He pondered how he could launch the company on its next growth trajectory. • How could KINTO become a one-stop-shop for future mobility solutions? • How could the company scale up its services in different countries? • How could the leadership balance organic and inorganic growth to secure new business opportunities?
The GSK Consumer Healthcare (GSK CH) case study deals with building a community of practice (CoP) in a merged, complex organization and a virtual environment. The case focuses on the introduction of a CoP by Marcus Chambers, a GSK senior executive, to address the need for greater alignment, collaboration and learning amongst the global Research and Development (R&D) Project Managers to drive the innovation pipeline in the new venture. GSK Consumer Health was created through the merger of the consumer healthcare divisions of Pfizer and GSK in August 2019 to create the world's largest consumer healthcare company. As the merger was announced, so too was the announcement of the intention to spin off the newly created 25,000 persons organization within three years, adding pressure to deliver on the anticipated value of the joint venture. The case focuses on the global R&D Project Management organization, which has primary responsibility for leading cross-functional innovation projects to drive growth. Their role is complex requiring foresight to plan and steward projects and flexibility to deal with the inevitable firefighting of innovation amongst diverse and multiple stakeholders. In addition to the inherent complexity of the role was the need to co-ordinate efforts of 78 project managers from GSK (45%), Pfizer (35%) and new hires (20%) across three regional hubs and four category hubs globally - against the backdrop of the pandemic. This topical case covers the 2-year period from August 1, 2019, when the joint venture was announced to August 2021. It recounts how the newly created GSK Consumer Health addressed the need to build capability, reduce inconsistencies and deal with frustrations to realize the promise of new innovations through the introduction of a community of practice during the pandemic.
The Bank of New Zealand (BNZ)'s market share among Small and Medium Enterprises is declining. The new general manager discovers a pain point among SMEs - they are spending a couple of hours a day compiling information from different apps in order to manage their business. BNZ creates are new information portal with ecosystem partners called MyBusiness Live. This portal makes information available to SMEs in one simple dashboard. BNZ has to decide how to charge for the system and whether to make it accessible only to current customers (i.e., closed system) or also to non-customers (i.e., open system). It also has to deal with internal challenges (e.g., salesforce) regarding the new system.
This case explores the marketing challenges that a robotics and automation technology start-up faces in the construction industry. A recommended framework for analysis is Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations (see suggested complimentary reading by John T. Gourville). By applying the analysis of the adoption curve, students can work through the process of diagnosing what might be impeding sales of the SAM100 and then identify which market segments, targets and positioning strategies will help accelerate the adoption of this new innovation in order for it to progress through to a robust product lifecycle.
The CEO of Eco Tasar, a socially responsible company based in India has to decide how to deal with a customer request that may jeopardize his corporate values.
In mid-2018 Sri Sri Tattva (SST), an Indian fast-moving consumer goods company (FMCG) company was planning to launch 1,000 exclusive stores across the country. Some 600 of these stores were expected to be operational by March 2019. The company had also announced its intention to enter 30 new countries, with a particular focus on Latin America, including Brazil and Argentina. The company leveraged, to a certain extent, the popularity and mass influence of its founder Sri Sri. With its wide range of ayurvedic and organic product categories, SST was poised to challenge established players such as Patanjali, Dabur, Hindustan Unilever, Emami and Himalaya in the FMCG market.
The abridged case, together with the substantial video supplements, examines the marketing challenge of repositioning Swiss watch brand TAG Heuer in the digital era. It delves into the decisions taken by Jean-Claude Biver - the newly appointed CEO of the company - in his effort to create and execute a new strategy and to position TAG Heuer as an affordable luxury brand that would appeal to both traditional customers and the new generation. It begins by highlighting recent developments in the Swiss watch industry and then focuses on Biver - a celebrated icon of this industry. It offers a snapshot of Biver's resume and a glimpse into the marketing principles that he has applied during his remarkably successful career. The second part of the case addresses the emergence of a new product category - the digital watch, which many industry executives considered to be a major threat. TAG Heuer decided to enter the digital space and launched TAG Heuer Connected, in partnership with Intel and Google. Connected (and the series 2 model TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45) turned out to be a key pillar of the company's new brand strategy. It also acted as a springboard for experimenting with unconventional sales and marketing tactics.
Robin is a B2B technology (SaaS) startup, founded in Boston, MA in 2014, that develops and sells workplace software products designed to help companies manage meeting room scheduling. In March 2016, following a period of underperforming sales results, Sam Dunn, sales leader and co-founder of Robin, realizes that he must make changes to the sales area if he is to achieve Robin's sales targets and meet the expectations of the company's venture capitalists. In two months' time, Dunn will pitch to the investors for Series A funding. His dilemma is clear; the current sales results do not show the required "repeatability and scalability" required to convince the investors. Dunn realizes he must design and present a reworked sales process. This "re-engineering" exercise prompts him to also question if he has the right team in place to implement a possible "new and improved" process.
The case, together with the substantial video supplements, examines the marketing challenge of repositioning Swiss watch brand TAG Heuer in the digital era. It delves into the decisions taken by Jean-Claude Biver - the newly appointed CEO of the company - in his effort to create and execute a new strategy and to position TAG Heuer as an affordable luxury brand that would appeal to both traditional customers and the new generation. It begins by highlighting recent developments in the Swiss watch industry and then focuses on Biver - a celebrated icon of this industry. It offers a snapshot of Biver's resume and a glimpse into the marketing principles that he has applied during his remarkably successful career. The second part of the case addresses the emergence of a new product category - the digital watch, which many industry executives considered to be a major threat. TAG Heuer decided to enter the digital space and launched TAG Heuer Connected, in partnership with Intel and Google. Connected (and the series 2 model TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45) turned out to be a key pillar of the company's new brand strategy. It also acted as a springboard for experimenting with unconventional sales and marketing tactics.
Specifically he identified Brazil as an attractive new market for expansion. Success would hinge on developing the right market-entry strategy. To that end, four foreign market entry options were identified: 1) Greenfield company-owned distribution strategy; 2) Partner with a Brazilian master distributor; 3) Acquire or form a joint venture (JV) with a Brazilian tool distributor; 4) Acquire or form a joint venture with a Brazilian tool manufacturer. Quackenbos would have to sell a strategic vision for growth that was not resource-intensive - a challenge for a mid-size player in a market filled with a range of regional and national competitors. Based on what he was about to propose, and against the backdrop of a soft, recessionary global industrial economic environment, Walter Meier's executive team would question the merits of expanding into new emerging markets, the attractiveness of Latin America, and specifically the advantages of entering Brazil. The case provides background information on the company and the metal and woodworking machinery markets and competition in each of them. Walter Meier's international expansion aspirations are described, and the process for identifying Brazil as a new market for expansion is explained. The case concludes with the trigger issue of which foreign market entry mode will work best for Walter Meier in Brazil. A supplemental 10-minute video interview is also available. The video captures Doug Quackenbos's views on the international business development opportunities and challenges for a medium-size company, how he gathers market intelligence and manages uncertainty, and what he foresees for Walter Meier in Latin America and Brazil. Learning objectives:
By the end of 2012, it had secured distribution in eight US states and the District of Columbia (the nation's capital, Washington, DC), with many more states in various stages of development. The company's home market strategy was successful and growing. In 2012, a trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Colombia (as well as Peru) was announced that would eliminate the value added tax on European wines imported into Colombia. Hackler saw this as an opportunity to be an early mover into Colombia. One of the key strategies SV would have to develop and implement was an effective launch plan. Specifically, how should the company generate awareness of, interest in, willingness to try and brand loyalty for SV products? And what brand, or set of brands, should SV launch in the Colombian market? While there are also important distribution and pricing issues that SV would have to tackle, this case focuses on the product, marketing communication and branding issues necessary to begin "pulling" customers toward the brand(s). The case presents background information on the company, global and Spanish wine industries, and the Colombian economy and wine market. The case concludes with the following questions for students to ponder: Is the Colombian opportunity the right one to begin expanding SV's international footprint? If so, should Hackler launch with house brands, partner brands or both? And what message and media could he use to tell the SV story and make his first venture into Latin America a success? Learning objectives: