Ashish and Ranu Surana, a husband and wife team and co-owners of Go Pure Ice Cream (“Go Pure”), had managed to turn their passion for developing and selling fruit-based ice cream into a successful business. Having crossed the milestone figure of INR 10 million in sales with their network of 20 franchisees, mostly in Tier 2 and 3 cities, they dreamed of taking the Go Pure brand to the national level, which would require them to launch in metro and Tier 1 cities. However, they knew that this was not going to be easy. Managing existing franchisees in terms of their adherence to standard operating procedures was proving a challenge, as some franchisees were neglecting to wear headgear or gloves or not using branded cups. The founders were worried that these small but significant lapses were diluting the brand. Their current franchise model involved charging franchisees a once-off franchisee fee and billing them on an ongoing basis for the products they delivered. The Suranas wanted to identify the correct strategy to make Go Pure a national brand, but were having trouble selecting the right approach.<br><br>The first option they considered was trying to get the right franchisees on board. If they could achieve this, those franchisees could act as influencers for them in prime locations in metro and Tier 1 cities, making their brand look fantastic at the national level. The second option they considered was to continue to expand in Tier 2 and 3 cities and to try to become an aspirational brand for the majority of urban and rural Indians. The other option they were looking at was getting an infusion of venture equity and opening professionally managed, company-owned, company-operated outlets in metro and Tier 1 cities. They engaged the services of a brand consultant to help them understand how their brand was perceived and valued in the minds of their target audience and to advise them on how to leverage this information to fulfill their dreams.
On July 10, 2023, a Snow Valley Resorts co-owner was reviewing his organization’s first quarter financials for fiscal year 2022–23. Snow Valley Resorts was founded in 1993 in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, when the first of the group’s four resorts, Snow Valley Resorts Manali, was built among the Himalayan mountain range with panoramic views and pleasant weather. The co-owner had set a goal to increase the organization’s revenue growth rate to nearly twice the previous year’s rate, but he realized several issues had to be addressed first. Technology and operations at the four resorts needed to be integrated. Communications and transactions had to be smoothened. Actions had to be taken to address various issues raised in the customer feedback. Service quality had to be improved at each of the four resorts. Overall, the ripples of customer complaints had to be converted into guest satisfaction by taking appropriate measures.
<p align="justify">The Gurmukh Singh Technology (GST) group, based in Ludhiana, Punjab, India, manufactured high-precision machined parts and sheet-metal components for various industries and sectors such as agriculture and horticulture. Revenues of the group had dipped substantially in 2018 due to non-receipt of payments from some customers, and the situation was compounded by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. In January 2022, the managing director and head of marketing was planning a restructuring drive with the intention of doubling revenues and increasing the profitability of the group by 50 per cent over the next five years. He had to decide whether to reframe the group’s business-to-business marketing strategy and, if so, in what respect. How should he segment customers and select the most appropriate segments? How could he incentivize these customers to buy his company’s products rather than those of competitors? What should be the value proposition of the company?
The India-based company Baobab Clean Technologies was founded in September 2011 with a business model based on the premise of safety and sustainability for electronic waste. The company facilitated the disposal of computers and electronic products for consumer and trade channels. It refurbished and sold products with a bundle of services like point-to-point delivery, installation, warranty, and support. Sales had started improving during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the protagonist was considering the way forward into the next level of growth. The case revolves around the application of various concepts related to business-to-business marketing, including value creation, value delivery, channel positioning, and marketplace equity.