Craig Menear, chief executive officer of The Home Depot Inc. (Home Depot), recognized the need to be responsive to the changing retail landscape and changes in customer preferences. Customers were increasingly expecting to shop online and in-store interchangeably; thus, a seamless experience was critical. To remain a market leader in the do-it-yourself (DIY) industry, Home Depot focused on becoming a best-in-class interconnected retailer by connecting its associates to its customers to improve the customer experience, and by connecting its stores more closely to the online experience. In 2017, Menear and his senior team were considering how to best leverage the company’s key resources in this interconnected retail environment, while also acknowledging the challenges that this environment posed.

Craig Menear, chief executive officer of The Home Depot Inc. (Home Depot), recognized the need to be responsive to the changing retail landscape and changes in customer preferences. Customers were increasingly expecting to shop online and in-store interchangeably; thus, a seamless experience was critical. To remain a market leader in the do-it-yourself (DIY) industry, Home Depot focused on becoming a best-in-class interconnected retailer by connecting its associates to its customers to improve the customer experience, and by connecting its stores more closely to the online experience. In 2017, Menear and his senior team were considering how to best leverage the company's key resources in this interconnected retail environment, while also acknowledging the challenges that this environment posed.

Rob Griffin, senior vice president and U.S. director of search for Media Contacts, a communications consulting firm, is faced with the task of optimizing search engine marketing (SEM) for Air France. At the time of the case, SEM had become an advertising phenomenon, with North American advertisers spending $9.4 billion in the SEM channel, up 62% from 2005. Moving forward, Griffin wants to ensure that the team keeps its leading edge and delivers the results Air France requires for optimal Internet sales growth. The case centers upon Air France's and Media Contacts' efforts to find the ideal SEM campaign to provide an optimal amount of ticket sales in response to advertising dollars spent. This optimal search marketing campaign is based on choosing effective allocation of ad dollars across the various search engines, as well as selecting appropriate keywords and bid strategies for placement on the search result page for Internet users. In determining the optimal strategy, the case presents background information on the airline industry as well as the Internet search options available at the time, including Google, Microsoft MSN, Yahoo!, and Kayak. Additionally, background information is provided on SEM and its associated costs and means of measuring the successfulness of each marketing effort. The case illustrates how one must first determine the key performance indicators for the project to guide analysis and enable comparison of various SEM campaigns. Cost per click and probability to produce a sale differ among publishers. Therefore, using a portfolio application model's quadrant positions can be used to determine optimal publisher strategies. Additionally, pivot tables help illustrate campaigns and strategies that have historically been most successful in meeting Air France's target Internet sales. Multiple recommendations on how Media Contacts can assist Air France in improving its SEM strategy can be derived from the data provided.