An important metric that plays a pivotal role in marketing is customer lifetime value (CLV). Given the constraint of limited marketing budgets, a company can enhance the return on its marketing investment by strategizing to allocate marketing resources based on the anticipated value of different customer segments. This technical note provides a contemporary explanation for what CLV is, focusing on its conceptual underpinnings and why it matters for marketers. In the digital age, the analysis of CLV has experienced a profound transformation driven by the wealth of available customer data and the emergence of advanced analytics tools, and it continues to evolve. This technical note provides an accessible, intuitive introduction to CLV as applicable in a wide range of scenarios. We recommend pairing this with another note that provides examples of empirical applications of CLV: "Three Empirical Methods for Calculating Customer Lifetime Value" (UVA-M-1056).

This case introduces the challenges and decision criteria for businesses seeking to sponsor student athletes in the advent of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA's) landmark decision to authorize collegiate student athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness (NIL), just as professional athletes and other celebrities have always done. The case follows Jonathan Cotten, president of Easy Step Enterprises (Easy Step), a franchisee for the Good Feet Store based in Richmond, Virginia, as he explores the possibility of using college athletes as social media influencers to stimulate demand for the Good Feet Store locations his company operates. The primary focus of this case is not on franchisee-franchisor relations, but rather on the strategic decision processes a business must consider when exploring the emerging opportunity to engage college student athletes as social media influencers. Because of their youth and relative inexperience, college student athletes pose different challenges and issues compared to the longer-established engagement of professional athletes and celebrities in similar roles. This case highlights these differences and encourages careful integration of criteria for executing these decisions.

A key negotiating concept, the Zone of Possible Agreement (ZOPA), allows a buyer and seller to reach a mutually acceptable price. This technical note provides an overview of ZOPA for both individual-level negotiations and company-level pricing decisions, highlighting its importance to marketing. Challenges in applying ZOPA are discussed, as well as its role in value creation and exchange. Students are encouraged to consider the real-world impacts of ZOPA-based pricing on business and brand management. This note is suitable for use in graduate and under graduate courses on marketing, negotiation, brand management, and product pricing.