In 2023, Bud Light and its parent company, Anheuser-Bush InBev (AB InBev), faced a backlash following an advertising campaign featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. A marketing post by the influencer sparked a national outrage, throwing Bud Light into the centre of a national transgender debate. AB InBev’s stock price dropped by 18.4 per cent and sales of Bud Light plummeted as politically right-leaning drinkers publicly boycotted the brand in protest of the company’s “woke” advertising. The advertisement was part of an overall initiative to revive Bud Light’s popularity, as younger drinkers were moving away from beer toward seltzers, cannabis, and nicotine. Marcel Marcondes, global chief marketing officer of AB InBev, had been tasked with repairing Bud Light’s brand image by creating a new marketing strategy to appeal to all its drinkers amid the backdrop of declining beer consumption. Marcondes needed to determine how to rebuild the brand’s equity and customer loyalty in the year ahead.
Zhejiang Meorient Business Exhibition Co., Ltd (Meorient) was founded in 2010 with the vision of building the world’s leading digital exhibitions company and establishing China’s first-class national exhibitions brand. This case examines Meorient brand’s internationalization platform construction and growth by embracing and harnessing digitalization. With years of experience in overseas markets and accumulated resources in various industries, Meorient has served more than 200,000 Chinese enterprises and helped Chinese manufacturers connect with the global market. Under the leadership of co-founder Fang Huansheng, Meorient established a research and development team in Hangzhou in 2018 dedicated to the integration of big-data analytics and foreign trade matchmaking systems. In 2019, Meorient Exhibition was listed on the Growth Enterprise Market board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and became the first Chinese exhibitions company to be listed. Over three years, the company continued to refine its digital services, culminating in the creation of a distinctive digital service matrix.<br><br>A business expansion avenue emerged for Meorient following the shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. With precautionary measures and travel restrictions severely limiting offline (in-person) exhibitions globally, Meorient harnessed digital infrastructure to launch a digital exhibitions platform. To facilitate business growth in the face of substantial uncertainty and establish a global competitive edge, Meorient needed to promptly devise strategies to launch and facilitate the online exhibitions platform, and had to convince exhibitors and buyers to embrace its innovative digital products.
In a world accustomed to paying more than ¥25 for a cup of bubble tea, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea (Mixue) from Zhengzhou, China, boldly introduced a ¥7 deal. The company’s founders did not just offer a lower price but reinvented the game. Their formula of high quality at an affordable price, combined with a sticky social media strategy, was an instant hit among younger generations. In March 2023, as Mixue continued to dominate the Chinese market, the founders faced a choice regarding their company’s future growth: should they continue to expand globally, or should they pivot to the coffee market and revolutionize yet another beverage industry?
In 2019, an entrepreneur and Ivey Business School graduate was facing a critical decision regarding how best to maximize the growth of his new product, The Chosen One card game. The entrepreneur had recently created and launched his Jewish-themed satirical card game in Los Angeles, California, after playing the adult-themed and highly popular Cards Against Humanity. Buoyed by initial small-batch sales, he secured deals to sell his product through various online and traditional retailers, but he had to decide how to grow sales and revenue. He had a limited marketing budget and was facing uncertainty regarding production quantities. There were various potential digital and physical distribution options for his product to maximize growth and long-term profitability. Each option had both benefits and drawbacks in terms of profitability, required marketing support, alignment with the target segment, access to consumer data, and production demands. The entrepreneur had to evaluate all options and choose the most suitable channels to distribute The Chosen One card game.
It was March 2020 and a newly hired account executive at LinkedIn Corporation (LinkedIn) was keen to close his first major deal. His job was to help marketing teams acquire new customers and grow their businesses by leveraging the LinkedIn Ad network. He had secured a meeting with the vice-president of marketing for the video conferencing company Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (Zoom). He had just one hour to prepare for the meeting and determine the best way to position LinkedIn as a solution for Zoom to handle its growth challenges and opportunities.
In July 2019, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of a one-year-old start-up in Los Angeles was reviewing the path forward with the company’s new technology platform. The product helped brand managers insert their brands virtually and in real time into television (TV) and movie scenes. With each placement customized to the individual habits and personal preferences of the viewer, virtual placement was a considerable improvement over physical placement of brands as permanent fixtures in TV plots and movie scenes. The technology represented a major disruption to the product placement industry. The company’s CEO needs to resolve three dilemmas to take Ryff forward. First, how should the company find its fit with large advertising agencies that operate in a traditional placement market? Second, how should the company convert traditional industry person-to-person interactions to interactions driven by software programs? Third, how should the company take its business global?