In the spring of 2008, the marketing manager of Wheaties was getting ready for a meeting to discuss ideas about how to reinvigorate one of the most iconic and well-known cereal brands in America, which over the preceding few years had experienced a steady decline in market share. The only limitation the manager would impose was that any new product could not replace the original Wheaties. Otherwise, she was open to any opportunity to differentiate Wheaties from the orange box and yet fully embody the brand equity.
The marketing manager and the Wheaties brand team launched a line extension they believed would bolster the legendary brand. Wheaties Fuel, a ready-to-eat cereal targeted specifically toward men and designed to help users "Prepare to Win" was introduced to consumers in September 2009, with a 360º campaign utilizing television, print, online, and in-store promotions to build awareness. By gaining buy-in early on from Peyton Manning, Kevin Garnett, and Dr. John Ivy, a world-renowned expert on the role of nutrition and exercise performance, the Wheaties team was able to not only create a cereal that was made by champions for champions but also to create prelaunch buzz with a unique method of creating the cereal.
The results were not promising following the initial campaign and launch of Wheaties Fuel as sales dipped five months after it had been put on store shelves. Still there was a 96% incremental gain in sales of the original Wheaties, and many of its new consumers were younger than usual. Based on the initial feedback, the team began using a lighter tone in its messaging, and continued to monitor, learn, and optimize the product and the campaign.
CFLs were a signature piece in Walmart's sustainability effort, and although by October 2007, Walmart's goal of selling 100 million compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) had been achieved, the achievement actually highlighted how little CFLs had penetrated. With over 100 million households in the United States, this impressive-sounding result actually meant less than one CFL per residence on average. Walmart had much more work ahead in positioning and pricing CFLs to make them a viable presence in the lighting category. A public failure here could cause Walmart to lose momentum in the greening of its brand. Was the issue a matter of product, price, promotion, or positioning?
This note guides students or Executive Education participants through an exercise to help identify growth opportunities for their business units. The 3-Circle framework consists of 10 steps that lead to a vetted growth strategy. Readers work through the first five steps to identify three potential growth ideas. They then follow the remaining five steps to develop one specific Big Idea for growth. This exercise is a condensed guide to the process described in Grow by Focusing on What Matters: Strategy in Three Circles, by Urbany and Davis.
An established winery's first marketing director is charged with reviving the once-hot brand. Cofounded by an expert winemaker with ties to the famous Château Lafite-Rothschild, Clos Du Val had seen its glory days, with high ratings accompanied by robust sales. During the 1990s, however, sales had begun to lag, though it was unclear why. What should the new marketing director do first? A teaching note is available to verified faculty that covers both this condensed A and B case and the longer A and B cases as well as the follow-up C case (UVA-M-0749); a multimedia case supplement featuring interviews with the principals is also available.
This note takes the reader through the development of a positioning statement for a target market. The exercise includes determining the relevant point of reference (market definition, product category, competitive set) and associated points of parity, the point of difference, and why customers should believe the product or service can deliver on the desired positioning. The appendix contains a description of perceptual mapping, a tool that is often used when making positioning decisions.
This note provides a brief overview of the consumer benefit ladder (CBL) technique, a tool used to uncover why consumers buy particular products or services. CBLs are similar to means-end chains, hierarchical value maps, and so forth.
This three-part case series traces the fortunes of a California winery. In June 2001, Brooke Correll, a former executive at MTV, Ziff-Davis Media, and WineShopper.com, joined the privately owned Clos Du Val Wine Company, in Napa, California, as director of Marketing. Cofounded by an expert winemaker with ties to the famous Château Lafite Rothschild, Clos Du Val had seen its glory days, with high ratings accompanied by robust sales. During the 1990s, however, sales had begun to lag. As the winery's first marketing professional, Correll must chart a new course for the winery to revive the once-hot brand and reverse flagging sales. See also the A and B cases.
Ever find yourself looking for the perfect case for an exam or mid-term? They can be quite rare. "Green Ox" was written specifically for a mid-term exam in an MBA Marketing Management class. Rather than focus on one particular concept or issue (e.g., segmentation, product line depth), the case challenges students to develop a marketing strategy for a food and beverage manufacturer's new line of sports beverages that contain beneficial antioxidants. Focal decisions include choosing a segmentation scheme(s), choosing a specific target segment(s), and articulating a positioning statement(s) for the new product - in light of market trends, customer information, and competitor positions. Students must also make recommendations regarding the product name, number of products in the line, and the price (including a break-even analysis). Distribution and promotion issues are downplayed, yet there is sufficient information to determine whether students' recommendations on the larger issues account for the necessary integration of the 4Ps.
In this three-part case, an established winery's first marketing director is charged with reviving the once-hot brand. Cofounded by an expert winemaker with ties to the famous Château Lafite-Rothschild, Clos Du Val had seen its glory days, with high ratings accompanied by robust sales. During the 1990s, however, sales had begun to lag, though it was unclear why. What should the new marketing director do first? How should the company allocate its marketing budget? A teaching note is available for verified faculty; a multimedia case supplement featuring interviews with the principals is also available.
Brooke Correll, a former executive at MTV, Ziff-Davis Media, and WineShopper.com, joined the privately-owned Clos Du Val Wine Company, Ltd., in Napa, California, as a director of marketing. Co-founded by an expert winemaker with ties to the famous Château Lafite-Rothschild, Clos Du Val had seen its glory days, with high ratings accompanied by robust sales. During the 1990s, however, sales had begun to lag. As the winery's first marketing professional, Correll has to chart a new course for the winery to revive the once-hot brand and to escape flagging sales.
The purpose of this note is to prepare the student for a series of exercises in making marketing economics calculations. These calculations are not replacements for spreadsheets or more detailed economic calculations such as net present value or return on investment. They are "back of the envelope" estimates that can easily be communicated to others to buttress arguments about what a company should or should not do in a decision situation.