It was end-2019 and seven years into the founding of Carousell, a Singapore-headquartered peer-to-peer online classified advertisements marketplace started by three friends, Quek Siu Rui, Marcus Tan and Lucas Ngoo. Valued at US$550 million, Carousell had gained wide popularity with a presence in seven markets across Asia Pacific. However new challenges that surfaced continued to confront the pioneer and market leader of mobile classifieds in Southeast Asia. Back in 2012, the opportunity and challenge the three young founders were facing was much simpler - to simplify a cumbersome and lengthy process to sell pre-owned items online. The trio built a smartphone app at a hackathon that reduced the time taken to list an item from ten minutes to 30 seconds. On a mission to inspire others to start selling, they adopted a mobile-first approach targeting young adults and gradually built a strong community of Carousellers over the years. With successive rounds of equity funding and scaling-up, soon came the question of monetisation. Carousell adopted a freemium business model, and began to roll out paid premium services for used-goods sellers to increase the visibility of their listings, and subscription services for professional sellers (such as real estate agents), to promote their properties. Having evolved from paper press to web desktop and mobile versions, what was next for the classifieds industry? Carousell reckoned Classified Version 4.0 would be AI-driven. How then could Carousell compete with new entrants, such as Facebook Marketplace, contending for a slice of the classified platform business? How could Carousell combat the increasing prevalence of online fraud on its platform to offer safety and assurance to its users? Would the monetizing efforts by providing paid services on the platform derail the community building effort that had been critical to Carousell's early success?

Founded in 1973 with a vision of inclusion, integration and normalization, Monnikenheide had pioneered a series of innovative approaches to improve the quality of life of people with mental disabilities. It had introduced some of its practices to local partners in China, India and Indonesia and now had the most sought-after facilities in Belgium for families with special-needs children and other family members. At the age of 69, the co-founder of Monnikenheide felt the necessity to plan for the transition for Monnikenheide, and decided to appoint her third son to be the director of the board. Her son and the board were confronted with how to evaluate the options for the transition. Should it continue as an independent organization or join a larger group with adequate organizational capabilities? How should Monnikenheide go about meeting its financial targets? Should Monnikenheide play a bigger role globally and, if so, how?

Since November 2011, the director and chief scientist for Acumen Research Laboratories (ARL) had been conferring with Spring Singapore — a government agency devoted to the city-state’s economic growth — on ways to improve the current procurement practices of the biomedical science (BMS) industry in Singapore. As a senior chief scientist and the founder of ARL, she saw and experienced tremendous purchasing inefficiency and quality problems in the existing procurement practice in sourcing supplies and equipment. She believed that a centralized procurement structure and process among all members of the BMS industry in Singapore would be more efficient and was in April 2012 finalizing a proposal to Spring Singapore for initial funding to set up such a purchasing consortium. This consortium would be a new line of business for ARL.

The China national image film "People Chapter" - officially a sub-series of the "Experience China" campaign - was launched by the Chinese government to coincide with President Hu Jintao's visit to the United States in mid-January 2011. The one-minute promotional video was played on six giant electronic screens about 300 times per day, and had appeared approximately 8400 times when the broadcast ended on February 14, 2011. The video showed a series of Chinese people, ranging from ordinary citizens to celebrities, in various areas. It was a publicity effort aimed at promoting a truer image of China abroad, and further signalling that China was opening to embrace the world. However, reactions from both Chinese and overseas audiences had been fairly controversial since the initial release of this promotional film. Experts from China and abroad were skeptical of the effectiveness of the campaign in promoting the national image of modern China to the world.

The China national image film “People Chapter” — officially a sub-series of the “Experience China” campaign — was launched by the Chinese government to coincide with President Hu Jintao’s visit to the United States in mid-January 2011. The one-minute promotional video was played on six giant electronic screens about 300 times per day, and had appeared approximately 8,400 times when the broadcast ended on February 14, 2011. The video showed a series of Chinese people, ranging from ordinary citizens to celebrities. It was a publicity effort aimed at promoting a truer image of China abroad, and signalling that China was opening to embrace the world. However, reactions from both Chinese and overseas audiences had been fairly mixed since the initial release of the promotional film. Experts from China and abroad were skeptical of the effectiveness of the campaign in promoting the national image of modern China to the world. This case presents the opportunity to examine the basic elements in the marketing communication process, analyze how decisions in marketing design affect outcomes, and understand the differences between nation and product promotion.