個案總覽

This case is intended to be part of a first-year MBA marketing course, or a second-year elective in advertising, integrated marketing communications, market research, or marketing analytics. The case provides students with examples of two real advertising experiments and the challenges involved in executing the experiments. It allows for a discussion of the need for advertising experiments, and also, at a more general level, the need to measure the return on marketing. Biases surrounding the field experiments allow for a discussion of the problems with establishing a causal relationship between advertising and sales.

Ohio Art is shifting its advertising and distribution strategy for a new line of construction toys aimed at adults called nanoblock. Distribution is focused on toy and hobby outlets, avoiding mass merchandisers, but Amazon.com also stocking and selling the nanoblock line. Digital marketing strategies are being developed for both promotion through Amazon.com and social media. In the midst of its efforts to shift marketing to new media, management is distracted by the media storm over an aide to presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, who commented that Romney's platform is "almost like an Etch a Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and we start all over again." The case describes a number of digital marketing strategies, including temporary price reductions implemented through Amazon's "Gold Box" deals. The case is a sequel to the A case, which describes more traditional advertising experiments for toys distributed through mass merchandisers.