Benecol Spread, a cholesterol-lowering margarine, was a product with unusual media-planning challenges. With a narrow target group and unproven market potential, Johnson & Johnson needed to get the most "bang for the buck" from its Benecol advertising. Would a media-planning model (optimizer) requiring executives to quantify their judgment on several key inputs be helpful in this process? A spreadsheet accompanying the case allows students to weight the target groups and to choose among different advertising vehicles to form the best possible media plan.
This case describes the history of the Red Bull brand and how the company stimulated and harnessed word-of-mouth to build a new product category (functional energy drinks) and brand franchise. The case concludes by asking the reader to consider how Red Bull should react to competitive challenges in the United States. The case was written to foster discussion of nontraditional brand-building strategies and the growing globalization of brands and products targeted toward younger consumers.
In the drive to create the wired automobile, General Motors developed the OnStar system, a subscription-based, wireless dashboard communication service that provides numerous safety and convenience features including emergency assistance, remote door unlocking, and hotel reservations. GM was faced with several key questions regarding its market-leading telematics system. Should they syndicate OnStar, or was it of more value to the company as an exclusive feature? Should the OnStar division be spun-off? Will telematics devices become standard for all vehicles, and if so, how would this affect decision-making regarding OnStar?
This case is a condensed version of "Philip Morris U.S.A. and Marlboro Friday (A)". In July 1993, Philip Morris executives met to consider second-quarter data on U.S. tobacco sales. Three months earlier, the company had announced a 40-cent-per-pack promotion for Marlboro cigarettes, the number-one-selling cigarette in the world. On the day of the announcement, April 4, Philip Morris stock fell $14.75, to $49.375, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 68.63 points. On June 4, the company announced an extension of the promotion through August 8. After eight months of consecutive share declines, Marlboro's share had rebounded by three points. Philip Morris executives now faced several important decisions: Should the Marlboro promotion be extended beyond August 8? Should the promotion be replaced with a permanent cut in wholesale prices? Should the prices of other Philip Morris premium brands be lowered? Finally, should the prices of the company's discount brands be altered in any way?
The case describes Procter & Gamble's adoption of value pricing, Wal-Mart's introduction of premium store brands, and the evolution of Wal-Mart's relations with its major vendors. In early 1994, Kimberly-Clark agreed to manufacture private-label training pants for Wal-Mart. Students must decide how Procter & Gamble should respond to Wal-Mart's decision to sell private-label diapers manufactured by Kimberly-Clark.
In 1999, Procter & Gamble (P&G) witnessed its first share increase against rival Kimberly-Clark (K-C) in the U.S. disposable diaper sector in five years. However, Sam's Club de-listed P&G's Pampers from most of its stores that August, limiting its diaper offerings to K-C's Huggies and its own private label brand White Cloud, introduced that same year. By mid-2000, P&G's stock had lost more than half its value, and the nature of the company's "special relationship" with Wal-Mart was being called into question.This case is a supplement to UV4013.
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.
The economics of the Internet are often tied to determining the value of a communications network. However, there are several different kinds of communications networks, each with their own method of valuation. These networks are named by the laws that describe their valuation: Sarnoff's, Metcalfe's, and Reed's. This note describes each network type and its method of valuation.
While business-to-consumer e-commerce (B2C) has garnered the most public attention of any online business sector, business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce is proving to account for a much larger slice of the economic pie. A significant portion of B2B e-commerce transactions will occur through online marketplaces called B2B exchanges. The objective of this technical note is to provide an understanding of these exchanges, including their organizational and revenue models.