Around 1994, competition in the credit card market was based on price (i.e., interest rates and annual fees). After Chase and American Express launched bonus point programs in 1993, HSBC was forced to follow in 1994. The original program was targeted at high-income consumers as with luxury brand redemption items. Competition reacted and consumers quickly learned to expect a points program as a standard feature. Again, HSBC differentiated their credit card products by adding a wider range of redemption items, and lowering redemptions levels. Problems emerged in 1997-1998 as the program became a source of complaints because of operational difficulties in fulfillment and a lack of competitive advantage in the marketplace. In 1999, HBSC's credit card was rated poorly, largely because of the problems with the bonus point system. Research was used to understand consumers and revitalize the program. Significant changes were made in the features, improved operations and an improved selection of redemption items. By 2002, the program was rated as one of the best in the industry. The challenge is, Where does HSBC go from here?
Boots Group PLC, one of the best known and respected retail names in the United Kingdom, provided health and beauty products and advice that enhanced personal well being. The marketing manager at Boots was planning his sales promotion strategy for a line of professional hair-care products. The professional hair-care line consisted primarily of shampoos, conditioners and styling products (gels, wax, mousse, etc.) developed in collaboration with United Kingdom's top celebrity hairdressers. The marketing manager's challenge was to select one of three promotional alternatives - get three for the price of two, receive a gift with purchase or an on-pack coupon - for the Christmas season. He realized that the alternative he selected would have both immediate effects on costs and sales, but also long-term implications for the brands involved. His primary objective was to drive sales volumes and trade-up consumers from lower-value brands, while retaining or building brand equity.
The vice-president of regulation at the Investment Funds Institute of Canada is reviewing the monthly statistics. It shows the continuance of three trends, prevalent during the last 12 months in the Canadian mutual funds industry. Net sales of mutual funds were declining, fund redemptions were rising and the rate of growth in mutual fund assets had been marginal. The vice-president must determine how the Investment Funds Institute, as the industry trade association for mutual funds, can influence these trends. He must decide on the message, who he should target with the message and the media through which he should reach his target audience, and present his plan at the next executive committee meeting.
The Canada Summer Games is a national, premier amateur sports event held biannually. The 2001 Summer Games in London, Ontario faced a challenge in generating revenue by selling spectator tickets to various events. Early sales did not meet expectations and the marketing strategy was revised halfway through the advertising campaign. The marketing manager must determine the impact revising the marketing campaign had on sales and prepare a report with recommendations that could be used by future host cities.
Ford of Canada is a division of the Ford Motor Company - one of the Big Three automobile manufacturers in North America. The brand manager of the Windstar was concerned that its only brand in the minivan category would not meet its annual sales target. Since the Windstar's launch in the early 1990s, it had become one of the largest selling auto brands in Canada and was synonymous with safety and family travel. During the past few years, the popularity of purchasing a Windstar had declined with the minivan market becoming very competitive, the recession, quality problems and several product recalls. The brand manager must create a promotional strategy that will maintain Windstar sales and profitability and attempt to maintain the brand image. (Also available is the video, Ford Windstar product # 7B03A005.)
Canadian Tire is a large retailer of automotive, hardware and houseware products. As part of the company's marketing strategy, the executive director of corporate affairs is reviewing four social marketing programs and must decide which program the company will adopt. She must analyse each of the social marketing programs and assess how the program will contribute to the company's competitive position. She also needs to convince the company's independent associate dealers to adopt and implement the chosen program.
Molson Canada produced Molson Canadian, Canada's best selling beer. Canadian's previous advertising campaign The Rant had been incredibly popular making it one of the most successful ads for Molson in a long time, and winning numerous international and domestic advertising awards. The marketing team for Molson Canadian had to find the theme for the next advertising campaign, and must decide whether to move towards more traditional beer advertising or maintain the non-traditional them of The Rant. (A 9-minute VHS video is available, product 7B01A025 containing Molson's and Labatt's advertisements.)
Nintendo Co. Ltd. is a worldwide leader in the retail video game industry. In 1998 the color version of Nintendo Game Boy would be launched simultaneously in North America and Europe and would be one of Nintendo's most important launches. The president of Nintendo, Canada must develop a marketing plan that would generate the most profit.
The manufacturer of TotalMint mouthwash graded its television commercials internally to judge their potential effectiveness in the marketplace. New television commercials were shown to planned audiences and diagnostic data points were used to judge the commercial based on several criteria. TotalMint was able to assess the extent that a particular commercial was likely to drive sales by comparing the results of the test against a historical database of television commercials. The product manager for TotalMint received the raw data from the advertising effectiveness tests of the latest commercial and was ready to start the evaluation by categorizing the verbatim comments and the overall recall responses. Once tallied, she needed to compare the results to the two previous TotalMint commercials.
Consumer sales promotions are used to acquaint new users with a brand, to load existing users and to maintain interest in the brand on the part of the salesforce, the retailers and the consumers. Four promotions are presented in this exercise - two which were considered successful by the manufacturer and two which were not. These promotions provide the background information necessary for students to: consider the characteristics of each promotion and the surrounding circumstances; evaluate and determine which promotions were successful; and develop a rationale of which factors are important for successful promotions.