The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) had been working on a new brand campaign to attract visitors to Singapore. However, instead of highlighting the country's attractions and listing the reasons why it would be a good destination, they wanted to roll out a different kind of campaign that would resonate with consumers. Working with the Economic Development Board (EDB), STB developed a country brand to deliver a more compelling message to tourists and investors alike. Drawing on Singapore's early history, STB focused on telling stories that showed how Singaporeans overcame adversity on their road to success. STB worked with many people and organisations before launching the campaign about people following their passions. After the launch of the 'Passion Made Possible' campaign, STB hoped for widespread adoption of the country brand and a useable framework for future campaigns.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 519021.

In March 2013, Zalora, a leading online fashion retailer in Asia-Pacific, had diversified it sales channels by launching the Zalora mobile app. Almost three years on, Tito Costa, the Managing Director of Zalora, is faced with some hard-hitting questions, specifically in relation to where he should focus the company's future investments. Although the mobile app was an important channel to draw in customers, conversion rates and retention needed improvement. Tito knew that the question was not whether to have a mobile app or not, it was about getting the best value from it. What investments and incentives were needed to create a large and growing set of loyal customers who would see the Zalora as their go-to app for all their fashion needs? Did Zalora have the resources to execute these plans? And, importantly, would these investments be worthwhile?

Based in 2016, this case presents the dilemma faced by Tiffany & Co. (Tiffany), the luxury jewellery and specialty retailer, about embarking upon an omni-channel retail (OCR) strategy. Although Tiffany had a strong social media presence globally, it offered e-commerce solutions only in a few select markets. Online sales accounted for just six percent of its total sales, and there was limited integration between its brick-and-mortar outlets and online presence. While the company recognised the growing significance of OCR, as a luxury brand it struggled with the idea of embracing the online medium wholeheartedly. Luxury brands, synonymous with being superior, elusive and premium, endeavoured to provide a sensory-rich experience meant for a privileged few, while the online world was a mass media platform representing low cost, democratisation and a ubiquitous experience for all. The fashion-oriented and affluent Singapore market, with its high levels of internet usage and mobile penetration, provided a perfect opportunity for Tiffany to experiment with a fully integrated omni-channel strategy. However, it raised significant concerns too: What did implementing such a strategy mean in terms of investment in resources and capabilities? What would be the key factors to success? How would this strategy enable the brand to differentiate itself from other luxury brands? How would it impact Tiffany's product lines, pricing strategies, store designs-physical and digital, service initiatives, and above all its brand equity?

The case describes how Uber, the mobile ride hailing service provider, made an entry into China in July 2014 and, after facing stiff competition from local players, was forced to sell its stake and exit the country two years later. Prior to Uber's entry, China's major players, Didi and Kuaidi, had been competing fiercely to attract both riders and drivers by offering steep discounts and subsidies. To compete with the two local players, Uber established a strategic partnership with Baidu, one of China's largest Internet companies. Shortly after, Didi and Kuaidi merged to form a formidable, monopolistic competitor against Uber, controlling almost 95% of the ride hailing business. Uber's future in China appeared bleak. It had been losing over US$1 billion a year in China since its entry into the market. Faced with such stiff competition and recurring loses, Uber sold its stake and exited China in August 2016. Now Travis Kalanick, CEO of Uber, would have to assess what went wrong, what could have been done differently, and what should be the next steps for expanding and increasing Uber's market share in Asia.

Since 2013, Mastercard CMO M. V. Rajamannar (Raja) had transformed the firm's marketing by using unique experiences, digital technology, and social media to intensify linkages not only with cardholders but also with Mastercard's direct bank and merchant stakeholders. Building on its influential but dated "Priceless" advertising campaign, Raja refocused Mastercard on four "Priceless Possibilities" that engaged cardholders directly in unexpected and sometimes unique opportunities reflecting their passions. The result was increased brand differentiation and deeper collaborative ties between Mastercard and its bank and merchant partners.

China's digital market is on the rise at an exceptional pace, and giant digital players, such as Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, have already surpassed some of the U.S. industry's most successful names in terms of market capitalisation. When competing in China's digital market, local Chinese digital players have an advantage over foreign newcomers as access to this market is restricted, and some international digital and social platforms are banned in China due to Internet censorship. However, while the hurdles created by censorship might have opened the gates for local companies to imitate Western innovations without international rivals - the internal competition within China is never easy. Chinese digital companies have to face tough local competition to win users and maintain a high retention rate. This requires them to constantly innovate and improve their products and services to stay ahead of the competition, which vigorously accelerates the development of China's digital markets. The question to ask is: Are Chinese digital companies merely imitating their Western counterparts, or are they also innovating?

In 2011, Coca-Cola India recognised the opportunity to access the rural and remote markets of India in a more effective manner by launching the 'eKOCool', a solar power operated cooler. This innovation had the potential to expand the hitherto underserved and hard to penetrate Indian rural market, and even bring home the first time consumers who had never tasted the company's beverages. It also facilitated an integration of the company's business development goals with its social responsibility initiatives - in particular, contributing towards the global 5by20 initiative of enabling economic empowerment of five million women entrepreneurs by 2020. To make this innovative product affordable, the technical team worked through the supply chain and brought down the costs to US$779, more than a third of the original cost. However, the company's top management acknowledged that for long-term sustainable impact and the scalability of the innovation, it was imperative that the cost be brought down further. How could this best be done, and how could the golden triangle of business, government and civil society come together to develop similar initiatives that would develop value for communities?

On April 1, 2013, the Supreme Court of India rejects Novartis' patent application for its cancer treatment drug, Glivec. Many share the opinion that Indians should have access to cheaper generic alternatives for life-saving drugs and that multinational pharmaceutical companies should not be allowed to benefit from prolonging a drug's patent life. However, these companies often spend decades and invest billions of dollars to develop just a single drug. Novartis' existing business models and pricing strategies in the United States, Western Europe and Japan now need to be re-evaluated for emerging markets such as India; taking into account affordability, limited access to health insurance and government safety nets, different marketing and distribution networks, and the powerful generics lobby. What should Novartis' strategy be in India, and for emerging markets in general?

This case is set in July 2013, shortly after the launch of Surf Air, an all-you-can-fly subscription airline based in California. Wade Eyerly, the CEO of Surf Air, has to decide if the business model is sustainable, and also if Surf Air could be expanded to other locations. Three directional trends are predominant in the domestic airline industry in the US - consolidation of airlines, operational discipline and cost-cutting, and an unbundling of services to create ancillary revenue streams. Customers are struggling as shrinking hubs or cancelled point-to-point routes result in more flight connections, and higher costs to reach their destinations. Surf Air is introduced in the California region to address the above issues, by providing frequent business travellers an affordable option through a monthly subscription. The airline commences operations with six-seater Pilatus PC-12 jets serving two secondary airports in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area; and this is shortly followed by another service to Santa Barbara. Eyerly notes that the months leading up to the launch of Surf Air have brought about high expectations from his investors and the media. Would the all-you-can-fly model of Surf Air prove to be sustainable? Where could Surf Air expand to next?

This case looks at the impact of an innovative digital marketing campaign on bringing new customers and increasing brand awareness and recognition.It is set in September 2013, when Groupon India, a local e-commerce marketplace, decided to sell onions online. The price of onions in India had been rising sharply throughout 2013, making this humble vegetable nearly unaffordable for the average Indian household. With the idea of launching a bold public relations campaign, the marketing team proposed selling onions on its website at a heavily discounted price. The deal, which was accompanied by a tongue-in-cheek advertising campaign, was an immediate hit. At the end of seven days, Groupon India had acquired 15,000 new and the daily average value of business had increased by an impressive 50% over the seven days of the promotion. The media coverage of the deal was even more remarkable - both the Indian and the global press couldn't get enough of what was being termed as "the great onion digital deal". Now Ankur Warikoo, head of Groupon India, is thinking ahead. How will he ensure that the new and existing customers drawn in by the onion bargain continue to spend on his company's website? How can he convert the strides made in brand recognition into brand loyalty?

Dodla Dairy, a family owned dairy business based in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, India, has successfully made its mark on the Indian liquid milk industry, but now needs to move to the next level. The company is considering a backward integration initiative into the dairy farming business, but is faced with internal limitations of capital constraint and limited risk propensity. D. Sunil Reddy, the managing director of Dodla Dairy, is looking at the option of getting an external partner on board via private equity. This would not only help him to bring in the needed resources, but also provide him with the expertise to rapidly enter into the dairy farming sector, which is a relatively new area for him. However, he must decide carefully, would the benefits of bringing in an external private equity partner be worth the dilution of control that would come along with this option?

The case is set in May 11, 2013, when the Shangri-La Bosphorus Hotel in Istanbul is inaugurated. The Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts is Asia Pacific's leading luxury hotel group and globally regarded as one of the finest hotel ownership and management companies in the world. The group has grown to over 80 hotels and resorts in its 40-year history, though this will be the group's first venture into in Turkey. There have been many challenges in launching the hotel. This has included delays in completing the project and hiring high caliber customer service-oriented staff, of which Shangri-La is known for. On-going retention and development of the employees is also a key challenge. Moreover, the Shangri-La brand is not very well known in the highly competitive Turkish and regional markets, and so brand awareness must be enhanced. How should Shangri-La Bosphorus position itself against competitors? In the long-term, what will drive the hotel's growth? Over and above, the financial viability of the Bosphorus project is of key importance to the group.

It is March 2012 and Janice Chan, the senior director of digital marketing and distribution for Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels, is responsible for delivering a digital marketing campaign strategy to the sales and marketing team at the W Singapore - Sentosa Cove. The hotel, which is set to open in just six months, needs a solid online advertising campaign that is sure to bring in 15-20% of the hotel's booked room nights from the first month. Chan and her team have a limited budget of US$44,000 for the campaign. She recognises that a proper budget allocation across different advertising platforms, as well as selecting the right feeder markets into Singapore, will be critical to success. It will take some creativity, but Chan is confident that her team will recommend a winning strategy that is sure to fill rooms when the W opens in September 2012. This case has been developed to illustrate digital marketing options, specifically, as it pertains to launching a new hotel. Students will learn how to best utilise a limited budget to drive room bookings. In addition, they will understand the role of digital marketing in creating brand awareness, supporting positive evaluation and driving sales. The advantage of focusing on the hospitality industry is that it provides clearly measurable outcomes, where room bookings and revenue can be matched to how and where the digital marketing budget is allocated. Students will also benefit from the Asian context in which the case takes place. This is important because it highlights different digital usage patterns and effectiveness parameters across regions.

Supplement to case SMU117. Part B of this case series takes place in December 2008, a little more than a year following the events of part A. Although significant progress has been made since then, the Comfort One Rinse range has not yet reached 50% market penetration ... though neither has Downy. The biggest obstacle is rural activation. What more can Nguyen do to push into the rural market?

It is October 2007 and competition in the fast-moving consumer goods space is heating up in the developing markets. Vietnam is no exception and Unilever believes it can seize greater market opportunity through innovative and environmentally sustainable product offerings. Nguyen Van Linh, head of marketing at Unilever Vietnam is concerned. Back in April, Unilever launched Comfort One Rinse, a fabric conditioner designed to reduce water use for rinsing hand-washed laundry by 66%. However, consumers are sceptical of the product's efficacy and do not believe that this new fabric conditioner will work as advertised. To complicate matters, P&G just launched their own nearly identical product, Downy One Rinse. In part A of this case series, Nguyen addressed the new product's credibility issue while contending with P&G's challenger product. Will she secure Comfort's market leadership and reach 50% market penetration before Downy?

Over the past decade or so, Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd (KS&DL) - an Indian public sector enterprise - has observed a significant fall in its signature product's brand image, Mysore Sandalwood. The company now aims to rebuild its overall image by launching their new, Mysore Sandals Millennium, soap in January 2012. Millennium is a super-premium luxury soap offering that has taken three years of research and development and is targeted at the top-end consumer segment. It is priced at US$12.60 for a bar - making it the most expensive Indian soap on the market - where the premium range is available for as low as US$0.35 a bar. Will KS&DL succeed in marketing a product priced at a level that makes it unaffordable to most Indians? How can the company best go about executing and communicating its strategy to make this launch a success?

SEMRI is the first not-for-profit public private partnership (PPP) arrangement in the healthcare sector in India. From its modest beginnings of providing emergency response services with 15 ambulances in a single city, EMRI grew its operations across 8 states to 1,550 ambulances serving 366 million people, free of cost. But the company now faces a major crisis as its chairman has resigned and been arrested for fraud. The CEO takes the reins of the organisation and adeptly manages the crisis. EMRI is then taken over by GVK Power and Infrastructure Limited. With a new sponsor, the CEO must decide whether to continue expanding EMRI's operations across India or offer other services in states where it already has a presence. Can the organisation obtain further funding and modify the PPP model whilst preserving the values that EMRI was built upon?

This is a two-part case series. Case A begins in April 2010, where Sharat Verma, the brand manager for Gillette India, together with Harish Narayanan, the assistant brand manager in the Singapore regional business unit, influence an R&D effort to redesign the Gillette Mach3 razor for the Indian market. By focusing on frugal innovation, they succeed in removing non- essential features of the razor design in order to reduce costs, thereby aligning the value proposition and price-point to the target segment. In addition, they also help develop an unconventional marketing campaign, called the "Shave India Movement", which catalyses the previously unresponsive yet more affluent urban market, and results in record breaking sales for the Mach3 razor in 2010. Verma and Narayanan are left to analyse the mechanics underlying the success of this campaign, and determine if the movement can be further expanded. They must also determine if lessons from the campaign can be applied elsewhere, and if so, how? Case B begins in May 2010 with Sharat Verma wondering how he can extend the "Shave India Movement" from the urban elite down to consumers at the bottom of the affluence pyramid through a new product, the Gillette Guard - set to launch five months later in October. This new product is designed specifically for low-income consumers in India. With the price-point and distribution dilemma already solved vis-à-vis the successes of the Mach3 campaign discussed in Case A, he now needs to craft an activation strategy that will extend the Shave India Movement to all rungs of society.