個案總覽

In the summer of 2019, Yu Sasaki, Head of the Game Division of DeNA, a Japanese mobile gaming company, is evaluating various growth strategies for its recent game Othellonia. Sasaki needs to decide if he should focus on customer acquisition, retention, or monetization.

The case opens in 2017 as Onur Erbay, CEO of HOPI, a multi-vendor loyalty platform, is contemplating a critical decision. The case chronicles the origins of Boyner Group, the parent company of HOPI and a major retailer in Turkey, and development of retail and customer relationship management (CRM) in Turkey over the years. Before HOPI, Boyner Group retailers were unable to trace customers across the Group's brands form insights about customers' preferences and habits beyond what brand-specific CRM and loyalty programs provided data for. HOPI was born as the management team at Boyner Group realized the need to serve the customer holistically; the program was designed as a coalition loyalty program including non-Boyner retailer partners. The case provides a detailed overview of the design choices for HOPI-a mobile only app with its own currency, paracik, its revenue model, user experience, and how the company planned to leverage big data to segment the customers for retailers and increase purchasing power for customers. Since its launch in 2015, HOPI had 5.5 million downloads and 300 thousand daily active users browsing campaigns offered by over 116 coalition retailers that ranged from gas stations and cinemas to supermarkets and department stores. In 2017, Erbay, who had ambitions to grow HOPI beyond a loyalty program, was faced with harsh realities: the Turkish market was very price sensitive, several competitors had emerged since HOPI's launch, and several retailers and consumers preferred discounts at the time of purchase instead of earning loyalty points for future purchases. Erbay was also facing pressure from the parent company to make HOPI profitable. Was it time for HOPI to pivot to the discount model and abandon its original concept?

Francesco Cavarero, chief information officer of Miroglio Fashion, Italy's third-largest retailer of women's apparel, was trying to bring analytical rigor to the company's forecasting and inventory management decisions. But fashion is inherently hard to predict. Can artificial intelligence and machine learning replace human intuition in this industry?

Francesco Cavarero, chief information officer of Miroglio Fashion, Italy's third-largest retailer of women's apparel, was trying to bring analytical rigor to the company's forecasting and inventory management decisions. But fashion is inherently hard to predict. Can artificial intelligence and machine learning replace human intuition in this industry?

Francesco Cavarero, chief information officer of Miroglio Fashion, Italy's third-largest retailer of women's apparel, was trying to bring analytical rigor to the company's forecasting and inventory management decisions. But fashion is inherently hard to predict. Can artificial intelligence and machine learning replace human intuition in this industry?

Spreadsheet supplement for case 519021.

Twenty-four-year old Ritesh Agarwal, founder and CEO of India-based online, hotel branding network OYO Rooms, has tackled the issue of unreliability in India's highly-fragmented budget hotel industry. In 2018, OYO branded 8,500 properties across 200 cities and managed to capture almost 1.5% of India's budget hotel market. Ritesh believes that in the process, OYO has honed technological skills and infrastructural capabilities that can transform the company from being a technology player to a hotel developer. OYO now aspires to convert corporate spaces and homes into accommodation spaces, and to make its mark worldwide.

In 2017, both Flipkart and Amazon claimed leadership position in India's recently concluded key annual festive season sale, but it was too early to declare victory. Amazon continues to invest heavily in India. Competition from newer players is increasing. Media reports hint that Reliance Industries, a large Indian conglomerate, is planning to extend its e-commerce offering beyond fashion to electronics, mobile phones and even groceries. As the battle for India's lucrative e-commerce market gains pace, experts wonder--who will win? Is India a winner-takes-all market or is there space for more than one player?

In March 2017, Elsa Pekmez Atan (MBA 2004), was wondering about the future of Enpara.com, a digital-only banking platform of QNB Finansbank. Since its launch in October 2012, Enpara had been successful in attracting over 600,000 customers by appealing to digital savvy, middle-class customers that QNB Finansbank was lacking for a long time. By the end of 2016, it accounted for 16% of QNB Finansbank's deposits. With the support of the top management, Atan was able to run Enpara as an independent company. However, as Enpara grew there were increasing pressures to integrate with the parent company. While Atan believed that this would destroy the unique culture and positioning of Enpara, senior management was wondering whether to spin it off or merge it with the parent company.

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.

By January 2017, Paytm, a mobile payments company that started in 2010, became India's largest mobile payments platform with over 142 million users and a $5 billion valuation. Could Paytm become the $100 billion company its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma envisioned it to be?

InMobi, a mobile advertising company, considered one of India's first unicorns, has launched a new product called Miip. InMobi hopes that the product will grow its revenue 8 times by 2018. Visually identified by a mascot, Miip seeks to re-imagine adverting by becoming a user's trusted companion on the mobile phone, introducing them to new, relevant products, much as a friend would. As the CEO and co-founder Naveen Tewari introduces the product in China, he wonders if the product will be as successful as InMobi anticipates.

Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, co-founders of India's largest e-commerce company, Flipkart, were reviewing the foregoing Facebook post, which had gone viral and received more than 20,000 likes. A third-party seller listed a pair of women's sandals on Flipkart's website at 799 Indian rupees and offered it on promotion at 399. However, upon close examination of the product's display photo, consumers noticed a 399 price tag printed on the strap. Consistent with stated goals of transparency and building trusted relationships with customers, the Bansals immediately drafted an apology and terminated the seller's agreement with Flipkart.

In 2011, Suntech Power, the world's largest solar panel manufacturer, found itself in a highly problematic position. Recent developments in the Chinese solar power industry had negatively impacted the company's operations. As the industry had matured, the demand for Suntech Power's products had become highly volatile. Changing policy regulations, the ambiguous financial structure of the firm and a shift in consumers' perceptions of the product were only some of the issues that further compounded the problem. As a result of these changing dynamics within the global solar power industry, the company's share price had plummeted by roughly 90 per cent. To remedy the problem, in May 2011, the founder and chief executive officer of Suntech Power hired a new chief financial officer and they faced the arduous task of turning the company around. How should they tackle changing political and economic conditions? What decisions needed to be made to maintain the position of the company in the global solar energy market?

In 2011, Suntech Power, the world’s largest solar panel manufacturer, found itself in a highly problematic position. Recent developments in the Chinese solar power industry had negatively impacted the company’s operations. As the industry had matured, the demand for Suntech Power’s products had become highly volatile. Changing policy regulations, the ambiguous financial structure of the firm and a shift in consumers’ perceptions of the product were only some of the issues that further compounded the problem. As a result of these changing dynamics within the global solar power industry, the company’s share price had plummeted by roughly 90 per cent. To remedy the problem, in May 2011, the founder and chief executive officer of Suntech Power hired a new chief financial officer and they faced the arduous task of turning the company around. How should they tackle changing political and economic conditions? What decisions needed to be made to maintain the position of the company in the global solar energy market?

Core Curriculum Readings in Marketing cover fundamental concepts, theories, and frameworks in marketing. For classroom use in higher education, this Reading is accompanied by a Teaching Note, test bank, and exhibit slides. Digital technology has changed how consumers search for information, buy products and services, and interact with companies and each other. These technologies also have made it possible for companies to have a better understanding of their customers' decision journey and subsequent word-of-mouth recommendations. Digital marketing requires new approaches to reach and engage consumers. This reading highlights four key elements of digital marketing: outbound marketing (search advertising, display ads, and video ads), inbound marketing, social media networks, and mobile technology. The Reading explores each element, explaining relevant tools and how to assess their effectiveness.It also covers advanced topics such as online-offline interaction, managing search ads and bidding for keywords, assessing the effectiveness of digital campaigns, and linking measurements to customer lifetime value (CLV). This Reading contains an Interactive Illustration, "Search and Display Advertising ROI," which helps students understand the relationships among measures of efficiency of search and display advertising, as well as the dependence of advertising campaign profit and ROI (return on investment) on its measures of efficiency. The Reading also contains links to four video clips on the implementation of digital marketing techniques, including "Coca Cola Hong Kong Multiscreen Ad Campaign," a creative combination of TV and mobile marketing; "HubSpot CEO Interview on Inbound Marketing," about the importance of creating noteworthy content that will attract customers; "United Breaks Guitars," an example of negative word of mouth via social media; and "Advertising Symbiosis: The Key to Viral Videos," describing why certain customers are likely to share ads.

Benjy's, an electronics and appliance retailer, is losing business because of "showrooming": Customers come into the chain's stores to see, touch, and compare products but then buy at a lower cost from online competitors. Does the company's answer lie in matching online prices, trying to thwart price comparisons, improving customer service, offering exclusive products, charging manufacturers a fee for showcasing their products, or something else? Expert commentary comes from Roberto Leao, a finance executive for a global retail organization, and Steve Conine, chief technology officer of Wayfair, on online retailer.