In this supplement to Maple Leaf Simply Fresh (A), the results of the first year after the launch and the next challenges the team faces are discussed.
In this supplement to Maple Leaf Simply Fresh (A), the launch team is preparing for questions that senior management is expected to ask (before giving the final go-ahead) about how the team plans to mitigate risks during the launch.
A new line of chilled ready meals has been developed after significant technological breakthroughs in food processing by Maple Leaf Consumer Foods. The chilled ready meals category in Canada is expected to exceed $200 million by 2011, and plans call for Maple Leaf to own more than half the category by that time. In the (A) case in this four-part series, the vice president of innovation and brand development is convening a group meeting to finalize ambitious launch plans for Maple Leaf Simply Fresh.
Gino SA was a major European-based manufacturer of burner units that are sold in China through exclusive contracts with three distributors. As a result, the three Chinese distributors have significant bargaining power with Gino. A leading boiler manufacturer, who is currently purchasing through a distributor, has approached Gino to receive OEM treatment (a further discount by purchasing the burners direct from the manufacturer, in return for a commitment to purchase a percentage of their burners from Gino). In deciding whether or not to pursue the company's first direct OEM relationship, the marketing manager must consider the impact of his decision on the distributors, the competition and the company's corporate management.
Senior management at 3M Canada's Industrial Business Division (IBD), which manufactures abrasive and adhesive products, faces a dilemma. In the light of a 2006 directive from corporate headquarters, which calls for top line growth, IBD has a goal of essentially tripling its annual rate of sales gain from its current level of three to four per cent to 10 per cent within two years. In IBD's markets, 3M as a product-driven company with strong research and development focus, has historically concentrated on original equipment manufacturers and specialty distributors, but a new channel to market has emerged. Several national distributors of items used in general repair and maintenance are growing at a rapid pace. If 3M Canada wants to participate in the growth, it must seriously reconsider how it goes to market, particularly in sales and logistics. Dealing with this situation demands analysis of the requirements of the new channel, and an assessment of fit with IBD's capabilities and strengths. Significant changes will be necessary for IBD if it is to gain and sustain business in the emergent segment.
Two young entrepreneurs have started a tour company at Whistler Resort in British Columbia. Two years into the operation, they face some critical decisions about their service offering. The major issue centres on expansion. They could grow by forging a partnership with a European destination service, by focusing on their current target market, or by expanding beyond premium winter vacations at Whistler. Students will learn lessons about what it takes to offer and maintain a premium level of service.
Quantec Geoscience is a leading global supplier of geophysical services to the mineral exploration industry. It developed TITAN 24, an award-winning highly innovative technology for deep earth imaging. TITAN 24 provided geophysical information with higher clarity at greater depths (up to 2,000 metres versus 400 of existing methods) to enable better targeting of drilling. However, by mid-2004, TITAN was far short of its sales targets. Mining companies, the major target market for TITAN, were resisting adoption. Quantec's marketing director had to rethink the company's whole marketing strategy, including its target segments, pricing, positioning and market communication.
Eastern Bank Limited has taken over the Bangladesh operations of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International after its collapse. The new chief executive officer of Eastern Bank must make decisions about which corporate banking clients to target, how to develop and position the Eastern Bank brand, what products to emphasize, in what price structure and whether to centralize or decentralize the bank's operations. The supplement Eastern Bank Limited (B), product 9B04A031 updates the situation. This case provides a good vehicle for discussing relationship management in a complex service analysis of market segments and the present and future profitability, so that the marketing strategy decisions are customer driven.
The director of Lubricants business for Pennzoil-Quaker State Canada is faced with a significant challenge - overcoming the apathy that many consumers had about changing their motor oil. Increasing the frequency of oil changes and improving retention of its customers was critical for the financial success of the company. In response to this challenge, the director had to make a recommendation on adoption and implementation of a major new promotional program. The program, called One-to-One, was designed to create closer relationships among consumers, retailers and Pennzoil-Quaker State. Making the program work required active cooperation from the retail installers who actually performed the oil changes. The supplement Pennzoil-Quaker State Canada: The One-To-One Decision (B), product 9B04A011, focuses on the 240-day field trial of the program.
This supplement to Pennzoil-Quaker State Canada: The One-To-One Decision (A), product 9B04A010 looks at the 240-day field trail of a program designed to build loyalty among consumers, and to increase frequency of oil changes.
Zhongda Optical Cable Engineering Company is a small company that provides optical cable engineering services to contractors who are installing intranet applications in a province in China. As an early entrant in the market and a high quality service provider, the company had been able to charge premium prices, however, the market has changed. There are now many competitors who provide similar services. Furthermore, contractors - and sometimes end-users - were learning how to do Zhongda's major task, optical cable welding, for themselves. Zhongda has three options: aggressively target end-user accounts; retreat from cable engineering services and focus on distributing cable components or start manufacturing optical cable welding machines. None of these is a perfect match for Zhongda's capabilities, but the prospects for continued prosperity in its current role are bleak.
Global Healthcare Exchange Canada is a business-to-business exchange that connects hospitals and their major suppliers through an electronic procurement process. Founded as a subsidiary of its global parent, the exchange has become the leading health-care exchange in the country, but it is still far short of break-even. It must develop a compelling value proposition if it is going to drive adoption among hospitals and suppliers to the target levels. To do so, it must overcome considerable inertia among hospitals that are often very reluctant to change from frequently inefficient purchasing processes. Although there are major benefits to be realized from automating supply chain operations in the industry, the adoption decision process among hospitals is highly complex, but very idiosyncratic. In confronting these challenges, the exchange must also re-examine its own business model, in particular its pricing strategy for both suppliers and hospitals.
As a major player in Western Canada's real estate market, Mainstreet Equity Corp. has a unique strategy for success: instead of simply buying and selling properties, Mainstreet also upgrades and manages them, thereby enhancing their value. In particular, Mainstreet concentrates its efforts on the multifamily sector, acquiring apartment buildings and townhouses to rented or sold at a profit under the Mainstreet brand. The company president and chief executive officer is at a professional crossroads where the future of Mainstreet is concerned. He wants to ride the wave of rapid growth that his young company is experiencing, yet at the same time, he wants to preserve the values of a small entrepreneurial firm. Control over issues such as quality, service, buying and staffing is important to him and easy to facilitate under current conditions. But the opportunity to expand is also tempting and at hand. Mainstreet's board of directors must work towards a decision regarding whether or not to expand the business, and if so, how rapidly and where? Or if not, the board must decide on an alternative course of action that would prepare the company for expansion in the future.
Gino SA was a major European-based manufacturer of burner units that are sold in China through exclusive contracts with three distributors. As a result, the three Chinese distributors have significant bargaining power with Gino. A leading boiler manufacturer, who is currently purchasing through a distributor, has approached Gino to receive OEM treatment (a further discount by purchasing the burners direct from the manufacturer, in return for a commitment to purchase a percentage of their burners from Gino). In deciding whether or not to pursue the company's first direct OEM relationship, the marketing manager must consider the impact of his decision on the distributors, the competition and the company's corporate management.
Looking for a creative option to promote 3M products to medical professionals, a 3M Chile sales manager developed the idea of a first-aid kit or botiquin that could be used as a promotional gift. Managers at the company's world headquarters had not previously focused on branded first-aid kits. It was the same all over the world, a plain white box with the red cross in front. You just can't brand a first-aid kit! they replied. At the same time, the Chilean managers lacked the resources necessary for adequate market research. Should they go ahead with the botiquin concept anyway? If they did, questions such as channels, packaging, promotion, and pricing, would still have to be addressed. (A sequel to this case is available, titled 3M Chile - Health Care Products (B), case 9A99A005.)
In August 1991, Procter & Gamble Inc. (P&G) acquired Facelle Paper Products, a Toronto-based manufacturer of tissue, towel and sanitary products, for $185 million. By March 1992, P&G was prepared to consider a major repositioning of the Facelle brands (Royale and Florelle) in the facial tissue market. The product formulation, their brand names, pricing, and advertising strategies were all under review.
In late June 1987, Ron MacKenzie, executive vice-president of Quadra Logic Technologies Inc. (QLT) located in Vancouver, was thinking over the firm's latest opportunity to commercialize a product. The small company's research group had come up with a drug which, when combined with laser technology, could be used in the treatment of cancer. Killing malignant tumours with beams of light ... it's right out of science fiction, he muttered to himself. We've got to market this product. But how? Can we do it ourselves or should we sell it to someone else? Maybe we should wait until we're in a better position to support it. A follow-up case, Quadra Logic Technologies Inc. (B) is also available.
Cantel Inc. had just been granted a license from the Canadian Department of Communications to provide a national air network for a new mass communications technology, cellular radio communications. In devising a marketing strategy, the management team questioned whether the company should be involved in the provision of a complete cellular package, including the promotion, sales, installation and maintenance of both cellular telephones and network subscriptions. In addition, they were considering alternative distribution channels for bringing cellular to potential end users, and pricing and promotional programs were not yet finalized.