Sandy Michaels, chief marketing officer of financial services giant Pace Sterling, faces a tough dilemma now that the high-profile golf tournament her company sponsors has been tainted with controversy. The Dover Hill country club, where the prestigious Champions invitational is played, accepts only men as members. This year, a powerful women's organization has decided to make a bigger issue of that exclusivity. Under pressure from the Women's Rights Organization (WRO) to withdraw its support, Pace Sterling must think about the marketing value it gets from the sponsorship and how much that value might be diminished--or heightened--by the controversy. CEO Cal Buckley enlists the help of Michaels and other senior executives in the company to determine just that. Michaels firmly believes that Pace Sterling should stay the course and sponsor the event. Michaels is unwavering--that is, until the day she comes across this newspaper headline: "Tommy Ward Should Boycott Dover Hill." Ward is the undisputed king of the golf world and the odds-on favorite to win the Champions. The WRO is clearly turning up the volume. Should Pace Sterling proceed with its sponsorship? In R0304A and R0304Z, offering advice are Sergio Zyman, former chief marketing officer of Coca-Cola; James E. Murphy, global managing director of marketing and communications at Accenture; Kim Skildum-Reid, co-author of The Sponsor's Toolkit and The Sponsorship Seeker's Toolkit; and Paul A. Argenti, a professor of management and corporate communication at Dartmouth's Tuck School.

Sandy Michaels, chief marketing officer of financial services giant Pace Sterling, faces a tough dilemma now that the high-profile golf tournament her company sponsors has been tainted with controversy. The Dover Hill country club, where the prestigious Champions invitational is played, accepts only men as members. This year, a powerful women's organization has decided to make a bigger issue of that exclusivity. Under pressure from the Women's Rights Organization (WRO) to withdraw its support, Pace Sterling must think about the marketing value it gets from the sponsorship and how much that value might be diminished--or heightened--by the controversy. CEO Cal Buckley enlists the help of Michaels and other senior executives in the company to determine just that. Michaels firmly believes that Pace Sterling should stay the course and sponsor the event. Michaels is unwavering--that is, until the day she comes across this newspaper headline: "Tommy Ward Should Boycott Dover Hill." Ward is the undisputed king of the golf world and the odds-on favorite to win the Champions. The WRO is clearly turning up the volume. Should Pace Sterling proceed with its sponsorship? In R0304A and R0304Z, offering advice are Sergio Zyman, former chief marketing officer of Coca-Cola; James E. Murphy, global managing director of marketing and communications at Accenture; Kim Skildum-Reid, co-author of The Sponsor's Toolkit and The Sponsorship Seeker's Toolkit; and Paul A. Argenti, a professor of management and corporate communication at Dartmouth's Tuck School.

Sandy Michaels, chief marketing officer of financial services giant Pace Sterling, faces a tough dilemma now that the high-profile golf tournament her company sponsors has been tainted with controversy. The Dover Hill country club, where the prestigious Champions invitational is played, accepts only men as members. This year, a powerful women's organization has decided to make a bigger issue of that exclusivity. Under pressure from the Women's Rights Organization (WRO) to withdraw its support, Pace Sterling must think about the marketing value it gets from the sponsorship and how much that value might be diminished--or heightened--by the controversy. CEO Cal Buckley enlists the help of Michaels and other senior executives in the company to determine just that. Michaels firmly believes that Pace Sterling should stay the course and sponsor the event. Michaels is unwavering--that is, until the day she comes across this newspaper headline: "Tommy Ward Should Boycott Dover Hill." Ward is the undisputed king of the golf world and the odds-on favorite to win the Champions. The WRO is clearly turning up the volume. Should Pace Sterling proceed with its sponsorship? In R0304A and R0304Z, offering advice are Sergio Zyman, former chief marketing officer of Coca-Cola; James E. Murphy, global managing director of marketing and communications at Accenture; Kim Skildum-Reid, co-author of The Sponsor's Toolkit and The Sponsorship Seeker's Toolkit; and Paul A. Argenti, a professor of management and corporate communication at Dartmouth's Tuck School.

George Caldwell, cofounder of Advaark, a cutting-edge ad agency, was listening hard to his biggest client, John McWilliams, CEO of GlobalBev. McWilliams ran a multibillion-dollar holding company for an assortment of food and beverage brands but was giving credit to Advaark for his latest product line. "We were completely blindsided by this whole 'energy drink' craze," McWilliams was saying, clearly delighted that Advaark had steered his company into the business. Then he enthused, "I'd love to get your thinking about our snack lines." "Oh, no," George thought. He hadn't realized that his partner, Ian Rafferty, had made this foray into strategic consulting. Traditionally, their agency focused only on the creative execution of ad campaigns. In fact, they'd disagreed before about whether it was wise to follow customers' needs into areas where they had no skills advantage. George thought Advaark should stick to its core competence. Ian saw a source of easy revenue and an enhanced offering to clients who, he claimed, wanted one-stop shopping. The potential was appealing, but for George, it hardly outweighed the downsides. They'd risk alienating the strategy companies that now referred clients to Advaark. They'd need to recruit or develop new kinds of talent and create a methodology and training. George was just deciding to nix the expansion when a chance meeting with a former client made him pause. She'd heard about GlobalBev's success and wanted the same kind of help. Eager to win back a lapsed account, George was tempted. Should Advaark meet more of its customers' needs by expanding its services or stay focused on what it does best? In R0202A and R0202Z, commentators Gordon McCallum, John O. Whitney, Roland T. Rust, and Chris Zook weigh in on this fictional case.

George Caldwell, cofounder of Advaark, a cutting-edge ad agency, was listening hard to his biggest client, John McWilliams, CEO of GlobalBev. McWilliams ran a multibillion-dollar holding company for an assortment of food and beverage brands but was giving credit to Advaark for his latest product line. "We were completely blindsided by this whole 'energy drink' craze," McWilliams was saying, clearly delighted that Advaark had steered his company into the business. Then he enthused, "I'd love to get your thinking about our snack lines." "Oh, no," George thought. He hadn't realized that his partner, Ian Rafferty, had made this foray into strategic consulting. Traditionally, their agency focused only on the creative execution of ad campaigns. In fact, they'd disagreed before about whether it was wise to follow customers' needs into areas where they had no skills advantage. George thought Advaark should stick to its core competence. Ian saw a source of easy revenue and an enhanced offering to clients who, he claimed, wanted one-stop shopping. The potential was appealing, but for George, it hardly outweighed the downsides. They'd risk alienating the strategy companies that now referred clients to Advaark. They'd need to recruit or develop new kinds of talent and create a methodology and training. George was just deciding to nix the expansion when a chance meeting with a former client made him pause. She'd heard about GlobalBev's success and wanted the same kind of help. Eager to win back a lapsed account, George was tempted. Should Advaark meet more of its customers' needs by expanding its services or stay focused on what it does best? In R0202A and R0202Z, commentators Gordon McCallum, John O. Whitney, Roland T. Rust, and Chris Zook weigh in on this fictional case.

George Caldwell, cofounder of Advaark, a cutting-edge ad agency, was listening hard to his biggest client, John McWilliams, CEO of GlobalBev. McWilliams ran a multibillion-dollar holding company for an assortment of food and beverage brands but was giving credit to Advaark for his latest product line. "We were completely blindsided by this whole 'energy drink' craze," McWilliams was saying, clearly delighted that Advaark had steered his company into the business. Then he enthused, "I'd love to get your thinking about our snack lines." "Oh, no," George thought. He hadn't realized that his partner, Ian Rafferty, had made this foray into strategic consulting. Traditionally, their agency focused only on the creative execution of ad campaigns. In fact, they'd disagreed before about whether it was wise to follow customers' needs into areas where they had no skills advantage. George thought Advaark should stick to its core competence. Ian saw a source of easy revenue and an enhanced offering to clients who, he claimed, wanted one-stop shopping. The potential was appealing, but for George, it hardly outweighed the downsides. They'd risk alienating the strategy companies that now referred clients to Advaark. They'd need to recruit or develop new kinds of talent and create a methodology and training. George was just deciding to nix the expansion when a chance meeting with a former client made him pause. She'd heard about GlobalBev's success and wanted the same kind of help. Eager to win back a lapsed account, George was tempted. Should Advaark meet more of its customers' needs by expanding its services or stay focused on what it does best? In R0202A and R0202Z, commentators Gordon McCallum, John O. Whitney, Roland T. Rust, and Chris Zook weigh in on this fictional case.

Products without precedent are a tough sell; consumers stick with the goods they understand. The key to marketing breakthrough products is to educate the public before making any sales pitches.