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In 2009, the Tata Nano entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the lowest priced car in the world. It was predicted that with the Nano, the Indian car market would expand by 65 per cent. But despite the car's initial popularity, the final demand for it was low. By 2012, the Nano plant was operating at only 25 per cent of its capacity, and by 2014, Nano production was limited to only three days per week. After introducing the Nano Twist and trying to reposition the Nano as more than a "cheap car," Tata Motors was considering permanently ceasing production of the Nano and using the plant to manufacture other sedans. What had gone wrong with the Nano and what was in store for its future?

In 2009, the Tata Nano entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the lowest priced car in the world. It was predicted that with the Nano, the Indian car market would expand by 65 per cent. But despite the car’s initial popularity, the final demand for it was low. By 2012, the Nano plant was operating at only 25 per cent of its capacity, and by 2014, Nano production was limited to only three days per week. After introducing the Nano Twist and trying to reposition the Nano as more than a “cheap car,” Tata Motors was considering permanently ceasing production of the Nano and using the plant to manufacture other sedans. What had gone wrong with the Nano and what was in store for its future?

The prospect of online grocery (e-grocery) shopping has generated a substantial amount of interest. Many fast-moving consumer goods companies have entered this potential market, and Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is contemplating building its own e-grocery platform. However, e-grocery firms have yet to develop a business model that can consistently deliver profits while also creating value for customers. HUL needs to assess the potential barriers to success, including challenges such as inadequate infrastructure and customer skepticism. If the company decides to launch its e-grocery store, which model should it follow? Should HUL enter the e-grocery arena with a full range of products or only a select few? What technical and physical capabilities would the company need to succeed in the online retailing business? HUL has always been at the forefront of using technology to reach consumers, but is e-commerce the best way forward?

Supplement to 9B12A008.

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.

For the co-founder and CEO of Booster Juice, Canada's largest chain of juice and smoothie bars, international expansion was integral to the firm's strategy, especially as the Canadian market matured. However, working with business cultures and practices in different countries was a major challenge. Booster Juice had been opening three stores per month through the end of 2013, and the CEO was re-examining Booster Juice's international operations, including those in India, where Booster Juice had 18 stores. The CEO was contemplating considerable expansion in the Indian market, which had great potential but presented many challenges. He wanted to open many more stores in India, but existing stores showed merely average performance. Could India provide the sustained market growth that the CEO desired? What would be the perfect approach to India's complex market?

When a company connects with customers' emotions, the payoff can be huge. Yet building such connections is often more guesswork than science. To remedy that problem, the authors have created a lexicon of nearly 300 "emotional motivators" and, using big data analytics, have linked them to specific profitable behaviors. They describe how firms can identify and leverage the particular motivators that will maximize their competitive advantage and growth. The process can be divided into three phases. First, companies should inventory their existing market research and customer insight data, looking for qualitative descriptions of what motivates their customers--desires for freedom, security, success, and so on. Further research can add to their understanding of those motivators. Second, companies should analyze their best customers to learn which of the motivators just identified are specific or more important to the high-value group. They should then find the two or three of these key motivators that have a strong association with their brand. This provides a guide to the emotions they need to connect with in order to grow their most valuable customer segment. Third, companies need to make the organization's commitment to emotional connection a key lever for growth--not just in the marketing department but across every function in the firm.

The credit card giant Capital One is known for its pioneering use of marketing analytics and big data, so it might be surprising to read about its recent realization: that too much reliance on those tools had left it without a meaningful brand. The authors explain how the number one job of the CMO--to strike the right balance between promotions that goose revenue in the short term and brand-building campaigns that support healthy margins in the long term--has become dramatically harder in the age of data-driven targeting. Capital One got its own wake-up call when its CEO, Rich Fairbank, commissioned a brand equity study. The research revealed that Capital One was overwhelmingly known by consumers for just one attribute: "They send me lots of mail." Efforts to strengthen the brand and give Capital One a stronger foundation for future growth yielded five lessons--all learned and refined through conversations with other marketing executives, including Tony Pace, of Subway; Mark Addicks, of General Mills; Tariq Shaukat, of Caesars Entertainment; Russell Weiner, of Domino's; and Jim Speros, of Fidelity, as they dealt with the same tension in their very different organizations.

As digital technology has enabled shoppers to easily research and buy products online, sellers have been scrambling after them, trying to understand and satisfy their wants. Savvy companies, however, are using new tools, processes, and organizational structures to proactively lead digital customers from consideration to purchase and beyond. They are creating compelling customer journeys and managing them like any other product--and gaining a source of competitive advantage. Building successful journeys requires four key capabilities: (1) Automation, to smoothly carry customers through each step of their online path; (2) Personalization, to create a customized experience for each individual; (3) Contextual interaction, to engage customers and appropriately sequence the steps they take; and (4) Journey innovation, to add improvements that enhance and extend the journey and foster customer loyalty. In addition, the most successful companies have a particular organizational structure, with a chief experience officer overseeing a journey-focused strategist and a "journey product manager." This latter role is critical--the journey product manager leads a team of designers, developers, data analysts, marketers, and others to create and sustain superior journeys, and he or she is accountable for the journey's ROI and general business performance.

This exercise will help students understand how to develop a Strategic Marketing Plan: an essential skill, but one that many business, government, and organizational leaders are not equipped to develop strong and competitively superior strategic plans. Because it is complicated to develop a case with the information needed for students to practice developing a Strategic Marketing Plan, this exercise is designed to help students understand how to create a strategic plan in the context of their own brand creation. As such, this exercise not only provides students with practice creating a strategic plan, it has a side benefit of helping them achieve greater success during their internships and careers through more proactive thought and management of their professional brand. In general, this exercise should provide useful, practical insight regarding what it takes to create and demonstrate a superior brand at work, while generating depth of insight about the process of creating a strong strategic plan. This exercise is intended for more advanced students (e.g., undergraduate seniors or MBA, executive MBA, or executive education students) at any point during the business school curriculum. It is designed to follow either "Your Professional Brand: Creating a Brand Essence Statement for Your Internship" (UVA-M-0881) (designed for use by someone starting a dream internship) or "Your Professional Brand: Creating a Brand Essence Statement for Your Career" (UVA-M-0887) (designed for use by someone starting a dream full-time job), which help students understand how to create a superior Brand Essence Statement (BES). The assignment in this exercise also requires students to read and work with "Developing a Superior Brand Essence Statement" (UVA-M-0892) and "Developing a Superior Creative Brief Plan" (UVA-M-0890).

Although not all MBA students end up working in a marketing function and/or on a brand per se, all students will develop a professional brand, whether it is proactively built or created through happenstance. This exercise helps guide students through a process to think strategically about how to develop their professional brand at work. It is used in conjunction with a technical note that details how to build brands using a tool called the Brand Essence Statement. In this exercise, students are asked to use the tool to create their own Brand Essence Statement, focused primarily on the brand image that the students wish to achieve as a full-time employee. This exercise is appropriate in a general marketing, brand management, or strategic marketing course at the undergraduate or graduate levels during a module focused on branding. It should be used in conjunction with the technical tool and a discussion on Brand Essence Statements.

Although not all MBA students end up working in a marketing function and/or on a brand per se, all students will develop a professional brand, whether it is proactively built or created through happenstance. This exercise helps guide students through a process to think strategically about how to develop their professional brand in an internship setting. It is used in conjunction with a technical note that details how to build brands using a tool called the Brand Essence Statement. In this exercise, students are asked to use the tool to create their own Brand Essence Statement, focused primarily on the brand image that the students wish to achieve during the internship period. This exercise is appropriate in a general marketing, brand management, or strategic marketing course at the undergraduate or graduate levels during a module focused on branding. It should be used in conjunction with the technical tool and a discussion on Brand Essence Statements.

The rapid rise of app-based "ridesharing" services, led by San Francisco-based companies Uber and Lyft, had a disruptive effect on the existing market. Uber and Lyft dominated the ridesharing market in the United States and many other markets, although other companies such as Sidecar and Cabulous drove key innovations in the service. By 2015 Uber was clearly the dominant firm. Despite encountering opposition from regulators and traditional taxi companies all over the world, Uber managed to expand to 58 countries and more than 300 cities. In a world of smartphones, apps, and GPS systems, the methods of traditional taxis suddenly seemed obsolete. Was ridesharing truly a value-creating innovation or just a cleverly devised scheme to mask the illegal maneuvers of an unregulated insurgent? Were Uber and Lyft just technology companies that revolutionized the market-making power of advanced data systems and free markets to serve the basic desire of every traveler to get from point to point quickly, conveniently, and cheaply? Or were they glorified illegal cab services, flagrantly cannibalizing an established taxi system?

Uber offered a variety of car services that varied by city. The full-range of services included UberX, UberBLACK, UberSUV, UberSELECT/PLUS, UberXL, UberLUX, and UberTAXI. The services varied by type of car offered and fare charged. In large cities, the option to select among a variety of private transportation services and car types existed long before Uber and other ridesharing services came on the scene. It seemed straightforward then that differentiation of service level must be profitable. But was the provision of this variety of service levels better for riders as well? What was the rationale for offering service-level variety for products and or services that were clear substitutes for each other? When did differentiation by service level make sense for both riders and the service provider? And how many service levels should there be?

A key difference between ridesharing services and standard yellow taxis was the rating system. After a trip using a ridesharing service, riders were encouraged to rate their drivers on a scale of one to five stars. The rating systems put immense pressure on drivers to maintain as high a rating as possible. Many drivers regarded the rating system as unfair, because they were sometimes penalized for factors out of their control. But just as passengers could rate drivers, drivers could also rate passengers. When low-rated passengers attempted to summon rides in the future, there was a greater likelihood of rejection by drivers. The rating systems used by ridesharing services seemed to be a key differentiator from taxicabs and for-hire services. But did the systems work as they should? Did the use of a ratings system lead to an improvement in service quality over competing services? Or were its flaws too serious and unfair to ensure anything other than additional stress for drivers?