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The unique needs of companies at different growth stages are best served by a marketing organization designed to meet the organization's goals and a CMO with the right skills. Early-stage companies need a scrappy generalist, developing companies need a scale specialist, and mature companies need a strategic marketing leader. Based on research and interviews with 100 CMOs, the authors identified three key traps in designing marketing organizations and ways to avoid them.

During the summer of 2022, carmaker BMW introduced postpurchase, subscription-based "functions on demand," and the online response was furious. Having purchased a car with functionalities preinstalled, consumers expect to use the functionalities as and when they wish and without additional charges. BMW was changing this norm and so became the object of derision. We live in an age of "x as a service" and amid a subscription economy, and electronics and software are making their way into all kinds of products-products that are connected to the internet at all times, controlled through apps on mobile devices, and subject to the product maker's "off" and "on" instructions. "Preinstalled functionality as a service" is now technologically possible, the economic pull of recurring revenue is enticing, and perhaps BMW should not be blamed: We are possibly at the threshold of a new way of thinking about durable products and their preinstalled bundle of functions. This article introduces the concept of preinstalled functionality as a service and characterizes how this business-model innovation changes the concepts of durable products, product lines, after-purchase add-ons, and functionality usage rights. I conclude by examining whether and how the innovation may be implemented.

By 2015, HCF, Australia’s largest not-for-profit health fund, had become a tired brand that did not appeal to younger consumers despite eighty years of success. The market was changing and the combined pressure of competitors and consumer market dynamics meant that HCF was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain its position. Yasmina Pinto, the company’s head of brand, had been given the responsibility of revitalizing its tired brand so that it would once again become fresh and appealing to consumers. What was the best way forward for HCF as a brand and as a provider of high quality health care services for Australians?

In January 2022, the vice-president of technology for Nata Supermarkets was reviewing the company’s performance against its competitors for the 2021 calendar year. The company had been performing poorly both based on its internal metrics and against competitor growth rates. The vice-president also noticed that many competitors began revealing new data analytics initiatives in their annual reports. Many companies experienced industry-leading growth because of these changes and upgraded their guidance for the following year. To compete with an increasing number of data-driven competitors, Nata Supermarket created its internal data set to collect information on customer shopping habits and customer demographics such as age, educational background, and frequency of complaints. With the emergence of visualization tools and data analytics, the vice-president was wondering what useful insights could be drawn from its internal data set. Could this information be useful to resolve various issues such as targeting promotions and forecasting demand?

Spreadsheet to accompany product no. W33834.

In July 2022, a senior data scientist for Guell Appliances was aggregating customer reviews from the company’s recent appliance launch. The previous month, the company had launched a revamped product line that required a significant amount of investment in research and development. The success of the product line was paramount because it defined the success of the company. The senior data scientist wanted to apply modern analytical techniques to thousands of product reviews to thoroughly understand the preferences of customers, based on what they were saying about their new appliances.

Spreadsheet to accompany product no. W33837.

By 2015, HCF, Australia's largest not-for-profit health fund, had become a tired brand that did not appeal to younger consumers despite eighty years of success. The market was changing and the combined pressure of competitors and consumer market dynamics meant that HCF was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain its position. Yasmina Pinto, the company's head of brand, had been given the responsibility of revitalizing its tired brand so that it would once again become fresh and appealing to consumers. What was the best way forward for HCF as a brand and as a provider of high quality health care services for Australians?

In January 2022, the vice-president of technology for Nata Supermarkets was reviewing the company's performance against its competitors for the 2021 calendar year. The company had been performing poorly both based on its internal metrics and against competitor growth rates. The vice-president also noticed that many competitors began revealing new data analytics initiatives in their annual reports. Many companies experienced industry-leading growth because of these changes and upgraded their guidance for the following year. To compete with an increasing number of data-driven competitors, Nata Supermarket created its internal data set to collect information on customer shopping habits and customer demographics such as age, educational background, and frequency of complaints. With the emergence of visualization tools and data analytics, the vice-president was wondering what useful insights could be drawn from its internal data set. Could this information be useful to resolve various issues such as targeting promotions and forecasting demand?

Spreadsheet to accompany product no. W33834.

In July 2022, a senior data scientist for Guell Appliances was aggregating customer reviews from the company's recent appliance launch. The previous month, the company had launched a revamped product line that required a significant amount of investment in research and development. The success of the product line was paramount because it defined the success of the company. The senior data scientist wanted to apply modern analytical techniques to thousands of product reviews to thoroughly understand the preferences of customers, based on what they were saying about their new appliances.

Spreadsheet to accompany product no. W33837.

Mamaearth, founded in 2016, started as a direct-to-consumer personal-care brand and carved a niche for itself as a trusted, toxin-free baby-care, skin-care, and hair-care brand in a competitive Indian personal-care market landscape that included established multinationals. In 2022, its parent company, Honasa Consumer Private Limited (HCL), raised $52 million in financing for a valuation of US $1.2 billion, becoming the first unicorn of 2022. HCL also acquired BBlunt, a hair-care and styling-products business in a ₹1.34 billion deal that was seen as a significant step toward meeting Mamaearth's growth aspirations. In a competitive personal-care market landscape, the leading companies had realized health-aware consumers' need for natural and toxin-free products and were innovating and aggressively pushing chemical-free products. Mamaearth now faced a challenge in taking the next leap forward: it needed to grow its market, retain its sustainable positioning, determine its consumer segment, and build a communication strategy around these factors as a trusted, toxin-free skin-care and hair-care company.

Neeraj Bakshi, who bought a vodka distillery in 2019 in Mississauga, Ontario, had big dreams for the distillery and purchased a 2.5-hectare property in Welland, Ontario, to increase its production capacity. Bakshi had invested significantly in NB Distillers, which now produced three types of vodka, two types of whisky, and one type of gin, and he wanted to see nothing but success. He had advertised on billboards, bus shelters, and radio, but he wanted to spend his communication budget more strategically and was open to trying new ideas. Now, in May 2021, he needed answers to several important questions: What audience segment should NB Distillers target? How should Bakshi position the distillery? What other promotional tools might help him achieve greater brand awareness?

In 2006, two entrepreneurs founded Fugumobile Co. Ltd., a digital marketing agency based in Shanghai, China. The company grew organically in China by adapting to the evolving trends in digital marketing. In May 2021, the founders were facing a dilemma and had to choose between two options for sustainable and profitable growth of their company. The first option was to reach an extensive client base by continuing to deliver standardized services at affordable prices, which offered the company modest growth and profitability. The second option was to offer customized services at a premium price, which was more rewarding but would require recruiting experienced workers with a proven track record for selling and delivering high quality customized services, who were typically employed by large agencies and demanded significantly high salaries. The two founders had to decide which path to take.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) handles all online and mobile ticketing for the Indian Railways, the largest passenger carrier in the world, with an annual footfall of more than 8 billion. The IRCTC wished to monetise its data assets and floated a tender in July 2022 to engage a consultant for its data monetisation initiative. The tender faced severe backlash on social media from the lay public as well as privacy rights advocates, and invited the scrutiny of a Parliamentary Committee of the Government of India. Faced with this opposition, the IRCTC recalled the tender. This case allows students to analyse if there is value to IRCTC's data monetisation project and, if so, for which stakeholders. Should the tender be redesigned or should the IRCTC or Indian Railways do this exercise internally? Can data monetisation coexist with data privacy of stakeholders or should this project be abandoned? Would a tender for hiring a consultant for data analytics have seen as much resistance? The case highlights the importance of a tender document to be seen as a medium of communication for the lay public and not just as a commercial document for vendors.

Economic downturns are frightening. Consumers curb spending, companies cut costs, and we all wait anxiously for the economy to recover. In such a climate, launching a product-an expensive and uncertain endeavor in the best of times-would seem to make little sense. But a new study finds that products launched during recessions outperform on several important measures. Even though people tend to limit spending during downturns, the timing may confer, for several reasons: There is less noise in the marketplace, making it easier to differentiate products and draw consumers' attention; the cost of running ads is often lower; and going ahead with new products in the midst of a weak economy is often perceived as a signal of corporate health. This article outlines other key insights from the research and offers guidance on how best to time product launches.

Since its founding in 2019 by Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede, Skims, a solutions-oriented brand creating the next generation of underwear, loungewear, and shapewear with an eye toward body-type and skin-tone inclusivity, has experienced a meteoric rise. Kardashian, who was a well-known media personality, socialite, influencer, and businesswoman, served as the brand's creative director and aesthetic muse and brought her cultural impact and followers into the brand. CEO Grede and COO Emma Grede had experience managing celebrity brand relationships and founding other celebrity brands. In July 2023, the company was valued at $4 billion, an incredible achievement for a direct-to-consumer products company. Skims seemed to be bucking the trend that was dragging down other DTC brands, which for the first time in a decade were having trouble raising new venture money, raising money in down rounds that diminished the valuations of their companies, or seeing sharp stock price declines post-IPO. Instead of looking to other DTCs for inspiration, Skims' founders were inspired by brands such as Nike, Apple, and lululemon, hoping to propel Skims to iconic brand status. With the recent $4 billion valuation, Skims' investors would pressure the management team to drive exponential topline growth while managing profitability. Could Skims continue to accelerate its growth trajectory or would it fall prey to the same forces slowing down the growth and profitability of other DTC brands?

Microsoft launched the Xbox gaming console on November 15, 2001. For years, Microsoft used the "razor-razorblade" business model for Xbox by subsidizing the console's price while making money from game titles. In 2017, Microsoft introduced Xbox Game Pass, a subscription-based model for video games. Xbox Game Pass was intended to allow subscribers to discover and play new games without having to buy the games. Those subscribers could always choose something new to play from the catalog of games on Xbox Game Pass, all for a single fee of about $15 per month for the Ultimate version. Xbox Game Pass had achieved significant success, with a subscriber base of some 25 million gamers by January 2022, accounting for about 20% of Xbox's 2021 revenues of $16.3 billion. But growth had not kept pace with expectations, partly due to the post-pandemic slowdown in gaming activity. The Xbox team began examining three options for increasing the growth and profitability of its business. One option was to optimize the current subscription-based model by adapting the Xbox game catalog, benefits, pricing, and features. The second option was innovating the business model by changing it to a usage-based one was reducing subscriber churn by creating a loyalty program (called Xbox Rewards). The Xbox team needed to decide which of these strategies would produce the best revenue and profit outcomes while minimizing the risk of alienating the most valuable subscribers of Xbox Game Pass.

The Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) software market had just started to gain traction. Whatfix was emerging (and was recognised) as a leader in the DAP space. When the company had entered the market, its products had been industry-agnostic. However, with the acceleration in digital transformation triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, Whatfix was on a strong growth trajectory and had started to offer vertical solutions to its customers while using a combination of inbound and outbound marketing strategies. The company was evaluating its approach and processes as it planned to expand its customer base and market share.