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The case analyzes the consumer choice behavior in the case of detergents sold in an Indian retail store, Reliance Retail. The protagonist, Parul Khanna, the house brand (private label) manager at Reliance Retail wanted to know whether promotions have any short-term or long-term impact on brand switching and customer retention. Sudz, the house-brand detergent sold by Reliance Retail, was envisioned as a cost-effective detergent, giving comparable wash results as some of the established national brands such as Surf, Rin, Ariel, and so on. The questions nagging Parul were: Could customers who had been habitually purchasing a certain brand for many years really consider a house brand and make that switch? Is there a need to interfere in the market and create a "catalyst" effect? Students are expected to evaluate the impact of promotion on brand switching and brand loyalty among detergent purchasers. The case may be used in advanced statistics, stochastic process, and business analytics courses of MBA or Executive MBA programs as well as in a Ph.D. program in Statistics and Business Analytics.

Garnier which was launched in the United States in 2003 acquired a market share of 5.1% within a year. Pantene, which was the market leader in the United States in the shampoo category, saw its market share decline from 22% to 20.5% during the same period. The steep decline in the market share worried Procter & Gamble, the owner of the Pantene brand. It wondered whether the decline was because of lack of distribution, or higher pricing or unfavorable consumer perception. It hired leading market research agency - Nielsen to identify the cause of decline in market share and to suggest marketing strategy. This case elaborates on the research findings of Nielsen. It also traces the evolution of market research industry and in particular Nielsen. It describes the various research offerings of Nielsen.

This case (an abridged version of UVA-M-0663) describes the history of the Red Bull brand and how the company stimulated and harnessed word-of-mouth to build a new product category (functional energy drinks) and brand franchise. The case concludes by asking the reader to consider where Red Bull will take its brand, product line, and marketing next, in light of many competitive challenges in the United States. The case was written to foster discussion of nontraditional brand-building strategies and the growing globalization of brands and products targeted toward younger consumers.

This brief, non-technical note is aimed at marketing professionals and/or those in training. The note explores the value of search engine optimization (SEO), as well as its key concepts and some of the tactics that can help optimize online search performance. If a brand applies these tactics, customers (and potential customers) using search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo and Ask.com will be more likely to find effective information about that brand and its products. Several practical examples are used to highlight these strategies in use, and to illustrate what happens when they are ignored.

This brief, non-technical note is aimed at marketing professionals and/or those in training. The note explores the value of search engine optimization (SEO), as well as its key concepts and some of the tactics that can help optimize online search performance. The value of search marketing in targeting key customer segments is discussed. If a brand applies these tactics, customers (and potential customers) using search engines such as Google, Bing, and Baidu will be more likely to find effective information about that brand and its products. Several practical examples are used to highlight these strategies in use, and to illustrate what happens when they are ignored. In this updated (2017) version, greater emphasis is placed on mobile search.

MediaMath is a demand-side platform that provides a single interface from which online media buyers can buy display media advertising from multiple advertising exchanges. The company’s chief executive officer is contemplating the strategic direction of his new business after its first full year of operation. Specifically, he needs to determine which clients he should most actively pursue and how that decision will affect the strategic direction of the business.

In April 2013, Ron Johnson (HBS '84) stepped down after just 18 months as CEO of J.C. Penney. In his brief tenure, Johnson, an acclaimed retailer respected for his innovation and success in shaping the retail image at Target and Apple, introduced dramatic departures from J.C. Penney's traditional retail approach, and enacted changes quickly and simultaneously, with little market testing. Over Johnson's final 12 months as CEO, J.C. Penney shares dropped more than 50%. The case describes the environments at Target, Apple, and J.C. Penney during Johnson's tenure and how his experiences may have shaped the strategies that he implemented while CEO at J.C. Penney.

Yue Sai is L'Oreal's troubled Chinese luxury brand. Alexis Perakis-Valat, the new CEO of L'Oréal China, has made it a point of honor to turn the brand around. He has asked Stéphane Wilmet, the brand's new general manager, to come up with a turnaround plan that will restore L'Oréal's reputation in China as the world's best cosmetic marketer. Stéphane Wilmet and Ronnie Liang, Yue Sai's marketing director, must reconsider everything from Yue Sai's value proposition down to its media, price, product, and distribution strategies. Please visit the dedicated case website http://cases.insead.edu/loreal-china/ (copy and paste the url into a browser) to watch commercials and video interviews.

The CEO of EFL (India), a direct sales organization, must decide which changes to the sales compensation systems would better motivate his sales reps and improve their sales performance.

A growing middle class in the Arab world yearns for progress and modernity, but has no interest in abandoning its religious traditions. Companies that gloss over the interplay between culture and religion ignore a critical factor for success in the region.

Social media has created widespread confusion in many organizations. Some all but beg people to 'like' them on Facebook, while others badger consumers to follow them on Twitter. The fact is, hundreds of millions of dollars are spent each year on social media marketing strategies, and most of it achieves very little in the way of creating a sustained following. Successful social movements, by contrast, have long managed to capture and sustain followers over long periods of time-for a tiny fraction of what private companies spend on marketing. The authors describe five lessons business can we learn from social movements and their organizers.

From Asia to the Americas, populations are getting older, and so far, business and policy leaders have done little to prepare for it. The authors -- from Accenture's Institute for High Performance -- describe some of the key myths that are standing in the way of leaders' understanding of this demographic certainty. For example, one myth is that 'Older consumers are an unattractive demographic for marketers.' The authors debunk this and six other myths and show how to embrace this burgeoning market.

Social influence marketing is a powerful tool--but understanding how influence actually works is more complicated than it might appear, because correlation and causation are easily confused. Robust analytics can help marketers get it right, enabling them to design effective campaigns and avoid costly mistakes.

The 2012 U.S. presidential election between President Obama and Governor Romney gave both sides reasons for optimism. As such, it was popularly thought to be anyone's race to win. The election generated a wide range of polling at the state and national level. Despite the abundance of data, it still was not clear to many people whether the race was too close to call or whether one candidate had a decisive lead. On the evening of the election, two friends discuss why the result may or may not be a close one and decide to wager on the outcome.

This is a two-part case series. Case A begins in April 2010, where Sharat Verma, the brand manager for Gillette India, together with Harish Narayanan, the assistant brand manager in the Singapore regional business unit, influence an R&D effort to redesign the Gillette Mach3 razor for the Indian market. By focusing on frugal innovation, they succeed in removing non- essential features of the razor design in order to reduce costs, thereby aligning the value proposition and price-point to the target segment. In addition, they also help develop an unconventional marketing campaign, called the "Shave India Movement", which catalyses the previously unresponsive yet more affluent urban market, and results in record breaking sales for the Mach3 razor in 2010. Verma and Narayanan are left to analyse the mechanics underlying the success of this campaign, and determine if the movement can be further expanded. They must also determine if lessons from the campaign can be applied elsewhere, and if so, how? Case B begins in May 2010 with Sharat Verma wondering how he can extend the "Shave India Movement" from the urban elite down to consumers at the bottom of the affluence pyramid through a new product, the Gillette Guard - set to launch five months later in October. This new product is designed specifically for low-income consumers in India. With the price-point and distribution dilemma already solved vis-à-vis the successes of the Mach3 campaign discussed in Case A, he now needs to craft an activation strategy that will extend the Shave India Movement to all rungs of society.

In 2012, Apple, Inc. won the largest patent infringement case in history against Samsung Electronics for Samsung’s willful copying of Apple’s iPhone and iPad. Samsung, which recently overtook Apple as the leading smartphone maker, must now devise a strategy to address the court verdict and its potential impact on new product development.

The owner of Aradia Fitness London had just completed her TRX suspension training instructor’s course and was contemplating how she could bring the TRX suspension program to her fitness studio. TRX suspension training utilized suspension equipment aided by gravity and body weight as a way to increase strength and flexibility. The owner knew the TRX program would be a perfect complement to her studio’s classes, but she was unsure how best to implement the new program. She had some big decisions to make regarding the marketing plan and operational details for this new class.

CEO Richard Gedman has suddenly found himself running two separate but potentially related businesses: the slot manufacturing and marketing business that he has been running for years, and a new online and mobile gaming business that has grown incredibly fast over the past couple of years. To sustain success in both businesses, it seems clear that each one will require significant R&D investments. Should he invest in only one or both?

The case is based on a situation faced by Hong Kong Television Network Limited (HKTV) in 2012, a leading player in Hong Kong's international direct dial (IDD) telephone and broadband Internet access industries. The protagonist is Ricky Wong Wai-kay (王維基), Chairman and Founder of HKTV who built his company by successfully challenging local oligopolies. Encouraged by the Hong Kong government's policy to promote more choices of quality programs in the free-to-air terrestrial television market (free TV), HKTV was one of three parties to apply for a license in 2009. At the time, two stations had free TV licenses; the dominant Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) and troubled rival Asia Television Limited (ATV). To amass funds, Ricky sold the cash cow of his company, the broadband business, for around HKD5 billion. With the funds, HKTV started to hire staff and construct a large multimedia center. Ricky Wong's vision is that "together we can create TV miracles." How can he realize his vision? What will it take for him to compete successfully against TVB?

A young entrepreneur is preparing the marketing portion of a business plan to launch a board games café, and he needs to complete the plan within a week so that he can review it with his business partner. The marketing plan must include a recommendation for a target market and detail plans for promotion, pricing and product offering. The partners have budgeted $6,000 for promotion to gain exposure and bring customers into the café.