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This technical note discusses learnings from organizations facing the challenges of managing brands across global geography. It talks about best practices for balancing the competing needs for local relevance and global consistency and scales.

This case is set in September 2007, and revolves around the Head of Sales & Marketing at Tata Chemicals Limited wondering how he could boost the market share of Tata Salt, one of the flagship products of the company. The dilemma is particularly interesting as Tata Salt had been ranked as the 'Most Trusted Food Brand in India' for the fourth year in a row and had very high brand equity - and yet its market share of 46% in the national branded segment and 18% in the total packaged iodised salt market, did not appear to grow in reflection of that high brand equity. Some of the key factors that the protagonist had to consider while devising a strategy was the complexity of the different markets within India across geographical areas, as well as the intensifying competition from other brands and types of salt.

HDFC Life Insurance (HDFC Life) was competing in a changing environment as established banks began entering the insurance business. Even though several brands in the category advertised with different positioning strategies, consumers were not receptive. HDFC Life commissioned a survey that seemed to lead the senior manager of digital marketing to a dead end. The challenge was to introduce a differentiation that could be associated with the HDFC brand despite the limitations of the category and the unreceptive mindset of the target segment. The case also takes into consideration the changing lifestyles of potential insurance buyers in India, their new interest in purchasing insurance online and the complexities of developing a services brand in an emerging market.

HDFC Life Insurance (HDFC Life) was competing in a changing environment as established banks began entering the insurance business. Even though several brands in the category advertised with different positioning strategies, consumers were not receptive. HDFC Life commissioned a survey that seemed to lead the senior manager of digital marketing to a dead end. The challenge was to introduce a differentiation that could be associated with the HDFC brand despite the limitations of the category and the unreceptive mindset of the target segment. The case also takes into consideration the changing lifestyles of potential insurance buyers in India, their new interest in purchasing insurance online and the complexities of developing a services brand in an emerging market.

Infosys Limited was India's second largest exporter of IT services with annual revenues of $7 billion and a market capitalization of nearly $26 billion in 2012. The company, headquartered in Bangalore, India, had built its reputation as the Indian IT bellwether whose credo was to "under-promise and over-deliver." Throughout its 31-year history, Infosys and its iconic co-founder, N.R. Narayana Murthy, were admired and respected for delivering excellence while conducting business in a legal, transparent, and ethical manner. It was one of the few software companies that recognized the value of a strong brand in the business-to-business (B2B) market and chose to develop its brand not through expensive advertising but by building core values, client trust, and leveraging Murthy's personal integrity and principles. In 2011, the company introduced its new brand positioning, Infosys 3.0. A key component of the new brand positioning was the Products, Platforms, and Services (PPS) business, headed by Sanjay Purohit. This case focuses on the company's efforts to makeover its brand in the U.S. market amidst several challenges.

This case describes the creation of Dr. Tim’s Pet Food Company, a small company centred on providing superior nutrition for dogs used for athletic and competitive purposes. The company has developed a brand image of high quality and premium natural ingredients, and has gradually extended its product line while maintaining the quality of its original formula. Although the company has been very successful and has grown at an ever-increasing rate, its founder is concerned about the difficulties of expansion that Dr. Tim’s Pet Food now faces. Located in an isolated area of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the company is not easily accessible to sales representatives or larger populations. Furthermore, the company’s founder does not want the brand to lose its high quality or natural image, and is therefore resistant to the idea of distributing his company’s products in large discount retail outlets. In addition, the founder of Dr. Tim’s Pet Food Company runs a veterinary hospital and is therefore hoping to limit the physical expansion of his newest entrepreneurial project. While keeping all of these limitations in mind, the case presents four growth strategies open to Dr. Tim’s Pet Food Company: penetration, product development, market development and diversification. Students are asked to consider which option would be best suited to the company’s expansion based on the information provided.

This case describes the creation of Dr. Tim's Pet Food Company, a small company centred on providing superior nutrition for dogs used for athletic and competitive purposes. The company has developed a brand image of high quality and premium natural ingredients, and has gradually extended its product line while maintaining the quality of its original formula. Although the company has been very successful and has grown at an ever-increasing rate, its founder is concerned about the difficulties of expansion that Dr. Tim's Pet Food now faces. Located in an isolated area of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the company is not easily accessible to sales representatives or larger populations. Furthermore, the company's founder does not want the brand to lose its high quality or natural image, and is therefore resistant to the idea of distributing his company's products in large discount retail outlets. In addition, the founder of Dr. Tim's Pet Food Company runs a veterinary hospital and is therefore hoping to limit the physical expansion of his newest entrepreneurial project. While keeping all of these limitations in mind, the case presents four growth strategies open to Dr. Tim's Pet Food Company: penetration, product development, market development and diversification. Students are asked to consider which option would be best suited to the company's expansion based on the information provided.

This case concerns the bonus structure for a representative sales team. Pharma Talent, a contract sales company for pharmaceutical companies across Canada, promised its clients that its representatives would drive sales at a lower cost than what the client would incur if it had its own sales force. Historically, it had contracts with products that targeted physicians (e.g., prescription drugs or medical devices); however, a new contract in Ontario involved an over-the-counter (OTC) product. Pharma Talent currently had a pay-for-performance bonus structure that had already been revised three times. Nevertheless, due to the structure of the different territories in Ontario, many sales team members thought the bonus was unfair and very discouraging, while its pay-for-performance structure did not meet the clients' needs.

In this updated case on Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, the company remains actively committed to rolling out and refining its Every Day Low Price ("EDLP") strategy across China, while making smaller, yet important strides to be locally relevant to its Chinese consumers. As recently as April 2012, then-CEO Scott Price shared his enthusiasm about Wal-Mart's growth and expansion in China. However, only a few short months later, by mid-summer 2012 (although not captured in this case), the company announced it would cool the rate of its expansions in China. Michael Duke (Wal-Mart's president and CEO) and other company executives cited a persistently hard economic climate in the United States and abroad, difficulty securing real estate on the mainland to allow for better laid-out stores, and a desire to hone its EDLP strategy as the reasons for the apparent pullback. This case uncovers issues that, to some foreign retailers, might be unsolvable, forcing an exit or, as was recently announced, a slow-down. At the same time, the case data suggests that Wal-Mart will do whatever it must to prevail in China, one of the largest markets in the world. Key discussions will emerge on whether or not the sheer tenacity of Wal-Mart to stay and thrive in China will overcome the company's seemingly endless issues with local governments, poorly managed store employees, high turnover and struggles with less-than-ideal store formats. This case is an update of the original case entitled "Wal-Mart in China-Every Day Low Price", published in 2005 by the Asia Case Research Centre. This updated case, in contrast to the original, addresses how Wal-Mart's American model for doing business in China has since broadened into a more culturally sensitive, two-pronged strategy.

This exercise is one in a series intended to help students learn how to perform financial calculations in marketing contexts. Kookaburra, a maker of cricket equipment popular in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and India, was considering two strategies for positioning a new cricket bat in India. Both strategies would cannibalize current sales, and Lulu Popplewell, category manager responsible for the Indian market, needed to calculate the financial impact of both to determine which one she would recommend. This exercise poses a fictional problem about branding strategy on a new product, and asks students to consider the financial impact of different branding strategies and cannibalization rates.

Spreadsheet for case KEL684

The chief executive officer of Royal Bhutan Airlines (Drukair) is concerned about growth and the seasonality of demand for Bhutan’s national airline. The Kingdom of Bhutan, with a population of approximately 700,000, is located east of Nepal between India and China (Tibet). It has recently embarked on a program of modernization, including a move to democracy and promotion of tourism.<br><br> <br><br>The tourism initiative is described as “high value, low volume,” meaning that tourists must contract with a local tourist operator and pay minimum daily tariffs. Drukair has witnessed a steady growth in passengers, which is correlated closely with tourist visits, mostly from the West and Japan. Tourist tickets are booked by in-country tour operators; there are no Internet bookings at the time of the case.<br><br>The CEO is wondering what can be done to improve overall business. He is considering interlining, the practice of joining with other airlines, in order to give passengers the opportunity to book tickets from their home countries. Marketing for growth is also a concern, and as Drukair is the only carrier in Bhutan, the CEO wonders if he should be promoting tourism in the country as part of his marketing plan.

As a birthday present, Mike has just been given a new smartphone by his girlfriend, Molly. However, it is not the phone he wants. Over the course of a few days, Mike struggles with the decision of whether to return the phone and get the one he wants, or keep the one he received as a gift. The case is written from the perspective of the consumer, and deals with consumer behaviour issues such as anticipatory regret. It would be useful in an introductory marketing or undergraduate consumer behaviour course.

This B2B case describes a common situation that arises when channel partners gain success and the perceived balance of power shifts from the supplier to the channel. The manager for Bolster Electronics, one of the largest suppliers in Canada of state-of-the-art industrial video equipment for harsh environments, must consider a request from Vickers Industrial Supplies, a regional dealer, to be upgraded from a dealership to a distributor. Vickers was generating a growing business volume for Bolster in an important market segment, the Canadian oil sands in northern Alberta. Approving Vickers' request will generate slimmer margins for the manufacturer, which may be made up with higher projected volume, if the projections are reasonable. The potential reaction of the company's national distributors is causing concern. Although Bolster sells to regional dealerships in the United States, its policy is to distribute its products in Canada through two national distributors, and it fears that increasing Vickers' role will alienate these distributors. Each alternative has benefits and risks.

With the growth of social media, influencing consumer preferences and purchase decisions through online social networks and word of mouth is an increasingly important part of every marketer's job. Companies such as Geico, Dell and eBay are adapting the traditional one-way advertising message and using it as a stepping-stone to begin a two-way dialogue with consumers via social media. Marketers know that theoretically, social media should be a powerful way to generate sustainable, positive word-of-mouth marketing. If marketers can only select the right social media platform, design the right message and engage the right users to spread that message, their campaign should be a success. But until now, that's been a big if. The authors propose a seven-step framework for success in social media marketing campaigns. Their framework involves identifying social media users who are not only influential but also particularly interested in the company's product or service category and then recruiting and incentivizing those influencers to talk about the company's product or service. The authors describe the implementation of their seven-step framework at Hokey Pokey Ice Cream Creations, an upscale ice-cream retailer with more than a dozen outlets across India. Hokey Pokey's social media campaign resulted in substantial increases in brand awareness, social media ROI and sales revenue growth rate for the company. The authors also explain three new metrics they developed for use in social media marketing campaigns: the Customer Influence Effect, which measures the influence a social media user has on other users in the network; the Stickiness Index, which helps identify social media users who actively discuss the company's product or service category; and Customer Influence Value, which helps measure the monetary gain or loss realized by a company in social marketing campaigns by accounting for an individual's influence on purchases by other customers and prospects.

Social science research shows that people are heavily influenced by a desire to conform with the group. Businesses and other organizations are beginning to understand the power of "social norms"--for example, the British government used this insight in letters to delinquent taxpayers, and its National Health Service has drawn on it to reduce missed clinic appointments. Five guidelines for companies looking to use this powerful tool.

Media companies have traditionally delayed product availability in low-margin channels to maximize revenue in high-margin ones. New research on books, movies, TV, and music suggests that digital markets make this strategy much less effective. Three strategies companies can use to reduce piracy of their content.

This case is used in Darden's required EMBA first-year Marketing course. It can also be used in course modules covering Pricing or Brand Management. In the case. a financial analyst considers a presentation by an investor in J. C. Penney and the implications of the company's turnaround strategy. This case provides an alternative approach to the market positioning discussion in the two-part case, "J. C. Penney: Reinventing Fair and Square Deals (A and B)" (UVA-M-0835 and UVA-M-0836). It includes the views of the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, who holds more than 18% of the company's stock and believes the company is poised for a major turnaround.

How should Eli Lilly further develop and market a new indication of its highly successful erectile-dysfunction (ED) drug, Cialis, without confusing Cialis's hard-won brand equity with physicians and patients? With the final stages of clinical trials for the new indication, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), soon to be carried out, the team had to make a decision soon. On its face, the market opportunity for a BPH indication, and its synergies with an ED drug, seemed enormous: both ED and BPH were age-related conditions, and data showed that half of men with ED had BPH symptoms. Moreover, the BPH indication would be taken in the same frequency and dosing as the once-a-day version of Cialis. However, market research had revealed significant challenges in introducing the BPH indication under the Cialis name. For example, although ED and BPH often co-existed, men perceived them quite differently. Some physicians also reacted negatively to the BPH indication. Impending competition from low-price ED generics, given that Viagra would soon be going off patent, underscored the importance of the BPH opportunity.

As a he gets ready to release 2nd quarter 2012 results, Ron Johnson, the new CEO of department store J.C. Penney, is reconsidering the dramatic changes he initiated for the business model and brand image of his company. A new pricing scheme he put in place in February, dubbed "Fair and square", was a central component of the new strategy. The scheme initially had three pricing tiers and eliminated typical sales promotions in an attempt to simplify the shopping experience for consumers; thus moving J.C. Penney off its previous high-low pricing practice. Other components of the new strategy included a new store layout, the inclusion of several well-known brands, and having special lines designed by well-known designers. However, troubling first quarter results that continued into the summer months seemed to indicate that J.C. Penney shoppers, accustomed to receiving JCP Cash coupons and circulars advertising the week's specials, were slow to embrace the new pricing format and began leaving the retailer in droves. Under enormous pressure to turn things around as the all-important back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons were imminent, Johnson decided to make adjustments to the initial pricing scheme that were set to go into effect August 1st. Were these changes enough to turn things around? Should Johnson stay the course on the other elements of his repositioning efforts? Is Johnson's experience in setting up Apple stores helping or hurting him as he tries to achieve his goal of making J.C. Penney "America's favorite store"?