個案總覽

In March 2011, Troy Carter, manager of pop star Lady Gaga, reflects on decisions made regarding his artist's concert tour and faces a new set of challenges regarding the launch of Lady Gaga's new album, Born This Way. Is a huge, expensive launch akin to that of a "tent-pole" movie the best way to capitalize on Gaga's popularity, or is a more moderate approach that relies on word-of-mouth the right way to proceed? Designed to help students understand the decisions that helped propel Lady Gaga into one of the entertainment world's biggest names. Written from the perspective of her manager, the case provides rich insights into the artist's touring, recorded-music, and social-media activities, as well as supporting economic data.

Ten years after having launched a chain of non-profit health clinics, its founder is now debating the merits of scaling the operation by converting to a for-profit enterprise.

This survey of Google's rise to prominence as the de facto search engine of choice focuses on the theme of relevance as a guiding principle. As Google has diversified its offering through both organic growth and acquisition, the potential manifestations of relevance have multiplied, to the point where the nature of its market may need to be reassessed.

As part of the Google Online Marketing Challenge, a team of Darden students devises an AdWords campaign for Motorcowboy, an online source of custom footwear that caters to segments as varied as motorcycle police, cross dressers, movie buffs, equestrians, and plus-size individuals. When an initial keyword list yields low traffic, the team must adapt its approach. This three-part case illustrates the segmentation process and the relative merits of paid search over traditional mass media outlets. It also serves to underscore the importance of monitoring and adapting any advertising plan.

This continuation of the case about a Google AdWords campaign for Motorcowboy, an online source of custom footwear, recounts the Darden team's revised approach.

This third and final part of the case about a Google AdWords campaign for Motorcowboy, an online source of custom footwear, delineated the Darden team's recommendations for future efforts.

Spreadsheet supplement to case UV5778.

The Oasis of the Seas is the largest cruise ship ever built and was launched in 2009 in the midst of the financial crisis. Two analysts from ELP Equities, a Florida-based research firm, are trying to determine which cruise customer segments the Oasis is targeted at. The information they have gathered allows them to conduct a customer segmentation analysis is preparation for a hypothetical meeting with the marketing director of Royal Caribbean International, the corporation that commissioned the Oasis.

Shamit Bagchi, owner of the online art company Dhonuk, recognized that art was a niche market in India. He wanted to utilize psychographics in order to better understand art buyers and properly position his company, so he undertook a survey of art consumers’ behaviour. He believed that through selecting the appropriate demographic segments, analyzing his competition, and using the behavioural insights of the survey, he could create the proper platform for his art company.

Oded Carmi was a social entrepreneur striving for a “green Bali.” He started Sari Organik as a model farm intended to grow according to market demands and to benefit the local community while serving as an educational centre for small-scale farmers in the region. Thirteen years later, the idea was not as well embraced as he had hoped. The case discusses some of the challenges the entrepreneur was facing as the founder and owner of Sari Organik farm and the restaurant Warung Bodag Maliah (“overflowing basket”). His main challenge was to replicate and sustain his organic rice-farming model across Bali and eventually other parts of Indonesia. His initial thoughts involved some options: (a) to utilize the established village system and its leadership to re-introduce traditional rice-farming culture in Ubud, Bali, and eventually Indonesia; (b) to introduce a new model such as micro-franchising through which he would recruit a number of local farmers and provide them with the resources to grow rice organically; (c) to go into a joint venture with the few existing organic rice farmers in the region; and (d) to expand his business as a sole proprietor. The case may be a good starting point for a discussion on the impact of modernization on a traditional society and the role of business in society. Carmi, a native of Israel, tried to revive traditional farming techniques that were more sustainable and healthy. He realized he had to come up with a strategy soon.

3M Canada has been a corporate sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF) since 2005. In support of the CBCF, 3M Canada has produced and sold pink products (i.e. products that bear the pink ribbon, such as Post-it notes, flag pens, Nexcare bandages and Scotch-Brite sponges), with a contribution of each sale benefiting the CBCF. This case examines this corporate sponsorship relationship, and specifically how 3M Canada’s brand manager for Post-it brand office products can further engage the relationship with the CBCF. The brand manager’s marketing campaign for 2009 was successful; however, she now needs to determine the best approach for her 2010 campaign.

The owner of Inspiratica Web Services was about to graduate from university and devote all his time to his web design and hosting company. Since Inspiratica’s founding in 2006, annual sales had gone from a few thousand dollars to nearly $100,000. Furthermore, it had hired six staff and expanded its product offering to a complete web services package. However, the owner was scrutinizing the company’s product portfolio and wondering which products and target markets had the most potential for success. Most customers had been acquired through word of mouth, but new ways were needed to expand the company’s client base. Finally, he wondered if Inspiratica’s strategy of premium pricing for high quality was the best option for the future.

This case examines AT&T’s wireless business with a focus on its text messaging services. The industry features a high proportion of fixed costs in relation to acquiring spectrum and building a network. Variable costs are relatively low, especially in the case of SMS text messages. Pricing and margins in text messaging have attracted regulatory scrutiny in the Unites States, Canada, and elsewhere. The case requires the use of key concepts in cost behaviour, cost volume profit analysis, and product costing to understand the nature of the business and the profit margins involved. Many service or high-tech businesses exhibit similar cost behaviours, and so the case gives students insight into the management of such enterprises.

Route 11 Chips, a regional potato chip company, is struggling with whether to reduce the number of flavors it markets. Additional flavors add operational cost, but management believes that some of the flavors are important to Route 11's brand image and that trimming the line might damage the brand. Route 11 has also taken a price increase recently and management is interested in finding out if there is additional room to raise prices. To analyze these issues in the case, students have access to five years of data on sales by flavor and package size as well as actual price and margin information (in a supplemental Excel spreadsheet).

Spreadsheet Supplement for UV5770.

This note discusses the technical and managerial aspects of pricing a product line. Product lines are multiple variants of essentially the same product, where individual products in the line may vary by quantity (size) or quality. The discussion takes the point of view of the manufacturer of the products rather than the retailer, but the implications of selling through a channel are also discussed. The note draws on the disciplines of economics and psychology to inform good marketing practice.

The Clorox Company needs to decide on the marketing strategy going forward for its three sustainable brands, Brita, Burt's Bees and Green Works. These brands had fared differently over the past 3 years and each presents multiple courses of action heading into 2011. Management also needs to assess the role the sustainable brands play in Clorox's overall Corporate Responsibility strategy and the implications they have for the other brands (such as Clorox Bleach, 409, and Hidden Valley). The company has set aggressive financial targets in light of its upcoming centennial in 2013. Students need to evaluate whether sustainability is an enduring trend that Clorox should embrace for future growth or whether focusing on its core brands, which currently represent 90% of sales, is a better approach.

This case describes a unique insurance scheme in India called Krupa Arogya Suraksha, promoted by the Shree Krishna Arogya Trust. The product was designed with the aim of extending basic health coverage to the “base-of-the-pyramid” population at an affordable premium. The services were provided by Shree Krishna Hospital, of which the Trust was an associate. The Trust and the hospital were looking at a win-win situation: in providing modern health services to a larger, lower-income group, the facilities of the hospital would be better utilized. In the five years since the scheme’s creation, membership had increased threefold to 43,000. These members accounted for 13 per cent of patients treated by the hospital. Thus, the dual objectives of extending affordable health care to the lower-income segment and increased utilization of the hospital facilities had been achieved, to some extent. However, the Trust was unable to meet the cost of the health care offered under the scheme from the premiums collected and was dependent on donors to cover the difference. The Trust’s management was concerned about the sustainability of such an arrangement and was looking for ways to make the scheme pay for itself.

The Pop Shoppe was once a leading player in the Canadian soft drinks market, but changing market conditions and corporate mismanagement drove the company into bankruptcy in the early 1980s. In 2003, an entrepreneur purchased the rights to the brand, and was considering reintroducing it in the market. The entrepreneur suspected that many Canadians would be as fond of the Pop Shoppe as he was. However, he had little experience in the beverage industry and consumer habits had changed in the many years since the brand died. Looking at the market, the entrepreneur wondered if there was an attractive space for Pop Shoppe. His instincts told him that older consumers would embrace the reintroduction of the old brand, but it was difficult to know if they were a sustainable market segment. Would older consumers be able to turn their children onto the brand? With little experience and limited funds, he knew that if he proceeded with the idea, he could not afford to make many mistakes. If he chose to reintroduce the Pop Shoppe, he questioned how true he should stay to the original concept. Could a new Pop Shoppe compete in the current market? Despite the entrepreneur’s love for the old brand, he wondered how he could raise enough consumer and retailer interest to make the brand succeed.