個案總覽

Student Spreadsheet Supplement to 4249.

Serious Materials is a start up who is moving into clean tech markets. The company's first product, QuietRock, originated the sound proofing drywall category and created a steady stream of revenue. It was now considering how to expand its product line to compete in the rapidly developing green building markets. How should Serious Materials go to market when they launch their highly anticipated Serious Windows and EcoRock product lines? What do they need to do to develop their brand?

In today's environment of fragmented mass media and popular technologies, such as DVR and TiVo, it is increasingly challenging for marketers to obtain quality face time with audiences. As more customers try to avoid advertisements, there has been growth in brand placement: the practice of integrating brands into entertainment media, particularly television and film. Brand placement engages the audience, limits viewers' ability to ignore commercial messages, and even impacts purchase behavior-as evidenced by the surge in Blackstone pinot noir wine sales after the brand's placement in the movie Sideways. Despite the prevalence of this practice, however, the industry often operates in a somewhat unfocused manner. In this article, we draw from academic literature and industry publications, offer insight regarding the growing popularity of brand placements, and suggest a specific set of guidelines to enhance the efficacy of placements in accomplishing a brand's marketing objectives.

A market research company has collected a large dataset on brand equity for the fast food and travel sectors. It has come up with a way of measuring brand equity. Various statistical techniques are used to assess the concept of brand equity. These include descriptive statistics, crosstabs, ANOVA, and MANOVA.

The powerful combination of youth, technology, and rising consumerism across the globe is creating opportunities and challenges for companies looking for new customers. This article stresses the importance of markets with young populations and explores the phenomenon of wikibrands, or products, services, and brand identities co-created with customers. It ends with some caveats on wikibranding, including risk and uncertainty in young markets.

After celebrating their nineteenth harvest and seventh year as California producers and marketers of premium wine in September 2007, the Mexican-born owners of Ceja Vineyards were considering whether or not to make a concerted effort to target U.S. Hispanic consumers. Doing so would enable Ceja to capitalize on its heritage as one of the first Hispanic-owned and operated wine businesses in America, but this was no easy decision. Targeting the emerging and potentially vast U.S. Hispanic consumer segment might require extensive repositioning of Ceja's premium varietal wine brands, result in a diminution of effort to sustain its rapidly growing wine club, pose additional future expenses for promotion of wine consumption to U.S. Hispanic consumers, and erode the high-end premium wine brand. In addition, the Hispanic wine consumer living outside the U.S. represented another high potential market opportunity and was of serious interest to Amelia Ceja, co-founder of the winery, and her family partners.

A short case recounting Caitlin Elliot's history at a company called Microenterprises Incorporated and her negotiation with its CEO, George Baker, about a promotion and a bonus. The case is good for discussion about what makes negotiating for oneself in an organization more difficult than negotiating on behalf of others. The video can be analyzed using a moves and turns framework and it ideal for management and leadership courses in addition to negotiation and conflict resolution courses.

Many luxury brands are able to command high prices because of their excellent quality, solid reputation, and limited availability. But it can be tricky both to maintain that cachet and continue to grow if the next generation of consumers is completely priced out of your market. Fictional winemaker Chateau de Vallois, a traditional estate with centuries of experience in producing luxury wines, faces that dilemma and is now considering whether to launch an affordable brand. A new wine of good quality at a lower price could attract younger fine-wine drinkers who might then upgrade to more expensive wines later on. On the other hand, the estate must be careful to preserve its exclusive image and avoid damaging the perceived value of its existing high-end wines. Should Chateau de Vallois stick with what it does best or branch out and begin producing a new brand? The authors of this fictional case study are Daniela Beyersdorfer, who is a research associate at Harvard Business School's Europe Research center, and Vincent Dessain, the center's executive director. Commentary is offered by Corinne Mentzelopoulos, the owner and CEO of Chateau Margaux, a first-growth estate in the Bordeaux region of France; Philippe Sereys de Rothschild, the vice chairman of Baron Philippe de Rothschild, a family firm that manages both first-growth and branded wines; and HBR's readers.

Many luxury brands are able to command high prices because of their excellent quality, solid reputation, and limited availability. But it can be tricky both to maintain that cachet and continue to grow if the next generation of consumers is completely priced out of your market. Fictional winemaker Chateau de Vallois, a traditional estate with centuries of experience in producing luxury wines, faces that dilemma and is now considering whether to launch an affordable brand. A new wine of good quality at a lower price could attract younger fine-wine drinkers who might then upgrade to more expensive wines later on. On the other hand, the estate must be careful to preserve its exclusive image and avoid damaging the perceived value of its existing high-end wines. Should Chateau de Vallois stick with what it does best or branch out and begin producing a new brand? The authors of this fictional case study are Daniela Beyersdorfer, who is a research associate at Harvard Business School's Europe Research center, and Vincent Dessain, the center's executive director. Commentary is offered by Corinne Mentzelopoulos, the owner and CEO of Chateau Margaux, a first-growth estate in the Bordeaux region of France; Philippe Sereys de Rothschild, the vice chairman of Baron Philippe de Rothschild, a family firm that manages both first-growth and branded wines; and HBR's readers.

Many luxury brands are able to command high prices because of their excellent quality, solid reputation, and limited availability. But it can be tricky both to maintain that cachet and continue to grow if the next generation of consumers is completely priced out of your market. Fictional winemaker Chateau de Vallois, a traditional estate with centuries of experience in producing luxury wines, faces that dilemma and is now considering whether to launch an affordable brand. A new wine of good quality at a lower price could attract younger fine-wine drinkers who might then upgrade to more expensive wines later on. On the other hand, the estate must be careful to preserve its exclusive image and avoid damaging the perceived value of its existing high-end wines. Should Chateau de Vallois stick with what it does best or branch out and begin producing a new brand? The authors of this fictional case study are Daniela Beyersdorfer, who is a research associate at Harvard Business School's Europe Research center, and Vincent Dessain, the center's executive director. Commentary is offered by Corinne Mentzelopoulos, the owner and CEO of Chateau Margaux, a first-growth estate in the Bordeaux region of France; Philippe Sereys de Rothschild, the vice chairman of Baron Philippe de Rothschild, a family firm that manages both first-growth and branded wines; and HBR's readers.

During the recession, companies like Procter & Gamble, Hyundai, and Best Buy used adaptive pricing strategies, such as introducing lower-priced versions of products and adapting products to maintain affordability, to avoid across-the-board price cuts that can be difficult to reverse later. Now, as we wait for the economy to return to full speed, smart companies will learn from these strategies and develop plans to help their own businesses regain lost ground.

Consumers and businesses alike are flocking to sites like Groupon, the web-based social media service that offers deep discounts if a certain number of users sign up. But there's a weak link in the value chain: employees. Many businesses fail to anticipate how the rush of customers will affect staff, and if staff are unhappy, customers are apt to have a bad experience. You should prepare your employees when planning a special offer and compensate them for the lower tips and longer hours they typically endure.

Though all decisions involve opportunity costs, most companies don't factor them into their marketing messages. A few firms, however, have found that pointing out trade-offs to consumers is an effective way to influence their purchasing choices.

Many media strategists have been so busy bemoaning the demise of the TV commercial that they've failed to spot a new opportunity: People are combining TV watching and internet use in ways that could be highly valuable to advertisers. Research shows that multitaskers often take what they see in a TV ad and run to the internet, looking for more information. Smart advertisers will be a step ahead, waiting for them there.

The case illustrates the challenges faced by a marketing manager when designing, implementing and evaluating trade promotion schemes in a highly competitive, fast moving, consumer goods multinational company in the emerging Asian market of India. The purpose of the case is to provide exposure to the complexities and dynamic context of Asian consumer goods marketing and learn how to design, implement and evaluate trade promotion schemes that are aligned with the branding, marketing communication and marketing strategy of the product/brand. The case illustrates marketing decisions and their implementation in the Indian market for snack foods, where factors such as products at small price points, constant product and brand innovation, and effective design of trade promotion and merchandising schemes are critical in gaining and retaining market share.

For Asian Agri and other Indonesian palm oil producers, the future promised rising demand from fast-growing Asian populations, but also intensifying criticism from environmental groups. With the highest yield and lowest production cost of any edible oil, palm oil constituted an abundant, inexpensive source of food for Asian and, to a lesser extent, international markets. Its production had soared from 1970 to 2010, sparking concern from environmentalists over the conversion of high-value conservation land in Malaysia and Indonesia (where nearly 90% of palm oil was produced) into palm oil plantations. Critics had intensified their campaigns in recent years, urging-at times successfully-packaged food makers and investors to boycott palm oil suppliers accused of environmental mismanagement. While noting that some accusations were unjustified, palm oil producers argued the industry was making strides towards greater sustainability and cited the unique advantages of palm oil: it was free of unhealthy trans fats, for example, and required less land to produce more oil than any known substitute. Asian Agri, an established Indonesian palm oil grower and exporter, had thus far avoided public scrutiny. The company was a key source of employment in many rural communities, had extensive experience negotiating the complex Indonesian regulatory environment, and was moving to certify its operations according to industry-set sustainability guidelines. In 2010, Asian Agri appeared well positioned to capitalize on the growing palm oil market, but the broad-strokes vilification of the palm oil industry was a source of serious concern. In the face of great uncertainty, the management team needed to devise a strategy for the future.

Fortis Industries' packaging division manufactures steel and plastic strapping. In 2007, the company underwent a leveraged buyout. The case focuses on the packaging division's need to maintain high profitability in a declining market for steel strapping. Since 1998, Fortis has been losing 1% per year of the steel strapping market. Since then, there has also been significant erosion of prices. The division president is faced with 1) decreasing price to increase market share, or 2) maintain/increase cash flow. The specific decision revolves around the potential adoption of a price-flex system that is designed to authorize selective discounting by the division's sales personnel.

Describes whether the company adopts the price-flex policy discussed in the (A) case. Price increase in steel strapping raw materials is rescinded by steel industry.

Describes whether the company adopts the price-flex policy described in the (A) and (B) cases.

Fortis' packaging division president makes a final decision on the price-flex policy.