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The insurance industry’s potential for growth in India has attracted numerous organizations, each armed with their most efficient strategies. India’s life insurance market is undergoing a transformation, marked by fierce competition and changing consumer preferences. Public and private life insurance companies and emerging insurtech (insurance technology) companies coexist, intensifying the competition for coverage in a rapidly expanding market. This comprehensive case study delves into the complex world of India’s life insurance distribution, examining the strategies employed and challenges faced by all contenders as they strive for market share, customer loyalty, and sustainable growth. The study critically evaluates the performance of existing distribution channels, raising questions about their relevance and effectiveness in this dynamic environment, in order to gain insights into the intricacies of India’s life insurance sector and shed light on the strategies and innovations required to realize the vision of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India’s (IRDAI) Insurance for All by 2047.

Ashish and Ranu Surana, a husband and wife team and co-owners of Go Pure Ice Cream (“Go Pure”), had managed to turn their passion for developing and selling fruit-based ice cream into a successful business. Having crossed the milestone figure of INR 10 million in sales with their network of 20 franchisees, mostly in Tier 2 and 3 cities, they dreamed of taking the Go Pure brand to the national level, which would require them to launch in metro and Tier 1 cities. However, they knew that this was not going to be easy. Managing existing franchisees in terms of their adherence to standard operating procedures was proving a challenge, as some franchisees were neglecting to wear headgear or gloves or not using branded cups. The founders were worried that these small but significant lapses were diluting the brand. Their current franchise model involved charging franchisees a once-off franchisee fee and billing them on an ongoing basis for the products they delivered. The Suranas wanted to identify the correct strategy to make Go Pure a national brand, but were having trouble selecting the right approach.<br><br>The first option they considered was trying to get the right franchisees on board. If they could achieve this, those franchisees could act as influencers for them in prime locations in metro and Tier 1 cities, making their brand look fantastic at the national level. The second option they considered was to continue to expand in Tier 2 and 3 cities and to try to become an aspirational brand for the majority of urban and rural Indians. The other option they were looking at was getting an infusion of venture equity and opening professionally managed, company-owned, company-operated outlets in metro and Tier 1 cities. They engaged the services of a brand consultant to help them understand how their brand was perceived and valued in the minds of their target audience and to advise them on how to leverage this information to fulfill their dreams.

Since its beginning in 2018, Jane Win LLC, a nimble and lean start-up selling amulet jewellery pieces, had seen immediate success. From the company’s inception, its founder, Jane Winchester Paradis, assessed the advantages and disadvantages of an expansion strategy. Paradis also assessed the viability of expanding beyond amulet pieces to achieve substantial growth. Although the young company already enjoyed strong brand recognition and offered a meaningful unique selling proposition, there were still many questions about the company’s next steps, including which growth strategy would be the most suitable. Did the company have the resources and skilled management team necessary to adequately support and monitor its growth? What legal and financial issues must Paradis consider? What marketing and operational issues were the company likely to encounter during expansion?

In August 2023, Kurma Vedic Village, located in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, India, was steeped in Vedic culture. The 70 residents in the village embraced minimalistic life and achieved self-sufficiency through land, cattle, and Krsna consciousness. They renounced modern conveniences such as electricity, internet access, and cooking gas in favour of traditional agricultural methods, village technologies, clothes made from handloom, and barter systems for transactions, which led to a simple life of sustainability and self-sufficiency. Kurma Vedic Village relied on funding from devotees and guests to the village for its continuing service. It also provided traditional Vedic education to students in Vedic Mathematics, Mahabharata, English, Telugu, Sanskrit, and life skills such as carpentry, animal husbandry, weaving, and traditional constructions. However, it was facing various challenges related to funding, scaling, and geographic expansion. How could Kurma Vedic Village overcome the challenges and promote Vedic culture and lifestyle across India?

In the summer of 2021, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (Warner) announced it would release big-budget films on its online streaming platform, HBO Max, at the same time as in theatres—a radical departure from the industry norm of a 90-day window between a movie’s release to theatres and streaming services. Almost a year earlier, when COVID-19 lockdowns had shuttered movie theatres across the United States, Warner had released “Wonder Woman 1984” on HBO Max and in theatres at the same time. But in the summer of 2021, amid rising vaccination rates and easing restrictions, US box-office collections rose to their highest levels since the start of the pandemic. Now, in August 2021, Ann Sarnoff, the chief executive officer at Warner, saw that the rapid growth of the streaming market was showing signs of slowing. Should Warner return to the pre-pandemic, theatre-first release mode? Should the company adopt a tiered pricing model for HBO Max or sell distribution rights to third-party subscription platforms such as Netflix? Or could Sarnoff unveil an innovative channel strategy for future launches?

It had been ten years since M. V. (Raja) Rajamannar became the chief marketing officer of Mastercard in 2013, and set out to transform marketing at the company from transactional to transcendental. He built the framework for Marketing 5.0 and propelled Mastercard to one of the top 10 most valuable brands in the world and the world’s number 1 audio brand four years in a row. Rajamannar now must decide what Mastercard’s future marketing strategy should be.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 525023.

The 2023 release of live-action film Barbie, and its accompanying marketing blitz, incited a worldwide Barbie craze. Suddenly Barbie was everywhere, a celebrated icon reinstated at the forefront of cultural conversation. This goodwill stood in contrast to decades of criticism of the Barbie brand. Although proponents celebrated Barbie for her promise to "inspire the limitless potential in every girl," detractors felt that the doll promoted a narrow beauty standard and perpetuated gender stereotypes. Past efforts to diversify the Barbie doll had met mixed reactions. Did the movie's superlative success mean that Barbie's dark days of controversy were behind her? In a fast-changing, turbulent industry, Mattel executives need to decide how to sustain Barbie's positive momentum, and whether the strategy can be replicated across other brands in Mattel's portfolio.

RiQian Motor was a Chinese company focusing on the development of wheel motors for mining machinery. Its long-term track record with providing high-quality products and service had won the trust and favour of its many clients. In 2016, the mining machinery industry began to focus on the production of electric vehicles. RiQian Motor invested in this new direction, but as of 2018, it was suffering losses in this new area. RiQian Motor was faced with a difficult choice: Should it discontinue its efforts at diversification and go back to the specialized strategy it excelled at? Or should it take a risk and continue the diversification strategy?

Day after day, we observe people doing the same things in the same ways. As a result, we expect people to wear shoes on their feet and gloves on their hands; to eat ice cream with a spoon, not a fork; and to sit at the front when they drive and the back when they don't. When we observe things over and over, our mind stops register¬ing the action and responding. There is no 'surprise' signal to make us think, 'Hey, maybe we could do things differently?' The author argues that even minor changes have the power to trigger 'dishabituation' by signaling that a new situation needs to be navigated. As a result, people are more likely to rethink the status quo. He provides insights for increasing creative thinking in organizations by inducing small changes to routines and environments.

Though celebrity influencers get lots of attention, they often don't produce sales. When Bocconi University's Maximilian Beichert and colleagues looked at the data on close to 2 million purchases and hundreds of paid influencer endorsements, they discovered that influencers with fewer than 10,000 followers delivered far better returns. In this article Beichert shares his findings along with tips on getting the best results from influencer campaigns.

LI-NING, founded by China’s “prince of gymnastics” Li Ning in 1990, is a professional sports brand. On September 20, 2022, LI-NING held its “Chasing Dreams” airport show in Hubei, China. However, on October 15, netizens pointed out that some of the new products resembled Japanese military uniforms from the time of the Second World War, quickly sparking a heated debate online. On October 17, two senior executives from LI-NING made statements on social media regarding the situation but only succeeded in drawing further criticism from netizens. LI-NING’s stock price also fell, causing many to question the executives’ actions on the matter. On October 19, LI-NING released an official response, bringing the public debate to a climax. How should LI-NING manage its crisis and brand communication better in the future?

Manoj Dawane founded an advertising technology (AdTech) start-up in Delhi, India in 2020 that provided digital consumer behaviour intelligence for targeted digital advertising without using third-party internet cookies. His patented technology solved the issue of personal data privacy created by cookie-based targeting. His unique competitive advantage would not last long and he faced three dilemmas. First, to define a clear business model that would be a balance between the core competency of the company and the emerging market opportunities. Second, to identify an alliance partner for a faster growth. Third, to redefine his go-to-market strategy for seven times growth in two years, as demanded by investors.

Spreadsheet supplement for 8448.

Spreadsheet supplement for 8461.

In January 2023, the diagnostic services provider Simira Diagnostics (Simira), founded in Navi Mumbai, India, in 2017, decided to launch a company-wide rebranding project. When unveiling the new logo to the team, the co-founder emphasized the need to become a purpose-led organization with patient centricity at its core. The redesigned brand’s logo and tag line would include a new service delivery proposition. As she worked to strengthen the company’s brand identity, the co-founder knew that merely capturing the essence of the organization in the logo and tag line would not be enough; she would have to support the branding process by devising an effective advertising and communications strategy to ensure an accelerated level of brand awareness by Simira customers. She would also have to ensure a consistent and seamless customer service experience to strengthen the brand and patient centricity.

Bryan Gilvesy, CEO of ALUS, must create a proposal to spend ALUS’ $100,000 marketing budget for their brand “New Acre Project”. The brand had experienced good growth in previous years, but sales had stagnated for the past two, creating concerns about the survival of New Acre Project. Gilvesy must invigorate growth and reach sales of $6 million by choosing a target market, whether he should offer carbon credits or not, and at what price. He also had to choose a promotional channel and the messaging New Acre Project would use going forward.

In May 2023, KOSÉ Corporation (KOSÉ) was facing three ominous factors in the Chinese market: declining sales due to weak consumer spending in China following a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases after Beijing ended its zero-COVID-19 policy, new regulations requiring beauty manufactures after January 2024 to label all ingredients that constituted more than 0.1 per cent of a product in descending order (thereby risking disclosing trade secrets), and Chinese consumers’ preferences shifting to local Chinese beauty manufacturers. About 30 per cent of KOSÉ’s net sales came from the Chinese market, where it focused on its major brands, Sekkisei and Decorté. Yet the market was becoming more saturated with giant European beauty manufactures and local enterprises. Should KOSÉ keep focusing on the Chinese market as its pillar strategy?

Spreadsheet to accompany product W36187.

The iconic American fast-food chain Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc. (Checkers & Rally’s), headquartered in Tampa, Florida, found early success through its streamlined layout and operations. Nevertheless, it had financially struggled prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, impelling it to reflect on its existing strengths and to take strategic steps amid the pandemic to make an impressive recovery. In 2023, armed with newfound confidence from its previous successes, the company confronted the challenge of understaffing in the nation’s fast-food industry. How could Checkers & Rally’s CEO address the labour shortage? Could robotics and automation give the company an edge?