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In the fall of 2006, the president of Conroy's Acura was examining reports of the company's quarterly sales. He was concerned that despite a healthy economy, sales at his dealership were stagnant. The vice-president of sales of Conroy's Acura was constantly coming up with new marketing schemes to boost sales. But the president had difficulty determining how successful past marketing efforts had been in increasing profitability. He needed a way to put the numbers into context.

Spreadsheet supplement to case 908A01.

Each of Lilypad's boutique hotels has its own sense of place and definition of customer experience. Though loyal to their favorites, guests don't visit other luxury properties in the collection or even realize they're affiliated. To boost the lifetime value of existing customers and reach new ones, CEO Andre Cleary is thinking about positioning the hotels more directly under the corporate umbrella. The company could gain scale efficiencies and possibly increase visits - but does one brand really fit all? Four experts comment on this fictional case study in R0802B and R0802Z. Horst Schulze, the CEO and president of the West Paces Hotel Group, says that Lilypad must build up its corporate brand to create long-term value. This would also help the company become more efficient at cross-promoting properties, offering services, and buying supplies in bulk. Jill Granoff, the executive vice president of direct brands at Liz Claiborne, says that the financial risks of putting the Lilypad name front and center may outweigh the potential rewards. The company should instead market its hotels more aggressively to travel agents and selectively acquire new properties to propel further growth. Kevin Lane Keller of Dartmouth argues that Lilypad must clarify what its brand represents before giving it any more emphasis. Rather than making significant changes in the rooms themselves, which could weaken the individual brands, management should coordinate behind the scenes to improve cross-sell numbers. Jez Frampton, the global CEO of the consultancy Interbrand, thinks Andre should systematically examine the brand in terms of Lilypad's customers and culture. That means conducting market research and moving away from the current "warlord" approach of managing each property as a separate fiefdom.

Each of Lilypad's boutique hotels has its own sense of place and definition of customer experience. Though loyal to their favorites, guests don't visit other luxury properties in the collection or even realize they're affiliated. To boost the lifetime value of existing customers and reach new ones, CEO Andre Cleary is thinking about positioning the hotels more directly under the corporate umbrella. The company could gain scale efficiencies and possibly increase visits - but does one brand really fit all? Four experts comment on this fictional case study. Horst Schulze, the CEO and president of the West Paces Hotel Group, says that Lilypad must build up its corporate brand to create long-term value. This would also help the company become more efficient at cross-promoting properties, offering services, and buying supplies in bulk. Jill Granoff, the executive vice president of direct brands at Liz Claiborne, says that the financial risks of putting the Lilypad name front and center may outweigh the potential rewards. The company should instead market its hotels more aggressively to travel agents and selectively acquire new properties to propel further growth. Kevin Lane Keller of Dartmouth argues that Lilypad must clarify what its brand represents before giving it any more emphasis. Rather than making significant changes in the rooms themselves, which could weaken the individual brands, management should coordinate behind the scenes to improve cross-sell numbers. Jez Frampton, the global CEO of the consultancy Interbrand, thinks Andre should systematically examine the brand in terms of Lilypad's customers and culture. That means conducting market research and moving away from the current "warlord" approach of managing each property as a separate fiefdom.

Each of Lilypad's boutique hotels has its own sense of place and definition of customer experience. Though loyal to their favorites, guests don't visit other luxury properties in the collection or even realize they're affiliated. To boost the lifetime value of existing customers and reach new ones, CEO Andre Cleary is thinking about positioning the hotels more directly under the corporate umbrella. The company could gain scale efficiencies and possibly increase visits - but does one brand really fit all? Four experts comment on this fictional case study in R0802B and R0802Z. Horst Schulze, the CEO and president of the West Paces Hotel Group, says that Lilypad must build up its corporate brand to create long-term value. This would also help the company become more efficient at cross-promoting properties, offering services, and buying supplies in bulk. Jill Granoff, the executive vice president of direct brands at Liz Claiborne, says that the financial risks of putting the Lilypad name front and center may outweigh the potential rewards. The company should instead market its hotels more aggressively to travel agents and selectively acquire new properties to propel further growth. Kevin Lane Keller of Dartmouth argues that Lilypad must clarify what its brand represents before giving it any more emphasis. Rather than making significant changes in the rooms themselves, which could weaken the individual brands, management should coordinate behind the scenes to improve cross-sell numbers. Jez Frampton, the global CEO of the consultancy Interbrand, thinks Andre should systematically examine the brand in terms of Lilypad's customers and culture. That means conducting market research and moving away from the current "warlord" approach of managing each property as a separate fiefdom.

The senior vice-president of Corporate Store Sales, Sears Canada, was reviewing a new retailing initiative scheduled to launch within a month in all full-line Sears department stores across Canada. For the holiday season, Sears would offer the services of an elf, the equivalent of a personal shopper, to its customers. Although personal shoppers were common in upscale department stores, especially in the United States, this concept had not been tried in Sears stores. Taylor wondered how customers would respond to this novel concept in Canadian retailing.

In the fall of 2006, the president of Conroy's Acura was examining reports of the company's quarterly sales. He was concerned that despite a healthy economy, sales at his dealership were stagnant. The vice-president of sales of Conroy's Acura was constantly coming up with new marketing schemes to boost sales. But the president had difficulty determining how successful past marketing efforts had been in increasing profitability. He needed a way to put the numbers into context.

The alcohol cooler (refreshment) market in Canada was already crowded, but the marketing manager at Vincor believed there was still room for a new entrant, provided it was sufficiently differentiated. The case provides market research information on which the decision-maker relies to develop a product positioning. Trade-offs need to be made between various positioning options and costs. The case deals with marketing issues from the perspective of the brand manager launching a new product.

In 2007, Nintendo's inexpensive and quirky Wii video game console had become all the rage. Despite its underpowered processor and comparatively basic graphics, it outsold both the Sony PlayStation 3 and the Microsoft Xbox 360. Nintendo's handheld system, known as the DS, also outsold Sony's more advanced PlayStation Portable. Nintendo's products were so successful, retail stores in North America and Japan quickly sold out whenever new shipments arrived, and many consumers were forced to pay premium prices on the grey market. The case examines the characteristics of a successful new product launch, particularly product features, brand loyalty, content availability, third-party support, and adherence to industry standards. The case also considers how radical innovations can be used to win market share from technically superior products focused on incremental innovations. Finally, a 4P marketing analysis is used to compare video game systems offered by Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. The case may be used with The Launch of the Sony PlayStation 3 (Ivey Case 9B07A014) and A Note on Video and Computer Games (Ivey Case 9B07A013).

In October 2007, the OLPC reported production delays and missed its shipment date. In early November, the $100 PC finally went into production, with initial shipments planned for Uruguay and Mongolia, and mid-month launched the "Give One, Get One" program. It enabled consumers in the U.S. and Canada, who had the option of purchasing an OLPC for $400, more than double the estimated production cost of $188 for each laptop. Roughly half of the $400 amount went towards purchasing an OLPC for the consumer, while the other half went towards financing a laptop for a child in a different country. The program was popular and extended. But just as things were looking up for the non-profit, Intel resigned from OLPC's board in early January 2008 and announced that it would no longer be partnering with the nonprofit corporation. According to Intel, the move was a result of pressure it received from OLPC to stop marketing its own low-cost Windows-based laptop, the Classmate.

The alcohol cooler (refreshment) market in Canada was already crowded, but the marketing manager at Vincor believed there was still room for a new entrant, provided it was sufficiently differentiated. The case provides market research information on which the decision-maker relies to develop a product positioning. Trade-offs need to be made between various positioning options and costs. The case deals with marketing issues from the perspective of the brand manager launching a new product.

Club Atletico Boca Juniors is the most popular soccer club in Argentina and one of the most decorated clubs in the world. Throughout its storied history, the club has recruited and developed dozens of star players. In his eleven years at Boca Juniors, president Mauricio Macri has significantly increased the club's net worth and annual revenues. However, he faces a constant challenge to remain competitive on and off the field. In November 2006, Macri is approached by Spanish and Italian soccer powerhouses, seeking to purchase the players Fernando Gago and Rodrigo Palacio. Should Macri enter negotiations with the clubs interested in buying the star players? If so, how should they approach the talks? Allows for an in-depth examination of Boca Junior's business model, and how it differs from that of the richer soccer clubs in Western Europe. Also enables an assessment of successful talent and brand management strategies in the context of a sports franchise with a worldwide reach.

In 2006, SK-II, a skin care brand, was close to becoming a billion-dollar brand for Procter and Gamble ("P&G') and China was seen as a key source of future growth and is soon to be the largest market in the world. On 14 September 2006, Chinese authorities banned the sale of some of P&G's skin care products in the SK-II line. P&G feared that public protests against these products could spread and infect the brand equity of its other products in the country. Everything that P&G tried to resolve the scandal failed, leaving the media, consumers and government feeling enraged. P&G pronounced confidence in its SK-II products in China, saying it would work with government agencies to resolve the problems, but repeatedly botched public relations and was accused of "arrogance" toward consumers. Although P&G had experience in defending its SK-II products in court due to a lawsuit the previous year, the company seemed to have learned nothing about preparing for a future crisis. P&G, one of the most trusted corporate brands in the world, was close to losing Chinese consumers' faith in SK-II and perhaps in P&G as well just by the poor way it handled the crisis. Many analysts claim that doing business in China is significantly different from doing business in developed markets. When it comes to public relations, how can the rules be so different that even experienced country managers repeatedly get it wrong? The case allows for discussion on how to respond to a public relations crisis, salvage brand equity after a disastrous incident, react to a situation and pre-empt damaging information in the media.

The senior vice-president of Corporate Store Sales, Sears Canada (Sears), was reviewing a new retailing initiative scheduled to launch within a month in all full-line Sears department stores across Canada. For the holiday season, Sears would offer the services of an elf, the equivalent of a personal shopper, to its customers. Although personal shoppers were common in upscale department stores, especially in the United States, this concept had not been tried in Sears stores. Taylor wondered how customers would respond to this novel concept in Canadian retailing.

The product planning manager for BMW Group Canada (BMW) wondered how to revive the once-promising BMW Individual program. Despite a strong start when the BMW Individual Collection (IC) was launched in 2002, and significant growth in total BMW sales over the past three years, IC sales had declined substantially. At the corporate level, no specific measures had been taken to ensure a constant focus on the Individual program. At the customer level, BMW retailers were putting forth little effort, likely because they had no additional incentive to push a program that appealed only to a very small portion of their customer base. The product planning manager wondered how he could revive the BMW Individual program in Canada and give it the attention it deserved.

In 2007, the marketing director for Cineplex Entertainment is trying to decide whether or not to proceed with a loyalty program that would provide incentives for customers to see more movies and events, and spend more on concessions. An important by-product would be the collection of detailed customer buying data. She has crafted four possible combinations of rewards and received proposals from three suppliers with experience in managing customer data banks. She must decide the structure and richness of the program, the supplier, the likely response rate to determine financial feasibility, and whether to launch regionally or nationally.

In late November 2006, Jorge Redmond, CEO of Chocolates El Rey, called a meeting with senior management to discuss the company's growth strategy. A relatively small firm with sales of around $14 million, El Rey produced top quality chocolate made with single origin Venezuelan cocoa beans. The firm sold its chocolates in four different segments--food services, industry, retail and beverages--and exported 17% of its production, mostly to the United States, Europe, and Japan. El Rey needed to grow, but Redmond wondered how to achieve growth and how to market the "El Rey" brand to its different target segments and international markets. With only 0.5% of the cocoa's world production, was it worth the effort to try and establish a country-of-origin image for Venezuelan chocolate? If so, how could El Rey go about it?

As a farmer-owned cooperative, South Dakota Wheat Growers (SDWG) serves the needs of its 3,600 active farmer-members by supplying farm inputs and organizing the marketing and transportation of grain produced in the co-op's service territory. For almost 80 years, the majority of grain was shipped out of the area by rail to markets in the East and the Pacific Northwest. However, the recent expansion in ethanol production is changing the pattern of grain flow along with stimulating the local farm economy. SDWG's management and producer board must decide how to continue to meet the needs of their producer-owners under the new conditions.

This is the first of a two-case series (808-040-1 and 808-041-1). From a rocky perch above the city of Boulder, Colorado, Jon Thorne gazed across the city and onto the great plains that stretched eastward before him. 'There's nothing like a vigorous mountain bike ride into the hills,' Thorne thought, 'when crucial decisions have to be deliberated.' It was a summer afternoon in 1999, and Thorne had devoted much of the past three years developing and taking to market a surgical instrument that he thought had the potential to significantly improve surgical practice. Though the feedback from surgeons had been excellent, Thorne's company, Silverglide Surgical Technologies, Inc, had little to show for his efforts. The $80,000 in start-up capital that Thorne had raised was nearly gone and his company's sales to date 'rounded to zero,' as a member of his advisory board had remarked at a board meeting earlier that week. Was it time to broaden his company's market focus from plastic surgeons into other surgical specialities? Was it time to abandon the probe and develop a new product line? Or should he abandon his entrepreneurial dream and return to a salaried job in the medical products industry from which he had come?

Supplement to case LBS113. This is the first of a two-case series (808-040-1 and 808-041-1). From a rocky perch above the city of Boulder, Colorado, Jon Thorne gazed across the city and onto the great plains that stretched eastward before him. 'There's nothing like a vigorous mountain bike ride into the hills,' Thorne thought, 'when crucial decisions have to be deliberated.' It was a summer afternoon in 1999, and Thorne had devoted much of the past three years developing and taking to market a surgical instrument that he thought had the potential to significantly improve surgical practice. Though the feedback from surgeons had been excellent, Thorne's company, Silverglide Surgical Technologies, Inc, had little to show for his efforts. The $80,000 in start-up capital that Thorne had raised was nearly gone and his company's sales to date 'rounded to zero,' as a member of his advisory board had remarked at a board meeting earlier that week. Was it time to broaden his company's market focus from plastic surgeons into other surgical specialities? Was it time to abandon the probe and develop a new product line? Or should he abandon his entrepreneurial dream and return to a salaried job in the medical products industry from which he had come?