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In January 2022, Maha Research Labs Private Limited (MRL) needed to boost its sales force effectiveness (SFE). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MRL experienced losses in sales revenue and saw dwindling profits through 2020 and 2021. The pandemic had changed the sales ecosystem of the pharmaceutical industry, with many physicians and retailers now preferring online sales presentations. MRL’s managing director was concerned about the increased marketing and selling expenses that were affecting the company’s profitability, and he had identified gaps in the company’s sales process, performance, and SFE. The managing director proposed investing ₹40 million for the implementation of an SFE program, and he had one week to convince his team that this investment would create a smarter, more efficient sales force, restrain operating costs, and generate much-needed profitability for MRL.

Integrated Centre for Consultancy Private Limited (ICCPL) was a small company operating in India’s public relations (PR) industry. ICCPL was a successful and established company in this industry, with a focus on a niche segment of the market—real estate firms that offered affordable housing and operated on thin margins. ICCPL’s strong client relationships had resulted in an excellent track record for executive brand building and a client retention rate of above 75 per cent, which the company boasted as the highest in the market. In December 2018, one of ICCPL’s clients requested that the company lower its pricing or risk losing the contract to either a new in-house PR department or a small competitor that was offering a similar service at half the price. ICCPL refused to lower its price and, in June 2019, the client announced its plan to cancel the contract. ICCPL was analyzing all data for client satisfaction and loyalty to determine what went wrong. Should the company attempt to retain this important client? If so, what strategy can the company use?

Spreadsheet to accompany product W27236.

Instructor Spreadsheet to accompany product W27237.

Integrated Centre for Consultancy Private Limited (ICCPL) was a small company operating in India's public relations (PR) industry. ICCPL was a successful and established company in this industry, with a focus on a niche segment of the market-real estate firms that offered affordable housing and operated on thin margins. ICCPL's strong client relationships had resulted in an excellent track record for executive brand building and a client retention rate of above 75 per cent, which the company boasted as the highest in the market. In December 2018, one of ICCPL's clients requested that the company lower its pricing or risk losing the contract to either a new in-house PR department or a small competitor that was offering a similar service at half the price. ICCPL refused to lower its price and, in June 2019, the client announced its plan to cancel the contract. ICCPL was analyzing all data for client satisfaction and loyalty to determine what went wrong. Should the company attempt to retain this important client? If so, what strategy can the company use?

Spreadsheet supplement for case W27236.

In January 2022, Maha Research Labs Private Limited (MRL) needed to boost its sales force effectiveness (SFE). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MRL experienced losses in sales revenue and saw dwindling profits through 2020 and 2021. The pandemic had changed the sales ecosystem of the pharmaceutical industry, with many physicians and retailers now preferring online sales presentations. MRL's managing director was concerned about the increased marketing and selling expenses that were affecting the company's profitability, and he had identified gaps in the company's sales process, performance, and SFE. The managing director proposed investing ₹40 million for the implementation of an SFE program, and he had one week to convince his team that this investment would create a smarter, more efficient sales force, restrain operating costs, and generate much-needed profitability for MRL.

lebua Hotels & Resorts, based in Bangkok, Thailand, and headed by chief executive officer Deepak Ohri, is a much awarded luxury hotel chain. Since the early 2000s, it exposed the traditionally slow-moving luxury hospitality industry to a slew of path-breaking innovations. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Ohri had taken unorthodox paths to defining luxury hospitality. However, as the pandemic began to ebb, he had to convince the industry of his vision of what luxury hospitality was and should continue to be. His positioning strategy for lebua had been very effective, and having won numerous awards in the luxury category, Ohri was contemplating, with his executive team, the next level of innovations needed to bring the company to the top of its post-pandemic peer group.

lebua Hotels & Resorts, based in Bangkok, Thailand, and headed by chief executive officer Deepak Ohri, is a much awarded luxury hotel chain. Since the early 2000s, it exposed the traditionally slow-moving luxury hospitality industry to a slew of path-breaking innovations. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Ohri had taken unorthodox paths to defining luxury hospitality. However, as the pandemic began to ebb, he had to convince the industry of his vision of what luxury hospitality was and should continue to be. His positioning strategy for lebua had been very effective, and having won numerous awards in the luxury category, Ohri was contemplating, with his executive team, the next level of innovations needed to bring the company to the top of its post-pandemic peer group.

boAt began as a lifestyle brand in the consumer electronics category in 2016 with the aim of bringing affordable, durable, and fashionable audio products and accessories to millennials and Gen-Z customers in India. Born in 2016 with Amazon India as its only sales platform, boAt started selling 'indestructible' connector cables. It moved to personal audio and over time, ventured into newer categories such as wireless audio, home audio, and smartwatches. Each category had custom-designed reasonably priced products supported by strong marketing efforts and a multi-brand ambassador strategy. It soon became one of India's first digitally native brands to record a revenue in excess of $65 million, and the fifth largest wearable company in the world. In early 2022, it brought in experienced executives to take the reins and steer the company on the right path as it prepared to file for an initial public offering. Newly appointed CEO Vivek Gambhir considered the next phase of growth. Would the boAt brand be strengthened by entering new categories? How should they think about leveraging offline channels? And lastly, should boAt consider international expansion?

In April 2022, Bhanton Towels (Bhanton), an export-oriented company in the Philippines, received an order from AliTex Enterprises (AliTex), China. One of Bhanton's major customers in Europe had just cancelled an order for 200 metric tons (MT) of towels because of the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Since the conflict was a case of "force majeure," the cancellation terms could not be negotiated. These two events presented Bhanton's management with a major dilemma; the company needed additional orders to achieve its monthly production targets of 2,000 MT for May and June 2022. However, the low price requested for the order from AliTex could potentially have a long-term impact on the company's profitability and reputation in the market. It might also affect its relationship with key accounts like Walmart in the US and IKEA and Sainsbury's (in Europe) if they were to hear of it. AliTex offered Bhanton an opportunity to enter new markets like Australia, Canada, China and New Zealand. Could the company sell its towels at ₱190 per kg to AliTex. And if not, what was the minimum possible rate? The company was also exploring other potential sales and customer acquisition strategies to increase its monthly sales volume by 1,000 MT and reduce dependence on retail customers.

Athletic Brewing Company ("Athletic," for short) was founded by Bill Shufelt and John Walker in 2017. In creating Athletic, Shufelt and Walker opened the first U.S. brewery and taproom fully devoted to the production of non-alcoholic (NA) craft beer. By 2021, Athletic was generating around $15 million in annual revenue, and struggling to keep up with consumer demand. Athletic's success was notable in light of long-standing stigmas associated with drinking non-alcoholic beer, particularly in U.S. markets. For example, there was a historical societal stigma surrounding non-alcoholic beer as a result of assumptions that people who chose not to drink alcohol are abstaining because of a problematic relationship with alcohol. Athletic overcame this barrier, and found early success, by specifically addressing the needs of athletes who wanted to enjoy a great beer and be included in the social ritual of drinking without compromising their athletic performance. However, Athletic's success was also part of a larger cultural shift and increased receptivity to non-alcoholic beer in the U.S., which subsequently attracted stiff competition from both small and large brewers who created their own non-alcoholic offerings. Can Athletic continue its upward trajectory or will it be squeezed out by competitors? Will the bubbling embrace of non-alcoholic beer in the U.S. become mainstream or will it prove to be a passing fad?

The founder and executive director of Allswell Productions (Allswell), an amateur musical theatre company based in London, Ontario, and her team had seen tremendous success with their inaugural production, and they needed to determine what show to stage next. With a wide assortment of theatregoers in the London area, she needed to refine her target market and plan a production for the next season. She had to determine which show to stage, in which theatre space to stage it, how to price the tickets, and how to promote the show.

The founder and executive director of Allswell Productions (Allswell), an amateur musical theatre company based in London, Ontario, and her team had seen tremendous success with their inaugural production, and they needed to determine what show to stage next. With a wide assortment of theatregoers in the London area, she needed to refine her target market and plan a production for the next season. She had to determine which show to stage, in which theatre space to stage it, how to price the tickets, and how to promote the show.

Marketers know that running experiments is a proven way to improve results and gain competitive advantage against rivals. Despite this knowledge--and the fact that experiments are now easier to conduct than ever before--data shows that marketers consistently under-experiment. In this article, we examine why this gap exists and what can be done to close it. We do so by connecting with seniorlevel marketing professionals representing seven consumer-facing industries in two phases. First, through a series of interviews, we gain initial understanding of the concerns, challenges, and realities of those working in the industry. Following this phase, we surveyed a larger group to corroborate and extend our initial findings, comparing cases to identify challenges and the strategies used to overcome them. We present our findings as a series of experimentation myths before closing with a broader perspective on how organizations can infuse experimentation into their culture.

King’s Hawaiian Bakery, West Inc. (King’s Hawaiian), a beloved and highly regarded company, produced a line of bread products dating back to the 1950s and was inspired by a Portuguese sweet bread. The business had grown over time, adding more production facilities and expanding from Hawaii to the mainland United States in 1977. King’s Hawaiian had done minimal consumer research related to its development of new products before it hired Troy Figgins as its new head of consumer insights. In October 2018, Figgins was tasked with creating a new consumer insights department; what this department looked like and how it functioned were entirely up to him. He was eager to design a best-in-class insights team to work with new strategies, tools, and partners. King’s Hawaiian knew it had to conduct market research to uncover insights to keep pace with evolving customer needs—but how? Figgins considered his problem and possible solutions to deliver great insights.

King's Hawaiian Bakery, West Inc. (King's Hawaiian), a beloved and highly regarded company, produced a line of bread products dating back to the 1950s and was inspired by a Portuguese sweet bread. The business had grown over time, adding more production facilities and expanding from Hawaii to the mainland United States in 1977. King's Hawaiian had done minimal consumer research related to its development of new products before it hired Troy Figgins as its new head of consumer insights. In October 2018, Figgins was tasked with creating a new consumer insights department; what this department looked like and how it functioned were entirely up to him. He was eager to design a best-in-class insights team to work with new strategies, tools, and partners. King's Hawaiian knew it had to conduct market research to uncover insights to keep pace with evolving customer needs-but how? Figgins considered his problem and possible solutions to deliver great insights.

Dietz and Watson (D&W), a family run business that had been operating in Philadelphia for over eighty years, was a key player in the deli meat product market. D&W was concerned about losing market share overall; it was dependent on the aging baby boomer segment and possibly not top of mind for a younger, more progressive demographic. In early 2019, the company's vice-president of brand strategy had to consider various options for investing the brand's resources and offer a credible plan to the chief financial officer. What tactics could the company employ? What were the risks of various marketing strategies, and how could the company mitigate those risks? Could a digital strategy help D&W make inroads with the targeted demographic? If so, what would such a strategy look like?

At the time the case is written, Duolingo is the most popular language learning service in the world. The company has more than 40 million monthly active users, and the company's total annual revenue has reached $250 million a year. Still, the sustainability of the business appears uncertain. Critical questions involve the company's approach to monetization, as well as the robustness of its customer growth model. For now, the company's bet on gamification as a mechanism to fuel user engagement appears to be working, but it is also creating tensions involving everything from the company's stated purpose to the company's revenue generation model.

Mysore Saree Udyog is an iconic retail store in Bangalore for sarees, fabric and other Indian traditional wear. Its success rests on the family's merchandising skills and the delivery of a personalised in-store experience, both of which are difficult to replicate. The next generation has a different vision and does not want to be involved in day-to-day operations. The founders have concluded that the best way forward is to professionalise and expand geographically, but they are worried about the associated risks. The case offers insights into a structured approach for family businesses to build a professional culture and maximise Enterprise value while minimising risks.