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MedfirstIndia Trading Private Limited was a privately owned e-commerce start-up in India. The firm’s goal was to establish a first-of-its-kind medical devices e-commerce platform catering to various underserved market segments, such as small hospitals and independent medical practices. The firm relied primarily on digital channels for branding and customer outreach. However, the founders did not have a structured data-driven decision-making strategy in place despite the wealth of data flowing in through web analytics. In 2018, after three years of operations, the firm closed its doors. The case highlights the challenges of strategizing and managing the digital marketing operations of an e-commerce start-up.

Spreadsheet to accompany product W34168.

In April 2023, the iconic Florida-based company Tupperware Brands Corporation (Tupperware), announced that it would have to close shop if it did not receive immediate investment. The company continued to consult with financial advisors about its future, possibilities of gathering funds, slashing jobs, and selling property in its attempts to survive and effect a turnaround. As Tupperware stared at liquidation, should it ditch or tweak its traditional yet iconic strategies of premium pricing and house-party direct selling to retain old customers and attract new ones? Or should it consider new products, a new brand, or new selling strategies to make itself cooler to the young demographic?

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?

<div style="font-size: 0.95em; line-height: 1.4;"><p align="justify">The (A) case outlines the process leading to the rebranding of the Tepper School of Business (the Tepper School) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Lynda Oliver, chief marketing and communications officer at the Tepper School hired Digital Pulp, a New York-based advertising agency, for this project. The case outlines the marketing research process and findings—including a competitive brand analysis and several in-depth interviews and focus groups—that led to a new messaging hierarchy for the Tepper School to represent the school’s new positioning. Oliver had to choose between five proposed new slogans for the Tepper School to communicate this new positioning to the public and present her choice to the dean for approval. The chosen slogan had to reflect the Tepper School’s new competitive positioning and serve as the unifying basis for all future marketing communications. The (B) case presents the chosen slogan as well as a brief description of the proposed implementation process. It also presents sample advertisements, asking students to develop additional ones following the same format.

<div style="font-size: 0.93em; line-height: 1.4;"><p align="justify">This is the B-case for product W37078. Lynda Oliver and her team at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University developed the new slogan, "The Intelligent Future," to emphasize analytics, interdisciplinary learning, and human judgment in decision-making. This rebranding effort, supported by Dean Isabelle Bajeux-Besnainou, was aimed at positioning Tepper as forward-looking and innovative. The comprehensive rebranding included a new voice and tone guide, updated visual design, and a digital advertising campaign that highlighted Tepper's unique strengths. The new branding, launched in September 2021, garnered strong support from stakeholders and prospective students, effectively positioning Tepper among the nation's elite business schools.

This presentation is intended to accompany W37078. It can provide instructors with additional material to enrich classroom discussion by introducing students to an additional aspect of how a brand achieves consistent messaging and positioning.

An important metric that plays a pivotal role in marketing is customer lifetime value (CLV). Given the constraint of limited marketing budgets, a company can enhance the return on its marketing investment by strategizing to allocate marketing resources based on the anticipated value of different customer segments. This technical note provides a contemporary explanation for what CLV is, focusing on its conceptual underpinnings and why it matters for marketers. In the digital age, the analysis of CLV has experienced a profound transformation driven by the wealth of available customer data and the emergence of advanced analytics tools, and it continues to evolve. This technical note provides an accessible, intuitive introduction to CLV as applicable in a wide range of scenarios. We recommend pairing this with another note that provides examples of empirical applications of CLV: "Three Empirical Methods for Calculating Customer Lifetime Value" (UVA-M-1056).

Spreadsheet Supplement for case BAB754

The "How a Luxury Electric Vehicle (EV) Manufacturer Can Leverage Social Listening" teaching case focuses on how a luxury EV manufacturer and brand, namely the Porche Taycan, can use a social listening platform to gain insights on its new EV car models from user-generated content across multiple social sites. The EV market is dynamic and uncertain, and there is a lot of risk for a traditional luxury car manufacturer to enter the EV field. A social listening platform provides real-time social metrics and visuals, including author profiles, influencer profiles, activity, engagement, sentiment, and competitor analysis, to help navigate this uncertainty. The case walks through an analysis using the Nuvi social listening platform on 2022 Porsche Taycan data collected through Nuvi. A competitive analysis is done with Tesla EV models. The case ends by posing questions on what actions a luxury EV manufacturer like the Porsche Taycan can take from using a social listening platform, and what technological and managerial capabilities would be needed to implement such a platform.

In early 2024, The Body Shop International Ltd. (Body Shop) filed for administration, the UK equivalent of a bankruptcy. Aurelius Group (Aurelius), a private equity firm, owned Body Shop and, soon after acquiring it, filed for Body Shop’s bankruptcy. Experts have criticized private equity firms for destroying the value of firms, especially in the retail industry. The FRP Advisory Group (FRP), which Aurelius appointed to oversee the administration, asserted that it was “exploring all options to take the business forward.” The British high-street fashion chain Next was intending to acquire Body Shop. Experts also recommended that Body Shop appeal to younger shoppers to compete with companies like Lush and other competitors that offered a similar value proposition as Body Shop. Should FRP have considered selling the restructured Body Shop to Next or back to Aurelius? Which company could provide better corporate parenting advantages? How could Body Shop be revived?

The use of intense emotions in marketing campaigns is not unusual. This case illustrates the use of negative emotions in advertising in order to decrease competition and enable prices to increase. It examines examples in two common emotional contexts-embarrassment and fear-reviewing ads promoting funerals, public service campaigns, mouthwash, diapers, and infant formula. Substantial issues about emotional marketing concern whether it is moral and whether it is deceptive. The case includes discussion of social taboos and, as such, may upset the sensibilities of some students, although this is not the author's intention. Please note that the phenomenon of social taboos creating such sensibility is precisely the basis of higher prices and the learning value of this case.

A Polish restauranteur and entrepreneur, Christopher Przemyski (Chris) founded Bistro Concept Group in 2015. Thereafter, he created a portfolio of themed restaurants congregated around Sai Ying Pun and nearby Central district on Hong Kong Island. His restaurants are designed around a strategy of affordable good food in an artsy environment. He was eager to improve the restaurants turnover for both dine-in and takeaway. The Case provides an overview of the business model of online food delivery platforms, the competitive dynamics, and the industry's efforts in market development. It serves as a canvas for students to learn price setting and multichannel price management when designing integrated marketing programs.

In June 2021, Mumbai-based WhatKnot Wedding Photography faced a critical decision between pursuing high-value celebrity weddings or maintaining their focus on mid-size clients. A potential celebrity wedding contract posed a significant opportunity for both revenue and exposure. However, this venture required extensive senior management involvement, redirection of resources, and potential strain on existing client relationships. The company’s co-founders held opposing views: while one favoured consolidating their position in the mid-size market, prioritizing stability, and client relationships, the other advocated for pursuing high-value contracts to gain prominence and higher revenue. The dilemma highlighted the trade-off between pursuing high-value opportunities and maintaining existing business models. This decision would shape the company’s future direction and market positioning, with implications for both short-term gains and long-term sustainability.

Founded in 2014, SuperMonkey is an innovative gym brand that has disrupted the traditional gym membership model with its "pay-per-session, no annual memberships; professional coaches, no sales pitches" approach. Initially, SuperMonkey offered a unique fitness experience through shipping container gym pods before shifting its focus to group classes. SuperMonkey's gyms are lively group class spaces where clients can follow professional instructors, immersed in dynamic lighting and music. This transforms what could be a solitary and monotonous workout into an energetic and social event. By the end of 2022, SuperMonkey had attracted over 500,000 paying users and had opened or was planning nearly 200 stores in first-tier and emerging cities. However, as market competition intensifies, SuperMonkey faces new challenges, particularly regarding its pace of expansion. HILEFIT, a competitor established around the same time, had expanded to 1,300 locations by 2023. SuperMonkey must now carefully consider whether to maintain the quality of its fitness services to ensure customer satisfaction or accelerate the opening of new stores to capture a larger market share. This dilemma poses a significant test of their strategic decision-making skills.

Early-stage, developing, and mature companies have different marketing needs, which means that a chief marketing officer with a set of skills well suited to a startup environment might not excel once the business scales. To help ensure that their chief marketing officer can succeed as their company grows, leaders can prepare and upskill the CMO, change their expectations of the CMO, or hire a new CMO who already has the needed skills.

In February 2024, Wendy's CEO Kirk Tanner announced that the company planned to test dynamic pricing at select US locations sometime in 2025. However, the company's announcement generated a significant negative public reaction, to such an extent that Wendy's felt compelled to offer US$1 burgers as part of a special "March Madness" promotion. As the company looked toward 2025, how should Wendy's CEO Kirk Tanner plan to implement dynamic pricing in its stores?

In February 2024, Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner announced that the company planned to test dynamic pricing at select US locations sometime in 2025. However, the company’s announcement generated a significant negative public reaction, to such an extent that Wendy’s felt compelled to offer US$1 burgers as part of a special “March Madness” promotion. As the company looked toward 2025, how should Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner plan to implement dynamic pricing in its stores?

In August 2022, a senior sales executive at Dabur India Ltd. was facing mounting pressure to meet the company’s sales and distribution key performance indicators. He was responsible for urban retail expansion, as well as promoting new products in a territory where the company dominated the market. However, challenges such as retailer dissatisfaction and low sales were persisting due to expired products cluttering retailer shelves, among other issues. The senior sales executive was grappling to maintain sales efficiency and customer satisfaction, amid sales team governance setbacks. Key concerns included expired items on retail shelves, lack of in-store promotions, and competing sales forces becoming increasingly automated. The senior sales executive had to address these challenges to improve the territory’s performance and sales.

In August 2022, a senior sales executive at Dabur India Ltd. was facing mounting pressure to meet the company's sales and distribution key performance indicators. He was responsible for urban retail expansion, as well as promoting new products in a territory where the company dominated the market. However, challenges such as retailer dissatisfaction and low sales were persisting due to expired products cluttering retailer shelves, among other issues. The senior sales executive was grappling to maintain sales efficiency and customer satisfaction, amid sales team governance setbacks. Key concerns included expired items on retail shelves, lack of in-store promotions, and competing sales forces becoming increasingly automated. The senior sales executive had to address these challenges to improve the territory's performance and sales.