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Green Leaf, launched in 2000, was involved in the production, retail, and export of fruits and vegetables. The company procured most of its fruits and vegetables through contract farming. Contract-farming jobs with individual farmers were initiated after receiving orders from export customers and estimating the demand. However, the company faced shortages in its procurement of produce due to the diversion of fruits and vegetables by some contract farmers during the rise in open-market prices for these foods. The challenge for the company was how to ensure an uninterrupted supply of fruits and vegetables to meet the customers’ orders.

In 2023, Marvin Ellison, CEO of Lowe's, contemplated enhancements to the company's Total Home Strategy to accelerate performance and grow market share. In the last five years since becoming CEO, Ellison had championed a turnaround of the company, completing a comprehensive foundational reset before embarking on a forward-looking growth plan called the "Total Home Strategy." This strategic plan identified five critical areas for driving growth: elevating product assortment, driving Pro customer penetration, accelerating online business, expanding installation services, and driving localization. As Lowe's entered its second century and revenues approached $100 billion, Ellison considered ways to take the growth strategy to the next level and grab market share from its archrival Home Depot. He mulled over whether and how initiatives such as expanding the customer base to include more medium-sized and Hispanic Pros as well as do-it-yourself (DIY) male consumers, advancing online commerce, leveraging new technologies like generative AI, and increasing the localization of stores would not only uphold Lowe's legacy but also propel it to new heights.

This case introduces the challenges and decision criteria for businesses seeking to sponsor student athletes in the advent of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA's) landmark decision to authorize collegiate student athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness (NIL), just as professional athletes and other celebrities have always done. The case follows Jonathan Cotten, president of Easy Step Enterprises (Easy Step), a franchisee for the Good Feet Store based in Richmond, Virginia, as he explores the possibility of using college athletes as social media influencers to stimulate demand for the Good Feet Store locations his company operates. The primary focus of this case is not on franchisee-franchisor relations, but rather on the strategic decision processes a business must consider when exploring the emerging opportunity to engage college student athletes as social media influencers. Because of their youth and relative inexperience, college student athletes pose different challenges and issues compared to the longer-established engagement of professional athletes and celebrities in similar roles. This case highlights these differences and encourages careful integration of criteria for executing these decisions.

There is a growing trend of social media creators producing and sharing content about their jobs and employers on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Successful employee-creators can provide their employers with enormous marketing value. Still, most organizations are reluctant or don't know how to support employees in creating content that benefits their brands. A Duke University social marketing professor shares seven steps to help businesses cultivate internal creator talent.

The UK brand Vimto was successfully integrated with the Ramadan season in the Persian Gulf region, which presented a compelling narrative of strategic brand adaptation and cultural sensitivity. Through a strategic partnership between the British company Nichols plc and the Saudi company Aujan Group Holding, Vimto transcended its origins from a simple cordial beverage to become an iconic symbol of the Muslim holy month, deeply embedded in the traditions and celebrations of millions of consumers. This transformation was driven by insightful marketing strategies that aligned the brand with the values and rituals of the Ramadan holy month, fostering a strong emotional connection with consumers across the Gulf. The collaboration between Nichols plc and Aujan Group Holding leveraged deep local insights and familial networks. It also exemplified the critical role of local partnerships in navigating the complexities of international markets.

The UK brand Vimto was successfully integrated with the Ramadan season in the Persian Gulf region, which presented a compelling narrative of strategic brand adaptation and cultural sensitivity. Through a strategic partnership between the British company Nichols plc and the Saudi company Aujan Group Holding, Vimto transcended its origins from a simple cordial beverage to become an iconic symbol of the Muslim holy month, deeply embedded in the traditions and celebrations of millions of consumers. This transformation was driven by insightful marketing strategies that aligned the brand with the values and rituals of the Ramadan holy month, fostering a strong emotional connection with consumers across the Gulf. The collaboration between Nichols plc and Aujan Group Holding leveraged deep local insights and familial networks. It also exemplified the critical role of local partnerships in navigating the complexities of international markets.

The technologies driving artificial intelligence (AI) had progressed significantly since HubSpot's acquisition of Motion AI in 2017. Generative AI was the newest major development. Software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies such as HubSpot were analyzing how generative AI could impact marketing and sales processes in two ways: hyperpersonalized and contextual content generation to feed the top of their sales funnels and intelligent chatbots for business development and sales prospect customer service further down in their sales funnels. Could and should AI be a substitute for the people involved in HubSpot's marketing and sales processes? Or, was it better utilized as a complementary tool, a co-pilot or digital assistant to marketers, salespeople, and chat reps? How might HubSpot benefit from and/or suffer from having AI be the face of its brand to its customers? How might the relationships the company formed with its customers change if customers interacted with AI-generated content and AI-fueled chatbots as opposed to being inspired by and interacting with humans? Would generative AI prove to be a sustainable competitive advantage for HubSpot and would it show a positive return-on-investment, or not?

At the end of March 2023, Gagan Kanwar, the owner of 39 Bakers, a bakery based in Jammu, India, called a meeting with his store managers to discuss expanding the business by moving online. The bakery had multiple outlets in Jammu, but rival bakeries in the area had successfully transitioned to the online space and experienced notable growth. Customers everywhere were clearly embracing online shopping. Kanwar understood that online was the way forward, as it could be used not only for fulfilling his expansion strategy but also for boosting revenue and improving customer relationships. But he also knew that developing digital infrastructure, such as a website, mobile app, and social media presence, and working with online food delivery platforms would require significant investments of time, money, and labour. Expanding through franchises, on the other hand, could be more cost-effective. Was it the right time to go online? Would the online channel strategy help 39 Bakers strengthen its customer base? How could an offline-dominant retail outlet transition from brick to click?

In December 2022, amid mounting pressure to cut costs, Google announced it would consolidate the operations of its four navigation-related brands under the leadership of Chris Phillips, vice president and general manager of the Geo services division. The restructuring plan meant that the 500-member team of Waze, a navigation app that had operated independently since its acquisition in 2013, would now be tied to Google's core mapping products--Google Maps, Google Street View, and Google Earth. Students will take the role of Aaliyah Williams, a fictional marketing consultancy CEO, and make recommendations to Phillips on crafting a portfolio strategy that optimizes Google's market share and growth. In analyzing this case, students will learn how to leverage brand architecture and brand management tools to ensure a strong portfolio with clear positionings that minimize brand overlap and cannibalization.

At a time of struggle for brick-and-mortar retailing, some brands have successfully drawn foot traffic to stores. These companies deliver value that isn't easily replicated in the online channel, curate memorable shopping experiences, and reward shoppers for visiting. Consider lessons learned from using five tactics, such as sensory experiences and escapism, to convince shoppers to visit.

In late 2022, McDonald’s, one of America’s oldest and most iconic fast food companies, introduced a mostly automated store in Fort Worth, Texas. The only human employees at this store were in the kitchen and did not interact with consumers during the ordering or pick up of food. While some consumers liked this concept, it also received very negative reviews on social media, with some responses addressing the ethics of replacing human labour with robotics. The chief executive officer of McDonald’s had a choice to make: Should he listen to consumer complaints and make changes to the mostly automated store, or should he continue to move the company fully automated stores?

The founders of the app-based credit line MoneyTap shared a vision of creating an inclusionary multi-product banking experience. The company’s gross revenue had surged from its first year, but while the business was doing well, growth was not coming easy because of intense competition. The organization wanted to expand its offerings to include a pay-later feature, credit cards, and digital savings and become India’s first full-stack neobank. The team’s current brand, MoneyTap, was a personal credit-line brand, and to expand it to a full-service neobank required a new brand strategy and a rethinking of the brand architecture. While branding and its concepts were perceived to be more applicable to consumer goods, the founders were convinced that their fintech start-up could only move to the next level by leveraging the inherent power of a strong brand.

Years before the Barbie movie phenomenon, leaders at Mattel became concerned that consumer perceptions of the famous doll were out of sync with demographic trends. The company conducted in-depth research to understand how customers felt about Barbie and to determine whether more-inclusive versions presented a strong market opportunity. The findings led to a new inclusion strategy that affected all areas of the brand-product design, distribution, and commercial activities-and coincided with a period of significant growth. Barbie revenues increased 63% from 2015 to 2022-before the boost from the film. Research shows that in most industries the perception of inclusion can materially change customers' likelihood to purchase and willingness to recommend products and services. This article presents a framework for increasing marketplace inclusion in three areas: seeing the market, which is about market definition, market intelligence, and strategies for growth; serving the market, which involves developing products, packaging, and other commercial practices; and being in the market, which looks at advocacy and the customer experience.

The latest offering by Reliance Brands Limited (an undertaking of Reliance India Limited) under the aegis of the Jio brand was Jio World Plaza (JWP), an ultra-luxurious mall with breathtaking architecture and an upscale range of brands and services, signalling that India had arrived on the global luxury market. Providing an eclectic mix of Western and Indian wearable and lifestyle brands, JWP had the potential to transform the luxury sector by the effective usage of brand management strategies. In November 2023, Jio’s management faced the question of whether to shape its brand architecture as either a branded house or a house of brands.

Nykaa E-Retail Limited (Nykaa) has come a long way since its founding in 2012 by Falguni Nayar in Mumbai, India, establishing itself as a prominent participant in the e-commerce and retail industry. Not only has Nykaa revolutionized the field of online shopping in India for beauty and personal care products, but it has also played an essential role in the development of an ecosystem within that field. Nykaa has curated an offering of assorted beauty products spanning a variety of categories, including make-up, skincare, haircare, bath and body, fragrance, grooming equipment, personal care, and health and wellness. The company offers an enormous selection of over 2,400 legitimate brands. Nykaa has been able to maintain consistent growth because of its unrelenting concentration on the requirements of its customers and its close working relationships with other companies. However, feedback and reviews from customers have indicated a disconnect between client expectations and Nykaa’s performance. An increase in customer complaints, encompassing technical issues and problems related to customer assistance, exchanges, returns, and refunds—essentially, the entire customer experience—is revealing opportunities for improvement. Nykaa’s leadership has expressed concern over the increasing number of incidents of consumer dissatisfaction, an issue that is coming to light amid an increasingly competitive digital landscape.

Aditya Goel, co-founder of Love In Store Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (Love In Store), had had a great run despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which started in 2019. Goel and his technology partner had created Love In Store as an entrepreneurial venture that offered a one-stop solution to fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in India, the majority of which handled the bulk of their supplies through distributors and wholesalers. Love In Store provided both people and technology (tech) to supervise distribution activities for FMCG companies. After the initial success with FMCG companies, Goel also added a tech solution related to payments made to distributors, which would be based on actual proof of promotions. Love In Store’s application (app)-based technology solution streamlined the previously complex and tedious process of supervising distribution and managing sales territories—which had required distributors’ salespeople to write orders, check inventory of stock-keeping units in various categories, and benchmark competitive campaigns, as well as manage sales promotions and merchandising displays and inform retailers about company schemes and policies. Love In Store’s app enabled its appointed people to take care of this supervision, generate reports, pass on orders to the distributors, and support the distributors. After the company’s initial success, and once its turnover reached ₹10 million, Goel and his co-founder decided to expand their operations. The aftermath of the pandemic dominated Goel’s thinking, and he wondered whether it was a good strategy to keep the business restricted to one domain only. While he needed to manage running the business, he was also contemplating the challenge of expanding into other business areas.

MedoPlus is a startup working in the space of rural health care in India. Its pilot is currently running in five districts near Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. The MedoPlus model connects villagers to the nearest health-care facility through an app mediated by a local villager, the MedoMITR. In only 18 months, the company has managed to reach 200,000 registered customers with 50,000 patients accessing health-care facilities. The management team at MedoPlus are planning for the next growth phase and considering the challenges ahead to obtain Series A funding for the company’s expansion.

Products designed for the average user can unintentionally exclude those with special needs or from marginalized populations. People designing products for a more diverse set of users can start by asking a simple set of questions. The ADDRESSING framework, which considers diversity along multiple dimensions, including age, disability, religion, and nationality, can help product teams widen their view of their target market.

The product recommendation website BeM was launched in 2020 in Brazil to explore the significant and untapped potential of the country's online reviews market. Inspired by US models, BeM's webpages featured expert-generated reviews of products in four categories: air fryers, headphones and earbuds, Bluetooth speakers, and irons. Its revenue model centered on participating in affiliate marketing programs: BeM's website included links to various online merchants' pages, and the group earned commissions when users made purchases through these links. After a year of operations, BeM had attracted 186,000 visitors to its webpages, but sales conversion remained a challenge. While over 80% of customers who read BeM's reviews clicked on affiliate links, under 1% completed a purchase immediately or shortly after. The field-based case study features BeM's executive director, Josiane Schunck, as she prepares to discuss the start-up's future with its four cofounders. The key question the group needs to address is whether to keep growing the BeM website or move on to another venture, where they could apply the learnings from this experiment. Should they embrace Silicon Valley's "fail fast, learn faster" mantra, or make adjustments and double down on the BeM bet? If they decide to continue growing the business, what could be the most effective strategies to enhance BeM's financials, reducing costs and boosting revenue generation? Could partnerships with media groups, retailers, or manufacturers help BeM build alternative revenue sources, or would it be better to keep operating independently? And which product categories should BeM focus on next, not only to attract more users but also to improve its sales conversion rates? This case is appropriate for use in an MBA, executive education, or undergraduate course on entrepreneurship, marketing, innovation, digital disruption, or digital businesses.

Spreadsheet supplement for case W35179