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Vertu Corporation Limited (Vertu), a manufacturer and retailer of luxury mobile phones, was founded as a subsidiary of Nokia in 2000. It was later acquired by a Swedish private equity firm in 2012, and then sold to Godin Holdings in 2015. Despite these multiple corporate ownership transitions, Vertu had remained uniquely positioned, differentiated by its phones’ bejewelled embellishments and a worldwide concierge service available at the touch of a button. The luxury phones were sought after by ultra-high net worth individuals as instantly recognizable status symbols akin to luxury watches. However, in the early 2000s, the introduction of luxury-priced, full-featured iPhones; the decline of conspicuous consumption among ultra-high net worth individuals after the financial crisis; and the anticorruption movement in Asia rendered Vertu’s business model unsustainable. Or was it? In July 2017, Vertu’s new owner faced a critical decision upon the liquidation of Vertu. Should he sell or license the remaining brand assets to a luxury brand owner or retrench in China to focus on existing customers without taking into consideration the ethical and reputational implications to the brand in the rest of the world?

While the importance of developing a superior brand is a common goal across firms, a key challenge marketers face is the measurement of a brand. What does it mean to measure a brand? It is about the worth of the brand? Is it about the target consumer's perception? Or is it about how well known the brand is? The purpose of this tech note is to: (1) create a conceptual model framing the ways in which brands can be measured, (2) describe the key measurement methods, and (3) provide commonly used examples for each measurement method.

This case illustrates the challenges for a non-digital player adjusting to digital disruption in the travel and tourism industry. The rise and fall of Kuoni illustrates the 'boiling frog' syndrome - i.e., while threats to its business multiplied, there was no 'wake up' moment where managers made decisive changes before it was too late. More generally, the case considers the challenges of digital disruption: leading transformation and change-management skillsets, and the mindset/culture required to embrace new technology. By identifying what Kuoni did and did not do, students understand what it takes to transform into an agile organisation by leveraging digital trends and technologies.

Instructor Spreadsheet for product 8B18A017.

On December 5, 2018 The Oak View Group (OVG) broke ground on the Seattle Center Arena (SCA) project. The cost of the project was not insignificant-and it continued to rise. Originally projected to cost $564 million, at groundbreaking the price tag stood at $850 million. Seattle sports fans were thrilled with the project. The city of Seattle had been without a winter sports team since 2008 when the Seattle SuperSonics, a National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise, left the city for Oklahoma. The SCA would be home to a new National Hockey League (NHL) franchise, and the hope was that, sooner rather than later, the NBA would return to Seattle. Tim Leiweke, cofounder and CEO of OVG, was ultimately responsible for the success of the project. A sports industry veteran with experience building sports facilities and developing event and sponsorship revenue for sports facilities, Leiweke believed music and live entertainment were critical to making the finances work. Leiweke would need to walk a fine line between promoting the SCA as venue for music and live entertainment, while at the same time, maintaining the trust and support of Seattle's sports fans.

Royal Challengers Bangalore, an IPL franchise cricket team, was representing Bangalore city in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team had a huge fan following and a brand valuation of USD 88 million in 2017. RCB made profits worth INR 3.15 crore for the first time in FY 17. Tickets formed a very small yet crucial part of team's revenue. Given the current leeway available for pricing the tickets, the team had to come up with a pricing model that is appropriate for its revenue model. The case revolves around the future pricing strategy to be adopted by the franchise to target the different segments of the customers to get a full house in the stadium and to maximise its revenue given the demographics of Bangalore city.

Spreadsheet Supplement for Case A00281

Spreadsheet Supplement for Case A00281

We Sell Everything in Software' WSES Inc. is a products company and specializes in software solutions for different industries such as defense, clinical research, consumer goods, capital markets, security, banks, and insurance among others. One of the divisions of WSES focuses on enterprise software product. Every quarter, Jack Williams, CEO had to give forecast of sales to the stakeholders for the enterprise software product division. The forecast which he had given for the last quarter was USD 2.4 billion whereas the actual sales booking was only USD 1.48 Billion. Jack wanted more accurate forecasting of sales and he had a discussion with Michael Summers, the CFO. Michael explained to Jack that this was something which was not in his hand since he was taking the numbers from Ben Osborne, Vice President of Marketing. Ben explained to Jack that the process they were following was taking the last quarter's sales and adding their estimate of 1.5% to it. Jack did not approve of this method. He felt that since WSES has such rich sales data over the years, they should be having a way to hear what the data is saying. They engaged Mark, with Ph.D. in Statistics, to understand if they could find a structured way to forecast the sales number based on historical data available with WSES.

Spreadsheet supplement to case IMB757

Ford's F-Series of trucks were first introduced in 1948, and ever since they have represented American identity for their consumers. Both earned media, in movies like Urban Cowboy, and Ford's paid media positioned Ford as part of the pioneering culture. Ford also constantly introduced innovations to the F-Series to make the trucks more suitable to the changing needs of its consumers. In 2018, Ford's management decided to retreat from the low-margin cars segment and focus on trucks and SUVs. Ford was also working toward robot taxis and driverless delivery by 2021. These two parallel trajectories converge to pose a pivotal challenge for Ford: Should the company invest in developing driverless capabilities for its best-selling and highest-margin product, the F-150? The case provides students with a context in which to discuss the changing technologies in the auto industry and their implications for industry structure, along with the specific aspects of software-driven business models, consumer preferences, and brand identity. It also offers an opportunity to explore the challenges faced by traditional businesses as they develop digital capabilities and reimagine their business models to fully leverage artificial intelligence (AI). The competition among Ford, Google Inc. (Google), Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), and Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) in the automonous vehicle industry highlights the different routes these companies have taken to obtain develop autonomous vehicle capability that leverages their respective strategic capabilities.

Companies often treat social media as the conversation that represents what consumers are saying about any given brand. But research shows that online and offline conversations are different beasts. Even though they both drive sales, they need to be measured and managed separately.

In September 2018, the leadership team of Agarwal Packers and Movers Limited (APML) gathered for a meeting at the company's headquarters, located in the heart of New Delhi, India. The founder was considering whether the company should go public by the end of 2019. Since APML's inception in 1987, the team had worked hard to create a healthy brand recall, establish customer loyalty, and build a robust financial base. However, in the 18 months leading up to the intended initial public offering, the founder needed to consider two key questions: How could the company create and maintain service differentiation in an industry characterized by low entry barriers and limited pricing flexibility? How could it deliver quality service to retain customer loyalty?

The field of neuromarketing, sometimes known as consumer neuroscience, studies the brain to predict and potentially even manipulate consumer behavior and decision making. Over the past five years several groundbreaking studies have demonstrated its potential to create value for marketers. But those interested in using its tools must still determine whether that's worth the investment and how to do it well. "Neuromarketing" loosely refers to the measurement of physiological and neural signals to gain insight into customers' motivations, preferences, and decisions. Its most common methods are brain scanning, which measures neural activity, and physiological tracking, which measures eye movement and other proxies for that activity. This article explores some of the research into those methods and discusses their benefits and drawbacks. Potential users of neuromarketing should be cautious about partnering with specialist consulting firms--experts warn that the field is plagued by vendors who oversell what neuromarketing can deliver. One neuroscience and business professor suggests using a checklist: Are actual neuroscientists involved in the study? Are any of the consultancy's methods, data, or tools published in peer-reviewed journals? Is its subject pool representative?--a question that is particularly important for global brands. Do the consultants have marketing expertise along with scientific knowledge? Do they have a track record of success? And can they prove when challenged that they will offer insights beyond what can be gleaned through traditional methods?

Three leading researchers--a marketing professor, a philosopher, and a neuroscientist--talk with HBR about the ethical implications of neuromarketing. Although consumers typically accept that their purchase behavior is public, these experts say, they think of their brains and thoughts as private, which can lead to backlash against organizations that use neuromarketing tools. And while informed consent is standard in the academic world, it's not always strictly adhered to on the industry side. Another big concern, particularly among consumer advocacy groups, is subconscious influence. But, says one of these researchers, "nothing neuroscience could ever measure could definitively drive a particular purchase," because so many other factors have input: mood, hunger, the presence of friends, how a product is displayed. Nevertheless, neurotesting could be used to target vulnerable populations--say, by trying to create ads that will induce more teenagers to vape. Conversely, it has been shown to increase the effectiveness of public service announcements. "One way to think about all these issues," says another of these experts, "is that neuroscience incrementally improves our ability to generate effective marketing messages in many areas--it's like turning up the dial a bit on the effectiveness of marketing. That dial turns up the ethical implications, too."

Supplement to 519034.

On December 5, 2018 The Oak View Group (OVG) broke ground on the Seattle Center Arena (SCA) project. The cost of the project was not insignificant-and it continued to rise. Originally projected to cost $564 million, at groundbreaking the price tag stood at $850 million. Seattle sports fans were thrilled with the project. The city of Seattle had been without a winter sports team since 2008 when the Seattle SuperSonics, a National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise, left the city for Oklahoma. The SCA would be home to a new National Hockey League (NHL) franchise, and the hope was that, sooner rather than later, the NBA would return to Seattle. Tim Leiweke, cofounder and CEO of OVG, was ultimately responsible for the success of the project. A sports industry veteran with experience building sports facilities and developing event and sponsorship revenue for sports facilities, Leiweke believed music and live entertainment were critical to making the finances work. Leiweke would need to walk a fine line between promoting the SCA as venue for music and live entertainment, while at the same time, maintaining the trust and support of Seattle's sports fans.

Once a royal residence and today one of the most photographed Parisian landmarks, the Louvre, home of iconic masterpieces, was the world's largest and most visited museum in 2017. Its President Director Jean-Luc Martinez had since 2013 spearheaded its development and launched large-scale renovation projects with the sole objective to better welcome all visitors, be they French or international, art connoisseurs or tourists, of all ages and backgrounds. With the visitor numbers at the state-owned museum trending upwards in 2018, Martinez had to decide on his priorities for his second mandate. He wanted to further improve the visitor experience but also had to balance the Louvre's public service mission of cultural education, which was increasingly hard to fulfill given the variety of visitors whose expectations had become more diversified. Which audiences, if any, should he put at the center of his attention and how could he best serve them to ensure the future success of his iconic museum?