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Sichuan Haidilao Catering Co., Ltd. (Haidilao) was the leading hot pot company in the Chinese market and the largest hot pot chain of restaurants in the world. Haidilao was famous for its extraordinary customer service, which had made it a legend in the catering industry. However, on August 25, 2017, a news report with online videos revealed that mice were in the kitchen of one of Haidilao's restaurants, that dustpans and tableware were washed in the same sink, and that spoons intended for customer use were used to unclog blockages in the plumbing. How could Zhang Yong, the founder and chair of Haidilao's board of directors, respond to the crisis, turn threats into opportunities, and prevent the recurrence of such a crisis?

Jayalaxmi Agrotech (JAT) is a company based out of a small village called H.B. Halli in Bellary district of Karnataka, which helps farmers in availing correct and timely information at their fingertips using mobile technology. JAT created a mobile app which can be used to access information about various crop varieties, diseases, fertilizers, and pesticides and other details on irrigation, micronutrients, etc. This app pushes data on almost real-time basis to a server regarding the features accessed by the farmers from the app. This data can be analyzed to assess the usage of the app and some of the attributes can act as proxy data to understand prevalent diseases and the varieties of crops grown in specific areas. Anand, the founder of JAT, wanted to understand this data and gain some valuable insights which could help farmers with decision making. The major dilemma for Anand was to either prove or disprove several claims about plant diseases that were prevalent among the farmers.

In March 2018, the managing director of Maha Research Labs Private Limited, a pharmaceutical company in India, was charting his 2020 vision for the company. His ambitious plan was to achieve net revenue of ₹1 billion in 2018 and to have a pan-Indian presence and sales revenue of ₹2 billion in 2020. The managing director knew that the company would need to expand rapidly over the next year to meet these goals. First, however, he needed to assess several factors that would be key to deciding the sales targets. He also needed answers to some serious questions: How should the sales organization be designed? What sales force structure would be appropriate? Should the company opt for a generalist sales force structure or a specialist sales force structure? What was the optimal size for the sales force? What processes should the company follow to design the sales territories?

In March 2018, the managing director of Maha Research Labs Private Limited, a pharmaceutical company in India, was charting his 2020 vision for the company. His ambitious plan was to achieve net revenue of ₹1 billion in 2018 and to have a pan-Indian presence and sales revenue of ₹2 billion in 2020. The managing director knew that the company would need to expand rapidly over the next year to meet these goals. First, however, he needed to assess several factors that would be key to deciding the sales targets. He also needed answers to some serious questions: How should the sales organization be designed? What sales force structure would be appropriate? Should the company opt for a generalist sales force structure or a specialist sales force structure? What was the optimal size for the sales force? What processes should the company follow to design the sales territories?

Nike's selection of politically polarizing Colin Kaepernick as the spokesperson for the 30th anniversary of its iconic "Just Do It" campaign catapulted the brand into the media spotlight and made it a political flashpoint for consumers across America. Would the choice of Kaepernick positively or negatively affect Nike's business results or just generate a lot of social media chatter? As Nike's management team watched some people burn their sneakers in protest on YouTube and others applaud the company's behavior on Facebook, they wondered whether inserting Nike into the middle of a heated political debate was the right thing to do or the most reckless action Nike's brand stewards had ever taken, putting Nike's $30 billion brand asset at risk? After all, on social media, it was easy to say that one would boycott or buycott a brand due to one's political beliefs, but in the marketplace, other purchase criteria often reigned supreme.

Using raw, uncut footage, this video case asks students to evaluate the effectiveness of the first contact that took place in November 2016 between representatives from two technology companies-iQmetrix and Straker Translations. The two firms are contemplating a business partnership in which Straker will provide iQmetrix with translation services. First contact calls generally precede every business partnership and are normally completed only after the respective business-development or sales representatives have prepared for the call by learning the basics about the other side's organization-in particular, whether there is a good fit between what the buyer needs and what the supplier can provide in terms of quality, cost, and capabilities of service.

Eneco Group, the second largest utility company in the Netherlands, launched a smart thermostat, Toon, that served as a platform for energy management services. Toon quickly became the gold standard for smart homes in the Netherlands. In January 2017, top management needed to discuss the strategic priorities to keep Toon's lead and hold off the competition.

In order to shift 30 per cent of the country’s transport fleet to electric by 2030, the Indian government had launched multiple programs to promote usage of hybrid and electric vehicles (EV) in the country and had agreed to provide various fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to EV firms up until 2020. Many leading automobile manufacturers in India were investing millions of dollars in designing and manufacturing EVs, building the infrastructure required for running EVs, and creating the components required for the battery system used in EVs. Despite these multiple public and private initiatives, by September 2018 it had became apparent that many macro and micro issues were present in the overall environment that was being built for the smooth running of EVs. Would Mahindra Electric Mobility Limited and other automobile firms be able to effectively formulate strategies and compete successfully in this dynamic and changing business environment?

In 2014, Guccio Gucci SpA (Gucci), a flagship brand of the Kering group, was struggling with its operating profit and human resources. By December 2014, the company had experienced three consecutive quarters of declining profits. In addition to the company’s financial issues, its president and chief executive officer (CEO) and its creative director had abruptly left the company. On January 15, 2015, a new CEO took over and faced several decisions. He needed to decide whether or not to reposition the brand and whether to hire internally or externally for a new creative director—related decisions that would strongly influence the brand’s position in the market and its appeal in the future.

In 2015, the general manager of the Gold Crest Hotel (Gold Crest) in Mwanza, Tanzania, had only three days to present a compelling marketing strategy for the hotel at the executive board meeting. Though the hotel had recently experienced revenue growth from its conference room bookings, management wanted to increase average yearly hotel occupancy. A new marketing strategy had to include a target consumer segment, a marketing plan, and options that would attract customers to book guest rooms at the Gold Crest. Also, the manager had to decide whether to renovate the ninth floor of the hotel and, if so, whether to add additional conference rooms or additional guest rooms, depending on the targeted market segment.

In July 2018, the chief executive officer of Tiktauli De Corps (TDC) was thinking about the branding strategy of the company. Founded in India in August 2012 as a casual wear apparel brand, TDC had grown rapidly. The company featured three main business lines: electronic dance music fashion apparel and accessories; sports gear; and affordable fashion wear. The company had adopted a house of brands strategy for its three brands: TDC, Fieldgear, and Koolho. After six years, one of the three brands had started generating profits, but none had achieved recognition outside a niche circle. However, confident that the various brands were aligned with TDC's vision, and encouraged by the company's success, the chief executive officer was considering expanding into international markets. Because of limited access to funds, synergy among the company's house brands, and the impact of macro-environmental factors on his growth plans, he had to choose the best branding strategy for the company's future.

Recommendation engines are an easy way to reach new customers, but marketers may encounter unintended consequences due to the inherent biases in the algorithms.

Following its re-emergence from bankruptcy protection in 2014, the marketing team at Kodak has been charged with tripling brand value with consumers, with little marketing budget. The case focuses on the strategies used by senior Kodak marketers Steven Overman and Dany Atkins to leverage the brand's heritage for innovation and creativity with existing and new audiences. With few resources other than heritage, Overman and Atkins have focused on making Kodak 'cool' through partnerships with a range of brands targeting younger users while also reinforcing the brand's historic links with the motion picture industry and benefitting from the so-called 'analog revival'. The case explores issues of cultural branding, focusing on how relevance can be built through connections to crowd cultures, communities and other brands to build a platform for growth and revitalization.

Intelligent Avionics (IA) was an entrepreneurial company launching three inflight entertainment (IFE) systems. In April 2012, with a small development team working on the IFE system designs simultaneously, the time had come to meet with IA's leaders to determine where the company should focus its efforts. The company's vice-president of marketing contemplated which lines the company should bring to market and wondered how IA should market and launch its offerings. In addition, organizational and locational issues gnawed at him. He struggled with the company's virtual structure, given that IA was composed of fewer than 15 staff members living in five different countries. As he contemplated how the structure was affecting IA's effectiveness, he asked himself who IA's target market should be.

Shiseido was in the midst of a six year corporate turnaround, trying to reverse the effects of decades of under-investment in R&D and marketing which had led to a cycle of declining customer support and brand value. Would the CEO's VISION 2020 plan, centered on four strategies: 1.) increasing R&D spending from 1.8% to 3% of sales, 2.) investing an incremental ¥120 billion in brand-building marketing, 3.) moving to a "think global-act local" matrixed brand management structure, and 4.) rethinking brand portfolio strategy, be enough to achieve aggressive 8% per year sales goals while simultaneously increasing the company's operating margin from 8% to 10% in the highly competitive and slow growing beauty industry?

The one day a year when consumers not only tolerate but actually eagerly anticipate ads is during the NFL's Super Bowl. In sharp contrast to their behavior on the other 364 days of the year, consumers watch an average of 89 commercials per Super Bowl game for an average of 46 minutes. Why are consumers willing to spend 3.5x more time watching commercials on the Super Bowl than on any other day of the year? Perhaps because they have come to expect the best, most creative, most engaging storytelling of the year from advertisers. With one out of every three Americans glued to the game, advertisers know they have a captive audience and they go to great lengths to stand out in what is somewhat akin to a battle of the brands. However, at a cost of more than $5 million for a 30-second spot, is Super Bowl advertising worth it? And, which types of Super Bowl stories are more and less likely to "win" on the Super Bowl?

Spreadsheet supplement for case IMB731.

Jayalaxmi Agro Tech (JAT), a company based out of Bellary in Karnataka and co-founded by Anand Babu, strives to keep the Indian farmer informed about the modern best practices, thereby boosting the agricultural yield. The company's flagship product is a suite of crop-specific mobile apps in several regional languages with heavy emphasis on audio-visual content to break the language and literacy barrier prevalent in rural areas. The farmer is empowered with the right information at the right time to make agriculture sustainable and more profitable. JAT intended to collect data on sericulture (rearing of silkworms for producing raw silk) to improve income of silk producers. Karnataka is one of the largest producers of raw silk in India. Sericulture requires less investment but offers high returns if done correctly. Sericulture also involves cultivation of mulberry trees, the leaves of which are used to feed the silkworms. The yield of sericulture is heavily dependent on the quality of inputs such as the type of silkworm breed used, quality of the mulberry leaves and environmental conditions of the silkworm rearing house. Jayalaxmi Agro Tech collected farmer level data on sericulture practices in the districts of Belagavi, Bellary, Chikballapur, Mandya, and Tumakuru in the state of Karnataka. The company wanted to analyze the data collected to gain insights so that they could make grassroot level impact by fine tuning sericulture as an occupation. These insights could possibly help towards building better policy interventions to improve the welfare of sericulture farmers.