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In 2017, Farm Harvest Pvt. Ltd., a company that produced and marketed fresh corn and ready-to-eat corn products, was facing distribution problems. The owner and managing director of the company, was worried about the sales of his company’s products. During a discussion with his core management team about the non-availability of their products in the market, the owner realized that declining sales could be due to distribution network problems. In order to revamp their distribution network, the team considered pursuing direct distribution rather than going through distributors. The team also had to look at the financial aspects of the direct distribution model versus that of distributors in order to make a decision.

By May 2018, the owner of 30 FiLLi Café outlets across the United Arab Emirates had come a long way from helping out in his father’s a small cafeteria in the Mamzar area of Dubai in 2004. With his innovative FiLLi tea and FiLLi Zafran tea, he had successfully created a tea brand in the United Arab Emirates. After the company’s success there, he aspired to take the brand global using the franchising model. The path ahead, however, had to be navigated carefully. New entrants had emerged and were competing for market share. In the changing market scenario, how would FiLLi Café manage to retain customer loyalty locally and successfully manage global expansion? Was this plan too aspirational? Was it the right time to expand the company? Was franchising the best method for global expansion?

In 2017, Farm Harvest Pvt. Ltd., a company that produced and marketed fresh corn and ready-to-eat corn products, was facing distribution problems. The owner and managing director of the company, was worried about the sales of his company's products. During a discussion with his core management team about the non-availability of their products in the market, the owner realized that declining sales could be due to distribution network problems. In order to revamp their distribution network, the team considered pursuing direct distribution rather than going through distributors. The team also had to look at the financial aspects of the direct distribution model versus that of distributors in order to make a decision.

By May 2018, the owner of 30 FiLLi Café outlets across the United Arab Emirates had come a long way from helping out in his father's a small cafeteria in the Mamzar area of Dubai in 2004. With his innovative FiLLi tea and FiLLi Zafran tea, he had successfully created a tea brand in the United Arab Emirates. After the company's success there, he aspired to take the brand global using the franchising model. The path ahead, however, had to be navigated carefully. New entrants had emerged and were competing for market share. In the changing market scenario, how would FiLLi Café manage to retain customer loyalty locally and successfully manage global expansion? Was this plan too aspirational? Was it the right time to expand the company? Was franchising the best method for global expansion?

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?

Skudge Foods Inc. is a consulting firm specializing in food pricing with an emphasis on bundling. Students will follow Skudge founder Sid Kris Jorgenson as his firm determines what prices to charge to maximize profits for his clients. The exercises explain the difference between pure components, pure bundling, and mixed bundling models and how they can be applied to unique consumer segments with various reservation prices. The exercise series is presented in four parts. Students should prepare Exercise A before class, and can complete Exercises B-D during the instruction period. Through this series of increasingly sophisticated exercises, students will gain a deep understanding of optimizing pricing and increasing profits through strategic bundling. Each consecutive exercise adds constraints to the bundling challenge, requiring students to construct increasingly complex algorithms.

Shelby Diaz, country manager for Cepuros Foods International - Malaysia (CFI-M), must decide a growth strategy for the expansion of CFI-M's line of salsas, particularly regarding whom to target and how to allocate marketing investments. CFI-M could expand aggressively by mass marketing to the general population. A more conservative approach would use targeted communications and promotions. Diaz needs to build an argument for a specific growth strategy and recommend which marketing investments CFI-M should pursue. The case can be used to discuss strategy, positioning, and marketing communications, which are relevant to considering alternative strategies for growth. The possibilities for growth include market penetration, product development, and/or market development. The case touches on the potential benefits and risks of each option given the competitive landscape, customer perceptions, and demand determinants. Students should find the product and distribution easy to understand, but the international market context provides a unique opportunity to apply core marketing principles. The case is recommended for upper-level undergraduate students or first-year MBA students studying marketing strategy. It can also be used in a course on international marketing.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 919513.

This technical note gives students an overview of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in order to help them understand how these fields can contribute to the future of marketing. To provide context, students are first introduced to the history of AI and the basic parameters of AI, ML, and deep learning (DL). The differences between ML and statistical modeling are also described to help students understand that collaboration between these two fields results in better decision-making. The note also provides a description of descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics and how various ML tools span those categories. In order to illustrate AI's applications and the many ways managers can use it to promote their brands, real-world examples are provided, including: (1) 1-800-Flowers' collaboration with the Facebook messenger platform to process orders through chatbots (using DL), (2) Facebook's use of DeepText to determine the meaning of words within their contexts (using DL) and then direct users to related products; and (3) online educator Udacity's use of an ML algorithm to create a bot that advises salespeople on successful words and phrases, but also allows the humans to answer more obscure customer questions, among others. As students consider how AI advances are helping brands such as these market their goods and services to new customers online, students also must consider the ways that AI will continue to shape marketing in the future.

The popular perception of Twitter as a social media "echo chamber" where people only receive and retweet opinions that match their own, does not reflect the data about users' actual engagement. The average Twitter user propagates more mainstream content and follows a diverse group of users - and this has implications for social media marketing.

In the spring of 2018, Israel was set to celebrate its 70th anniversary. While there was much to rejoice in reaching this milestone, the country's brand image internationally was far from ideal. Past efforts to impact perceptions of Israel, spearheaded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as various Jewish organizations, were mainly aimed at "explaining" Israel's political position and convincing the world that the country was acting in a just manner. However, a series of seminal market research studies revealed that many people in the U.S. and Europe primarily associated Israel with military imagery, held views of the country as steeped in conflict, and believed its people were devoutly religious and unwelcoming. Making matters worse, many expressed an indifferent attitude towards the country and felt that Israelis were dissimilar to them. In an attempt to change the situation, several individuals and entities embarked on various initiatives aimed at branding Israel differently and "broadening the conversation" about the country. These efforts included: generating a brand book for Israel that suggested a guiding brand position of "creative energy"; inviting social media influencers to partake in trips focused on lifestyle interests; generating appealing, non-conflict related content linked to Israel and attracting online viewers to the content; appointing a goodwill ambassador to communicate the culture and day-to-day life in Israel; and multiple measures to draw in more tourists (Jewish and non-Jewish) to the country. Taking stock of these efforts revealed a mixed picture at best, and it was unclear whether Israel's brand image among international audiences was indeed shifting in the intended direction. Several observers were further worried that the younger generation was finding Israel even less relevant and urged for devising a new approach.

Executives in the automotive sector believe that machine learning can help them achieve their marketing goals, but that doesn't necessarily mean they invest in that ambition.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 519021.

The case, and its accompanying pedagogical material, offers a unique perspective on CSR-based transformational entrepreneurship, looking at a startup company with a strong ethical purpose and objective, in this case the transformation of the cocoa supply chain towards a child-labor free, fair-trade, organic agriculture-based sourcing. The case follows the history of Tony's Chocolonely, a Dutch producer of premium chocolate bars with a strong responsible footprint. It follows the footsteps of its founder, Teun van de Keuken (a.k.a. Tony) from journalist to social activist and ultimately entrepreneur with a strong sense of purpose and defined impact objectives. The 12-year journey led Tony's Chocolonely chocolate bars to claim the number three spot in the Netherlands's chocolate markets, with the products also sold in many other countries around the globe. Learning objective: Scaling up, growth with purpose, social and environmental responsibility, CSR, child labor, materialities, mixed motives firms, ethics, transformational entrepreneurship, social ventures, impact investment, leading change, standard setting, ESG criteria, work-life balance.

For over 60 years, Bluebell, a major actor in the luxury B2B ecosystem, has been helping Western luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Davidoff, Moschino, Manolo Blahnik or Jimmy Choo enter key Asian markets. However, the luxury industry is experiencing digital disruption and increased competition fuelled by the rise of online e-commerce and international travel, along with increasingly connected consumers. While Bluebell's role as a link between the brand and the local consumer is still vital, it needs to alter its business model to remain in the game. Its adaptability has been the reason for its success so far, but to add value in the future it needs to evolve from a predominantly transactional role centred around distribution to one with greater connectedness, integrating new channels such as social commerce, and anticipating evolving customer tastes.

Naked Retreats, a hotel management company that adhered to a localized brand positioning strategy, made its debut in the Chinese hotel market in 2007. To allow customers to experience the restorative effects of closeness to nature, it launched Naked Stables, the first resort in China to have obtained a Leadership in Environmental Energy Design (LEED) Platinum certification. The founder of Naked Retreats, Grant Horsfield, was a South African who felt deeply connected to nature. Horsfield subsequently launched a series of explorative projects related to holistic living, including catering, education, and a co-working space. While the brand had success in some areas of its brand extension, it experienced failures in others. In 2018, Naked Retreats must decide whether to continue its horizontal extension or to focus on its most successful projects.

Naked Retreats, a hotel management company that adhered to a localized brand positioning strategy, made its debut in the Chinese hotel market in 2007. To allow customers to experience the restorative effects of closeness to nature, it launched Naked Stables, the first resort in China to have obtained a Leadership in Environmental Energy Design (LEED) Platinum certification. The founder of Naked Retreats, Grant Horsfield, was a South African who felt deeply connected to nature. Horsfield subsequently launched a series of explorative projects related to holistic living, including catering, education, and a co-working space. While the brand had success in some areas of its brand extension, it experienced failures in others. In 2018, Naked Retreats must decide whether to continue its horizontal extension or to focus on its most successful projects.

The brand management of places, such as countries, cities and regions, has received increasing attention in recent years. The associations, impressions and reputations that people have of a certain place can have a big impact in a number of areas - from tourism, to exports, to drawing talent, to securing foreign investment, to public diplomacy, and to political leadership. Consequently, a number of stakeholders may attempt to influence the perceptions that people have about a place in a way that is conducive to their goals. This background note lays the ground for instructors to expose students to the concept of a place brand, allow examining the ways in which it may be influenced, and examine the motivations of the various actors. The note provides ample examples of countries and cities that have actively tried to shape their brand identity and further exposes students to recent trends and vehicles (such as social media) relevant for the branding of places. The note raises a set of issues on this topic that can serve as the basis for a rich classroom discussion.

The abridged case, together with the substantial video supplements, examines the marketing challenge of repositioning Swiss watch brand TAG Heuer in the digital era. It delves into the decisions taken by Jean-Claude Biver - the newly appointed CEO of the company - in his effort to create and execute a new strategy and to position TAG Heuer as an affordable luxury brand that would appeal to both traditional customers and the new generation. It begins by highlighting recent developments in the Swiss watch industry and then focuses on Biver - a celebrated icon of this industry. It offers a snapshot of Biver's resume and a glimpse into the marketing principles that he has applied during his remarkably successful career. The second part of the case addresses the emergence of a new product category - the digital watch, which many industry executives considered to be a major threat. TAG Heuer decided to enter the digital space and launched TAG Heuer Connected, in partnership with Intel and Google. Connected (and the series 2 model TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45) turned out to be a key pillar of the company's new brand strategy. It also acted as a springboard for experimenting with unconventional sales and marketing tactics.