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In June 2016, Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart Private Limited (Flipkart) faced a common issue among online retailers: the firm needed to optimize its product return rates to reduce losses caused by returns. Accordingly, Flipkart changed its return policy, including raising the commission fees charged to sellers by an average of 5 per cent. Many sellers resented the policy change, and more than 1,800 led an online protest against Flipkart, which was unprecedented in India. These sellers made their accounts inactive and removed the product listings for nearly 1 million product units. Seeing an opportunity, Amazon India decreased its commissions on various product categories by 2–7 per cent to lure disgruntled sellers to its platform. While its competitors experienced rapid growth, Flipkart struggled to keep the market share it had acquired so far. The company experienced a massive drop in its valuation during fiscal year 2015–16, and had not registered any profit since its inception in 2007. Flipkart had to reduce its losses resulting from a high number of returns without displeasing both of its key stakeholders—sellers and customers.

TruCar.in (TruCar), established in 2014, was an emerging online car portal in India. The online car portal industry was highly competitive, with a few established players and several new entrants due to low entry barriers. Most competitors were focused on the online auto classified segment (providing information about cars) or the used-car segment (buying and selling used cars). TruCar was instead focused on assisting consumers in evaluating cars and selecting car dealers with attractive discounts and instant availability. TruCar highly valued transparency for both consumers and dealers. Despite its innovative value proposition, TruCar was facing challenges to becoming a key competitor in the online car portal industry. TruCar’s founder was contemplating identifying key target segments and positioning his company against both established and emerging companies in the marketplace.

In June 2016, Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart Private Limited (Flipkart) faced a common issue among online retailers: the firm needed to optimize its product return rates to reduce losses caused by returns. Accordingly, Flipkart changed its return policy, including raising the commission fees charged to sellers by an average of 5 per cent. Many sellers resented the policy change, and more than 1,800 led an online protest against Flipkart, which was unprecedented in India. These sellers made their accounts inactive and removed the product listings for nearly 1 million product units. Seeing an opportunity, Amazon India decreased its commissions on various product categories by 2-7 per cent to lure disgruntled sellers to its platform. While its competitors experienced rapid growth, Flipkart struggled to keep the market share it had acquired so far. The company experienced a massive drop in its valuation during fiscal year 2015-16, and had not registered any profit since its inception in 2007. Flipkart had to reduce its losses resulting from a high number of returns without displeasing both of its key stakeholders-sellers and customers.

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.

Jakson Group (Jakson) was a pioneer in the field of acoustic diesel generator sets. It was also one of the largest original equipment manufacturers for Cummins India Limited. Jakson had a compound annual growth rate of 23 per cent between 2000 and 2008. However, competitive forces and the 2008 global economic downturn posed tough business challenges for the company. In December 2010, the top management was contemplating how to reinforce the Jakson brand and put the company back on the path of success.

In April 2017, Kevin Johnson took over the reigns as CEO of Starbucks, the iconic coffee giant. He faced a number of key decisions to keep the global retail giant competitive, but one in particular loomed large. Over the last few years, Johnson's predecessor, Howard Schultz, had increasingly used Starbucks as a progressive platform in an attempt to influence the world around its stores, whether he was aiming to smooth out race relations in the United States or support marriage equality. (Schultz was so vocal about these issues, in fact, that many people speculated he harbored secret political ambitions for his post-Starbucks career.) The case examines Schultz's memorable 2015 Race Together campaign and invites students to debate whether Johnson's work should be focused on (1) similar attempts to align Starbucks with progressive ideals and social causes, or (2) Starbucks' profitability and shareholder value alone. Were there certain times or circumstances where it was appropriate to engage in brand activism, and what impact might these initiatives have on brand integrity and the bottom line? In addition to inviting students to analyze the financial, branding, and employee- and customer-relations implications of social activism at Starbucks, the case also allows them to develop a framework for when and how brand activism might be appropriate in the future.

Dr. Phillip Hoopes, a LASIK surgeon, is considering how to respond to discounting by his competitors. He had built a high-end practice with costly advanced technology, but discounters had recently entered the market and other high-end practices in the area were starting to offer deep promotions in an effort to compete.

The case shows how the protagonist needs to work on two fronts: 1) with the European innovation team & 2) with the local trade team to ensure the best fit with customers, consumers and shoppers. Throughout the case, different questions arise: the name Pringles ""Tortilla"", the communication model, the distribution strategy, pricing and promotional strategy. Should all of this be together or separate from Pringles potato chips?

What's the optimal number of new products to launch in a given time frame? Does it matter whether the launches are spread out or bunched together, and whether a new product is similar to the rest of a company's portfolio? To answer those questions, researchers studied 1,904 new drugs launched by U.S. pharmaceutical firms from 1991 to 2015. This article describes their findings, including the calculation that the average firm in the study could increase its market value by more than $700 million if it reduced the irregularity of its launches by 10%. Also included is a Q&A with Ellen Donahue-Dalton, executive vice president and chief marketing and customer experience officer at Medecision, about how that company has put the research findings into practice.

The case describes how Dollar Shave Club proved to be a disruptive force in the shaving industry, one dominated by Gillette for over a Century. It did so without a single patent to its name, and with a direct-to-consumer subscription and a content-based customer engagement model that was new to the shaving industry, but not to consumer products at large (e.g., Nespresso and Red Bull, respectively). The case demonstrates the disruptive power of a digital platform model, and highlights how new marketing capabilities can disrupt traditional channels. It challenges P&G owned Gillette to formulate a strategic response in light of Unilever's threat to acquire the upstart business. The case provides online links to a rich set of free videos that include a CEO interview, competitive advertising, and analyst commentary.

Platform businesses, like Airbnb or Lyft, often talk about themselves as if they're merely matchmakers. That's a smart pitch -when a company is negotiating with investors. But any platform that wants to succeed will have to learn something Airbnb did: Success also depends on identifying and mitigating risks for your buyers and sellers, and it will be proportional to the amount of risk mitigated.

PromenAid Inc., located in Montreal, Canada, and founded in 2010, was a producer of satin-anodized modular handrails for mobility-impaired customers. The company had begun experiencing significant growth in sales in 2016. Further, the projections of the vice-president of Commercial Operations suggested explosive growth between 2017 and 2020. However, he was concerned about demand stimulation, positioning and differentiation, and choosing channels of distribution. In addition, he was concerned about the potential effect of growth on cash flow and the organizational structure. Changes had to be made to ensure the company's potential growth.

Hero MotoCorp Ltd. (HMCL) was the largest two-wheeler company in India, a country with one of the highest rates of road accidents in the world. HMCL realized that a cause marketing campaign around road safety could benefit the company in two ways-it could raise issues around road safety to benefit the greater society, and it could create a unique positioning for the company. HMCL created a multi-level campaign that created visibility and worked at the ground level to create behaviour change. HMCL's multi-level cause marketing campaign reached a large section of the population, but challenges lay ahead in measuring the success of the road safety campaign. The head of corporate social responsibility at the company had to determine how to measure the success of the campaign and whether to continue it.

In January 2017, the owner of Exotic Caribbean Mountain Pride Ltd., based in Trinidad and Tobago, was trying to decide on a strategy to ensure the continued growth of her business in the face of increased competition from other local manufacturers. She wondered whether the timing was right to expand operations and enter the export market. The growing demand for her chocolate products also made her question whether she should increase her prices. The entry of her two daughters into the family business further complicated her decision-making. She wanted them to become more involved in running the business, but she was having difficulty adopting a less active role in the business.

Hero MotoCorp Ltd. (HMCL) was the largest two-wheeler company in India, a country with one of the highest rates of road accidents in the world. HMCL realized that a cause marketing campaign around road safety could benefit the company in two ways—it could raise issues around road safety to benefit the greater society, and it could create a unique positioning for the company. HMCL created a multi-level campaign that created visibility and worked at the ground level to create behaviour change.<br><br>HMCL’s multi-level cause marketing campaign reached a large section of the population, but challenges lay ahead in measuring the success of the road safety campaign. The head of corporate social responsibility at the company had to determine how to measure the success of the campaign and whether to continue it.

Jakson Group (Jakson) was a pioneer in the field of acoustic diesel generator sets. It was also one of the largest original equipment manufacturers for Cummins India Limited. Jakson had a compound annual growth rate of 23 per cent between 2000 and 2008. However, competitive forces and the 2008 global economic downturn posed tough business challenges for the company. In December 2010, the top management was contemplating how to reinforce the Jakson brand and put the company back on the path of success.

PromenAid Inc., located in Montreal, Canada, and founded in 2010, was a producer of satin-anodized modular handrails for mobility-impaired customers. The company had begun experiencing significant growth in sales in 2016. Further, the projections of the vice-president of Commercial Operations suggested explosive growth between 2017 and 2020. However, he was concerned about demand stimulation, positioning and differentiation, and choosing channels of distribution. In addition, he was concerned about the potential effect of growth on cash flow and the organizational structure. Changes had to be made to ensure the company's potential growth.

In May 2017, IKEA India’s chief executive officer (CEO) was facing a dilemma. The company had decided to start its business operations in India by opening an experience centre in Hyderabad in November 2018, followed by furniture retail outlets across India by 2025. Key target segments were young, middle-class price-conscious consumers. IKEA India aimed to sell its products at a low price, aligning with its vision. However, the CEO was challenged with developing a strategy for business growth at a time when major global retailers were going bankrupt. He needed to figure out the appropriate pricing and supply chain strategy for India’s complex and diverse environment, while offering value to consumers.