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Spreadsheet to accompany product 9B17A055.

In 2017, the next generation of consumers that were poised to become engaged to be married-millennials-showed different preferences and consumption patterns than previous generations had shown. In response, the De Beers Group of Companies (De Beers), a leading company within the global diamond industry, was making moves to capture this important market. In partnership with the world's six other leading diamond companies, known collectively as the Diamond Producers Association, De Beers launched a campaign titled "Real is Rare" with the goal of persuading millennials into believing that diamonds were an important symbol of romantic commitment, even in 2017. Would these marketing endeavours be successful in changing the millennial mindset, or would the campaign fall flat? Would diamond engagement rings continue to be the ultimate symbol of commitment? What could De Beers do to encourage sales of diamonds in a changing world?

Uber China is a strategy pricing case that examines the role of customer acquisition tactics and brand positioning in entering the tantalizingly large Chinese market. The case adopts the perspective of an outside observer looking at Uber's efforts to compete in China from its entry in 2013 to its exit through its acquisition by Didi Chuxing, the highly dominant industry leader in China's ride-sharing market. After laying out the market opportunity, consumer and competitive landscape, and the various acquisition-related moves of Uber and the other major players, the case asks students to conduct a postmortem on Uber's failure in China. Specifically, they must consider what drew Uber to the opportunity in China and what it might have done differently in terms of positioning and customer acquisition to compete more effectively. First and foremost a pricing-related discussion, the case illustrates the relationship between pricing and acquisition tactics and brand positioning and the use of both in market entry and penetration.

This case puts students in the shoes of Mexican entrepreneur Rodolfo Corcuera of the tech startup Aliada, an online platform that matches maids with customers in Mexico City. With backing from one of Mexico City's newest venture capital firms, Corcuera's business now needs to scale, and he is considering how best to position his offering to those on whom his business model depends--maids and customers. To tackle this, students will learn about basic concepts from psychology that can inform marketers. More specifically, they will learn how basic human needs (nurturance, security) fuel self-regulatory goals (promotion and prevention goals, respectively), which in turn impact how people approach their consumption goals. Students will analyze Aliada's current Facebook ads, watch videos of some of Aliada's current maids and customers to assess whether they seem more motivated by promotion or prevention goals, and recommend optimal messaging for Facebook ads and subway banners in order for Corcuera to be most appealing to these two target audiences who may have different motivations.

In 2016, a luxury cosmetic company approached BEworks Inc. (BEworks), a management consulting firm based in Toronto, Ontario, to gain a better understanding of its customers in an effort to develop better-tailored communications. BEworks was the world's first management consulting firm to specialize in solutions for real-world challenges by applying behavioural economics-an emerging field that sought to understand human behaviour in the context of psychological, social, cognitive, and emotional influences. Of special interest to the luxury cosmetic company was the design of key messages to drive sales growth. BEworks offered a unique approach to strategic problems by using empirical data obtained through experiments. The client and BEworks together decided on a variety of promising messages to assess. BEworks needed to decide on the design of a test to best gauge the effectiveness of these messages.

In 2016, a luxury cosmetic company approached BEworks Inc. (BEworks), a management consulting firm based in Toronto, Ontario, to gain a better understanding of its customers in an effort to develop better-tailored communications. BEworks was the world’s first management consulting firm to specialize in solutions for real-world challenges by applying behavioural economics—an emerging field that sought to understand human behaviour in the context of psychological, social, cognitive, and emotional influences. Of special interest to the luxury cosmetic company was the design of key messages to drive sales growth. BEworks offered a unique approach to strategic problems by using empirical data obtained through experiments. The client and BEworks together decided on a variety of promising messages to assess. BEworks needed to decide on the design of a test to best gauge the effectiveness of these messages.

It is June 2016. Superstar basketball player LeBron James and his childhood friend and business partner Maverick Carter are celebrating James' third NBA championship. The duo will soon have to decide on a strategy for their media businesses-their film and television production company SpringHill Entertainment as well as their digital sports platform Uninterrupted. In 2015, Carter and James negotiated a first-of-its-kind, three-year agreement with Hollywood studio Warner Bros. Entertainment that gave SpringHill Entertainment a first-look movie deal, an exclusive television deal, significant development resources that also could be used for the creation of digital content, and space on the studio lot. Later that year, Warner Bros. signed on as a lead investor in Uninterrupted. Were Carter and James right to partner with Warner Bros. in this manner? And with renewal negotiations just around the corner, how could they make the most of the opportunity?

After a successful run for many years as a resilient consumer electronics giant, Best Buy was under intense pressure at the end of 2014. Even as competitors like Circuit City melted away, Best Buy had been able to withstand the onslaught of online behemoth Amazon and discount retailers like Target and Walmart. However, its competitive position was threatened as online shopping became more popular, particularly among millennial customers. With a new leadership team, Best Buy had recently undertaken bold initiatives to expand and refine its online presence and position itself for success. These initiatives had produced encouraging results, but Best Buy needed to do more to stem the loss of market share to Amazon and to become more relevant to millennial customers. To address these challenges, Best Buy approached the Kellogg School of Management to solicit ideas from student teams by sponsoring a Business Challenge competition. The teams came up with several strategic initiatives. Best Buy needed to evaluate these initiatives on two criteria: First, how well did these initiatives leverage Best Buy's privileged physical assets (stores, salespeople, and Geek Squad services staff) to create a winning customer experience? Second, how effective would these initiatives be in attracting and retaining millennial customers?

This case features Lucas Lopez Lince, a rising leader in Colombian consumer goods company Grupo Familia. Lopez Lince had inherited a digital marketing program built around a newly identified customer persona--a young low-income mother. The program represented a significant shift in Familia's target customer as well as a shift in the way marketing funds were spent. The program appeared to be working, so he increased the digital spend even as he had to reduce his overall marketing budget in the face of challenging economic headwinds. Activity metrics such as page views, social media "likes," and video views rose dramatically, and at the same time sales began to rise again. By the beginning of 2017, Lopez Lince faced a deeper set of questions. How could he be certain that the rising sales were due to the digital efforts? Would the existing digital programs and tactics continue to deliver against chosen metrics? And what could he do next in order to continue driving growth of revenue and margin through digital efforts? Students assume the role of Lopez Lince and are asked to apply concepts such as customer personas, micro-moments, and customer journey mapping to develop their own point of view on what they would do next.

Although Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) was the leader in passenger vehicle sales in India in May 2015, it was having difficulties breaking into the high-end car segment. There were multiple strategies that MSIL could have used to deal with this problem, such as; changing its brand image from small automaker to high-end automaker; staying in the small car market; penetrating the market further by introducing new models and their variants in the same segment; or striking a balance between both of the other suggestions (i.e., a mixed strategy). <br><br>A sudden change in MSIL's image could harm the company's existing share of the small car segment. At the same time, remaining firmly in the small car market could be detrimental for MSIL's market leader position in the years following, as the small-car-dominated market was gradually moving towards segments such as mid-size and executive cars in India. Which strategy (or combination of strategies) should the company pursue?

In October 2014 Bruce Miller, Chief Marketing and Development Officer and co-owner for The WORKS Gourmet Burger Bistro was considering changes to the structure, level, and presentation of his restaurants' prices. The WORKS was the premiere full-service burger restaurant chain in Ontario and had been the fastest growing full-service restaurant business in Canada in 2013, posting 50% year-over-year growth. In the four years Miller and his partners had owned The WORKS they expanded from five locations in one city to 26 locations across Canada. During that time, however, Miller had not altered prices in any significant way and was facing increasing costs of beef as well as a lack of clarity amongst his target segment as to what The WORKS was and what it offered.

The 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.

In 2015, Murray Sawchuck was an award-winning magician, performing shows in Las Vegas, on cruise ships, and around the world. When he received an e-mail from Seth Leach, who proposed collaborating to make viral videos for YouTube, Sawchuck questioned whether the venture was worth his time and money. He agreed to shoot one video as a trial and the video went viral as soon as it was posted. Sawchuck began to be recognized more often from his YouTube video than from his appearances on television and decided to form a partnership with Leach. Sawchuck believed that partnerships with Leach and other successful YouTubers would help him reach new audiences and expand his viewership, but he needed to decide whether to focus on growing his business through YouTube or to treat this as a distinct source of income.

It is January 2017, and Nikki Tyler, market access advisor at the U.S. Agency for International Development's Center for Accelerating Innovation and Impact, must recommend an actionable strategy for how to use the $10 million contributed by global donors and foundations to scale up the use of chlorhexidine in Nigeria. It was clear that chlorhexidine, a substance applied to newborns' umbilical cord stumps to prevent infection, could reduce infant mortality significantly. However, changing behavior would be an enormous challenge. This case gives students an appreciation for the importance and complexity of global health issues, along with an understanding of key analytic techniques for approaching a complex market situation. Students quickly learn that there are no easy answers to encouraging chlorhexidine's greater use. To develop a plan, it is essential to complete detailed analyses, study insights and motivations, and ultimately compare different possible solutions, considering efficiency and efficacy.

TELUS Communications (TELUS) acquired Public Mobile Holdings Inc., a small, money-losing, wireless carrier that operated in the lower, price-sensitive tier of the market. TELUS had not previously competed in the lower tier of the market, which had a history of low revenues per customer and low customer retention. The director of Mobility Marketing at TELUS faced the decision of what to do with this newly acquired brand. He was considering the market positioning options, brand portfolio implications, and financial impact of his decision. The options included migrating the new customers to one of the company's existing brands, continuing to operate the firm as an independent brand, or repositioning the brand to improve profitability.

Medicetra MedTech Company is a dental equipment distributor and senior management is deciding whether to implement a new incentive compensation program for the sales force. For many years, Medicetra had paid salespeople only a fixed salary. Although the current plan of a straight salary seemed to be working favorably towards sales force retention salespeople had limited monetary incentives to sell more, as increased sales did not directly relate to increased pay. Management is leaning towards a change to a variable compensation plan that links performance with pay and is considering three options: 1) commission; 2) quota-bonus; and 3) commission plus quota-bonus plans. Which compensation plan would induce behavioral changes that would lead to better sales force performance but, at the same time, would appear fair to other employees?

Apple Watch (B) is a companion case to Apple Watch (A). The (B) case describes events that took place immediately after the Apple Watch launch in April 2015. It details Apple Watch product lines, market reactions, and impact on the overall smartwatch product category. The title of the (B) case poses a question regarding the prospect of Apple Watch as an early follower in the smartwatch category. When used in conjunction with the (A) case, the (B) case allows students to consider whether the Apple Watch is a good idea and an opportunity for Apple, as well as issues that influence marketing decisions the company might consider. The (B) case relies on the diffusion of innovation concept promulgated by the work of Everett Rogers to explore the realities and challenges of introducing new technologies to consumers.

In 2015, Wrist & Rye Inc. was a new start-up venture in London, Canada, created by several undergraduate students who all had a passion for male fashion. Designed for young, working, professional men, the company's high-end beaded bracelets and accessories were all about looking cool and being associated with the brand. Each bracelet had a story centred on a specific cocktail to create a sense of bonding that could enhance conversations among the company's core demographic. However, the founders faced several challenges including brand value creation; distribution channel decisions; and partnership and management issues. They needed to maintain the appeal of their brand and expand into other markets if they were going to continue to grow. The partners had to agree on strategic options to help grow the company.

The launch of the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card was enthusiastically received by millennial consumers, a cohort that had previously eluded JPMorgan Chase and its competitors. With the one-year anniversary of the launch approaching, managers are focused on retaining customers attracted by a one-time signup bonus of 100,000 reward points and on acquiring new customers now that the bonus had been reduced to 50,000 points. They were also refocusing on the remainder of the Chase Sapphire product portfolio to assess differentiation among the products and to identify white space in the market that could support additional new product launches.

The Regina Auto Racing Club (RARC) had been operating the Kings Park Speedway since 1967. In 2016, the race track and facilities were beginning to show their age and were in need of costly upgrading. Unfortunately, the club had also been suffering from declining attendance over the past five years, and the associated decline in ticket revenue had led to a shrinking race schedule. At the end of the race season in 2016, the club managed to break even financially and had a modest bank account balance. Although RARC was a non-profit organization, the continued financial viability of the club was at risk, and action was required to increase revenue. The club needed to decide among four non-mutually exclusive business strategies. Should it repair and rebuild the facilities to renew the appeal of the venue and attract more spectators? Should it increase its advertising and promotion activities to improve awareness of the club and events? Should it increase the number of race classes and special racing events, or should it introduce non-racing events to the facility to take advantage of other revenue-generating opportunities?