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Spreadsheet supplement for case 917527.

Magellan Boatworks is a midsize manufacturer of customized, power "cruising yachts." In the face of economic and political uncertainty in late 2016, Magellan's VP of sales and marketing, Walt Robinson, wonders whether he should request a budget increase for 2017. Important questions abound. Can Robinson's team increase sales even with a lower budget? Should the company reallocate its advertising and promotion budget? Should Robinson consider changing Magellan's marketing message and narrowing its target market? Why are Magellan's two best salespeople so significantly outperforming their colleagues? This case can be used in an introductory or executive course that covers integrated marketing communications (IMC), including sales. It is also suitable for elective courses in advertising strategy and sales force management. The case's focus on a luxury item that symbolizes success for many individuals should generate lively discussion.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 917547.

How do you get more out of existing sales resources? This common sales management problem is one that Follett Carter must solve as executive vice president of sales and marketing for New Science, a firm operating in the intensely competitive IT research and analytics industry. He must develop a strategy to meet his company's aggressive revenue growth targets and also maintain an ever-growing number of current client accounts. Students must assess New Science's current sales model and develop a less expensive sales force strategy.

Student spreadsheet for case W17354.

In January 2016, the chief executive officer of Harley’s Corner, an India-based online retailer of gourmet dog food, faced a decision dilemma. He needed to decide on the most suitable positioning strategy for the business, which competed against several well-known brands, including other fresh, gourmet, home-cooked food for pets. Harley’s Corner needed to convey a proposition that ran deeper than simply representing an “all-natural, home-cooked” fresh pet food. How could he differentiate the offerings in a relevant way to retain his loyal customers, attract new customers, and thereby grow the business? What was the best way to position his brand, Harley’s Corner, which catered to a niche segment?

The case traces the development of Lululemon Athletica (Lulu) from founder Chip Wilson's first post-yoga euphoria in 1997 through the sale of all his shares in 2015. Officially founded in 1998, Lulu was built on the foundation of its "miracle" figure-enhancing yoga pants made from a proprietary stretch fiber. The case outlines Wilson's early experience in technical performance wear, which gave him the expertise needed to launch the Lululemon brand with its premium-priced, fashion-designed product line targeted at upscale women. The case also highlights the retailing and promotion approach that drove Lulu's first decade of success. The snapshot of how the Lulu brand cult was born and diffused provides the backdrop for assessing whether the brand has already hit its peak or whether it can sustain the explosive growth that effectively created the athleisure category. To aid in this determination, the case presents two competitors as comparative foils (Under Armour and Athleta) to contextualize Lulu's growth prospects. The Lululemon case highlights the importance of the competitive frame of reference when positioning a brand and describes how this may differ for the three competitors. The case also allows for a discussion of the challenges of maintaining the congruence of a retail brand with a diverse product line. This struggle is unique to retailers who must fit ever-varied product assortments (not just a single product line) under the umbrella of a single brand proposition, and is particularly relevant to vertically integrated brands such as Lululemon.

In June 2016, the augmented reality game Pokémon GO quickly became one of the hottest topics in the world, changing both the online and offline behaviours of players. Pokémon GO was jointly developed by the San Francisco-based firm Niantic Inc. and The Pokémon Company, based in Japan, and was underwritten by the Japanese video game giant Nintendo. The game, which overlaid virtual items and creatures onto the physical world, allowed smartphone users to seek out and capture a variety of virtual monsters in real-world locations. With easy-to-follow game rules, Pokémon GO rapidly picked up a wide range of players and, within a relatively short period of time, generated considerable income through in-app purchases. The sudden popularity (and the eventual decline in interest) of the new game provoked debates about the technology behind it. How could developers use augmented reality technology to satisfy customer needs, address business challenges, and promote social welfare?

In 2016, Inditex as a group with worldwide sales of US$24.9 billion, and Zara, as its flagship retail concept store, had recorded significant year-on-year growth in net sales at 11.5% and 13% respectively. However, despite a presence across 93 countries, Inditex's regional sales contributions were skewed. Europe, comprising only 26% of the global apparel market and exhibiting declining growth, accounted for 60.8% of Inditex revenues. The Americas, the second largest market in the world with 30% share, had the least contribution at 15.3%, and Asia Pacific, the fastest growing and largest market with 36% share of the global apparel market, contributed only 23.9%. Unlike other apparel producers, Zara manufactured 60% of its merchandise in the 'near markets' of Europe and North Africa, close to its logistics centres in Spain. The labour costs in these markets were substantially higher than Asia, where the bulk of global apparel production took place. Would this put Zara at a disadvantage in reaching out to the high growth Asian consumer markets of China and India? Moreover, while Zara had been online since 2010, its online sales in 2016 accounted for only 7% of its total sales. As consumers increasingly shopped online, would Zara with its reliance on stores and impulse purchases become another retail casualty of e-commerce?

In 2016, Pepperfry.com (Pepperfry) was India's leading online retailer of furniture and home products. As a pioneer in the online furniture and furnishings space, Pepperfry had a first-mover advantage that led to the achievement of significant milestones within a short period. Online marketing, however, involved distinct challenges compared with traditional marketing practices. Improving customer experience at the different stages of a consumer's purchase could be the foundational strategy to resolve these challenges. How could Pepperfry's service design further enhance the customer experience and achieve a competitive advantage?

In January 2016, the chief executive officer of Harley's Corner, an India-based online retailer of gourmet dog food, faced a decision dilemma. He needed to decide on the most suitable positioning strategy for the business, which competed against several well-known brands, including other fresh, gourmet, home-cooked food for pets. Harley's Corner needed to convey a proposition that ran deeper than simply representing an "all-natural, home-cooked" fresh pet food. How could he differentiate the offerings in a relevant way to retain his loyal customers, attract new customers, and thereby grow the business? What was the best way to position his brand, Harley's Corner, which catered to a niche segment?

Through this series of increasingly more sophisticated exercises authored by Aradhna Krishna, students gain a deep understanding of the strong connection between price, demand, variable cost, and capacity. In their efforts to help Katja maximize profit in her bread-making venture, students will learn the concepts of sunk fixed cost, incremental fixed cost, and variable cost. They will discover how a profit-maximizing price depends on all three factors of demand, variable cost and capacity, and how they all interrelate. For example, students learn that fixed cost is important because it affects capacity decisions and hence also entry/exit decisions. However, given a pre-existing capacity, fixed cost does not affect the pricing decision. Students also learn how price can be used strategically to avoid increasing capacity. This exercise series is presented in five short parts (Katja's Danish Bread Exercises A-E). Exercise A is given to students to prepare before class, and Exercises B-E are read in class and done sequentially during class.

On April 12, 2013, Corey Rennell, the founder and CEO of CORE Foods (CF), was faced with the decision of whether or not to withdraw $100,000 worth of CORE Meals from distributors and retailers who had purchased product from the last production run. The company's product, CORE Meals, was a meal replacement nutritional bar made from high quality, organic, mainly plant-based ingredients that were minimally processed. Since the products did not use preservatives, CORE Meals lasted only a week without refrigeration, one month when chilled and six months frozen. The company had recently switched to a new type of oats, one of the main ingredients in CORE Meals. However, within weeks, the company received complaints from customers about a spicy cayenne-like after-taste, something that was not evident during the initial product testing. While the after-taste was not a health issue warranting a mandatory product recall, Rennell and his team felt it would be a "disservice to consumers if they sold something that had a different aftertaste from what they were used to." A decision as to whether or not to withdraw may come at a high cost to the brand and/or the bottom line. What were the alternatives? And what action(s) should Rennell and his team take going forward that was both in keeping the company's ethos as well as maintaining its financial viability?

1. Vineet Saraiwala, Assistant Manager, Big Bazaar was planning to study the toothpaste category and some of the brands in the category. Having been exposed to the Consumer Behavior domain, Vineet wanted to use an exploratory to seek inputs on its usefulness to Big Bazaar. Although Big Bazaar was a major force in the new era of Indian retailing scenario, radical changes in the environment with online retailing, discount culture in online and offline brands, premium brands and economy brands in several categories, the kirana shops that have been a part of Indian retailing for decades and differentiation of brands across categories using several non-product associations such as celebrities and user imagery, a study involving consumer behavioral aspects can be immensely useful to Big Bazaar. This case provides a new perspective on how a modern retail (Big Bazaar) can consider the positioning strategies of brands from the viewpoint of consumer mindset associated with brand associations. Such an understanding associated with a category would enable Vineet to consider several options of using them: in retail promotions, in the introduction of a new store brand or to understand the importance of various factors in the study that can be used for enhancing the strategies of Big Bazaar with respect to its consumers in the toothpaste category. 2. The case attempts to approach retailing from several behavioral dimensions that include attitudes, self-brand connection, and celebrity-brand connection.

In the 1980s, Serge Belair founded Traductions Serge Belair. In the early days, he worked from home, translating documents for a number of Quebec companies in his basement office. Over a period of almost thirty years, Traductions Serge Belair, now operating under the name TRSB, grew from a small business to a company of 150 employees, with sales of close to $20 million and national ambitions. TRSB provides customized business solutions in translation and terminology management that are fully integrated with its clients' brand image and marketing efforts. Two-part case: TRSB (A): Strengthening a Service Brand in Business-to-Business (B2B) Marketing With this case, students will decide how to strengthen the brand of this business-to-business (B2B) service company to ensure its survival. TRSB (B): 360° Marketing and Communications for a World-Class Translation Company TRSB's objective is to double its sales over the next five years. To achieve this goal, the company has earmarked $250,000 for its marketing efforts next year, a significant increase over the previous year. The members of the communication and marketing team are wondering how to promote this new brand image, making it better known and respected in Canadian business communities. TRSB's marketing personnel will be working to enhance the organization's presence across all media to increase the company's visibility and stimulate interest in its services, but they need some advice.

In the 1980s, Serge Bélair founded Traductions Serge Bélair. In the early days, he worked from home, translating documents for a number of Quebec companies in his basement office. Over a period of almost thirty years, Traductions Serge Bélair, now operating under the name TRSB, grew from a small business to a company of 150 employees, with sales of close to $20 million and national ambitions. TRSB provides customized business solutions in translation and terminology management that are fully integrated with its clients' brand image and marketing efforts. Two-part case: TRSB (A): Strengthening a Service Brand in Business-to-Business (B2B) Marketing With this case, students will decide how to strengthen the brand of this business-to-business (B2B) service company to ensure its survival. TRSB (B): 360° Marketing and Communications for a World-Class Translation Company TRSB's objective is to double its sales over the next five years. To achieve this goal, the company has earmarked $250,000 for its marketing efforts next year, a significant increase over the previous year. The members of the communication and marketing team are wondering how to promote this new brand image, making it better known and respected in Canadian business communities. TRSB's marketing personnel will be working to enhance the organization's presence across all media to increase the company's visibility and stimulate interest in its services, but they need some advice.

This case deals with PasseportSante.net (PS), a health-related website and virtual community. PS offers expert content and interactive web features enabling members to create and share content and contribute to the site's value proposition. PS was launched in 1998 during the dot.com era, so it preceded the social web era. PS had been Canada's largest consumer health-related website since 2001, but Charmian Harvey, its CEO, realized the site had to adapt if it was to remain successful in today's web 2.0 environment, where social media rules. She knew that social features would be central to the site's strategic development, so the case focuses on comparing PS's existing social features with those offered by competitors. Students learn about the analytical approach to making data-driven management decisions.

Supplement to case HEC169. This case deals with PasseportSante.net (PS), a health-related website and virtual community. PS offers expert content and interactive web features enabling members to create and share content and contribute to the site's value proposition. PS was launched in 1998 during the dot.com era, so it preceded the social web era. PS had been Canada's largest consumer health-related website since 2001, but Charmian Harvey, its CEO, realized the site had to adapt if it was to remain successful in today's web 2.0 environment, where social media rules. She knew that social features would be central to the site's strategic development, so the case focuses on comparing PS's existing social features with those offered by competitors. Students learn about the analytical approach to making data-driven management decisions.

With the quarter ending December 2016 closing on a sour note after a loss of ?79.7 million, Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning India Limited found itself reassessing its business expansion strategies. The company’s stand-alone net profit in fiscal year 2015–16 was down 35.73 per cent from the previous fiscal year. Its launch of a new range of imported air purifiers in 2015 as part of its expansion plan may have hit an obstacle with the dip in profits. Should the company enter into new segments such as air coolers, water dispensers, and water purifiers to increase its product portfolio and revenue? Considering that competitors were already fighting it out in these segments, would the timing be right? What strategic capabilities could the company leverage, and what were the possible obstacles to success in the new segments?