Advanced Search

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

Parfums Cacharel's AnaisAnais and Loulou were once the number one and number two best-selling fragrances in Europe, but profits had slipped and the firm's new director argued that the organization had lost sight of its brand identity. How could it carry out an effective self-assessment? Cacharel chose brand decoding over market research. Professor Pierre Chandon, Professor Klaus Wertenbroch and Nicholas Rowell ask you to determine the effectiveness and outcome of this process.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

The fast paced Internet environment provides opportunities to those nimble firms that are capable of revising their business model in real time. Professors Jochen Wirtz and Jill Klein present the case of Spacedisk, Inc. in an effort to demonstrate the power of adaptability and collaboration in e-space.

Harley-Davidson has been able to build a community of enthusiasts around its brand that includes members from very diverse groups, and with almost no advertising. How does the king of heavyweight motorcycling keep its fans so loyal? It gives them a reason to "belong."

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

Consider a magazine's positioning - it needs to lie somewhere between global and local, between hard news and soft news, and in the right place to deal with the competition. Professor Hellmut Schütte and Jocelyn Probert examine Asiaweek's positioning, its history and how it struggled to strike a balance in its Asian market.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

BASF is a multi-national producer of petro-chemicals that has enjoyed a comfortable, well-padded history of success in the packaging industry. The company's product Styropor®, one of the few branded chemicals on the market, is a commodity - somewhat like Lycra®. The authors explain BASF's problem in this case study: since Styropor®, by nature, costs more than similar products produced locally in China, it needs to differentiate its brand. The challenge is to counterbalance Styropor®'s cost disadvantage with a new positioning strategy for BASF to allow it to expand within an oversupplied, competitive market.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

Russian Standard may not be a household name in trendy New York bars yet, but Roustam Tariko would like it to be. When Tariko introduced Russian Standard Vodka in 1998, he wasn't interested in just vodka. The young entrepreneur established Russian Standard to become a high-quality international multi-category icon of the new Russia, the "Virgin" of Russia. As a result, Russian Standard is not only a vodka, it is now a thriving bank. In this new case study, Professor Pierre Chandon and Vadim Grigorian ask us to consider the value of horizontal brand extensions across widely different product categories (e.g., banking and vodka) and to examine how Russian Standard can compete in the vastly different US market.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

The high cost of pharmaceuticals is a serious concern for government officials trying to reduce health care expenditures. In this new Case Study, Professor Chandon and Research Associate Sarah Spargo, look at the battle between branded and generic prescription drugs, and explain how SmithKline Beecham reacted to a direct attack on one of their 'jewel' drugs.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

A 1998 livestock virus in Malaysia left a gaping hole in the pork market in Singapore, a country that relies solely on imports for its pork consumption. Into the gap stepped Australia, one of the world's largest exports of meat and livestock. Intent on being more than just a short-term solution, Australia's pig farmers took the opportunity to brand its product and succeeded in making "Airpork" a household name.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

The anti-ulcer market is one of the largest categories of prescription drugs in the pharmaceutical industry. Its history dates to 1976, when a US based pharmaceutical company SmithKline launched Tagamet. This Nobel prize-winning breakthrough drug quickly rose to become the largest-selling pharmaceutical product. As the incumbent, Tagamet seemed unshakeable, but with the introduction of its 'me-too' product Zantac, UK-based Glaxo managed to break SmithKline's hold on the market. How did Glaxo manage to surpass the former gold standard and in five years outsell it by a factor of 2 worldwide? More importantly, ask Professors Reinhard Angelmar and Christian Pinson, how should Glaxo react when faced with an upstart looking to do to them what Zantac did to Tagamet?

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

Tata Tea is one of the largest tea companies in the world. Sheltered from competition by a protectionist Indian government for most of its history, the company in 1999 faced several new challenges: upcoming deregulation and changing consumer tastes. How should the company react? Research Associate Ulrike Wiehr and Professor Amitava Chattopadhyay review potential strategies.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

In the beginning, all credit cards were the same. Same interest rates, same annual fee, same processes for deciding who to lend to and how much to lend. Then, as in all industries, an innovator came along and determined that a one-size-fits-all approach left room for improvement. In this Case Study by Professor Werner J. Reinartz and Ulrike Wiehr, Capital One is the innovator and CRM is the innovation.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

Its signature orange logo has made the "easy" brand one of the most recognizable in Europe - a stunning feat given that easy made its debut as recently as 1995. What began with easyJet has expanded to include easyCar and easyInternet. Now the company's New Ventures Team must decide whether the no-frills, low-cost concept can be successfully applied to movie theatres, explains Professor Yves Doz in this Case Study.

The way to create a world-class brand is to give customers what they need, when they need it, and never let them out of your sight.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

---

The complex history of the relationship between the companies in the Acela Express railway installation is mined for key lessons for future marketing relationships with particular pertinence to relationships within international marketing projects.

Can a consumer product be launched globally in a short time? It can if sufficient resources and time are allocated to planning the effort.

How does a company turn its reseller channel into a source of competitive advantage? It requires balancing the objectives of its resellers with its own.

Once a purely American sport, basketball has been transformed by the N.B.A. into a global phenomenon. What marketing lessons does the N.B.A. teach? If you promote it, the fans will come.

Though more known for his legendary publicity stunts, Richard Branson has led Virgin Group to success with a singular, flamboyant style. Learn the secret of how he tackles the big bad wolves of many industries.

Emerging markets are enticing to companies because of the growth potential they present. But when cultural, economic, and logistical issues arise, survival in these markets is often a challenge. Recently, Stan Sthanunathan, vice president of Knowledge & Insights with The Coca-Cola Company, spoke to MBA students in a global business environments course at Emory University's Goizueta Business School about the intricacies of doing business in India. Among the insights -- how a thorough understanding of consumer behavior helped the soft-drink giant turn a losing proposition into a winning strategy in only two years.

Note: Older EBF articles are not currently online. I'm not sure if this is temporary or permanent. If you click you will be taken to the Archive.org site to find an archived copy.

---

This article explores the launch of the Procter & Gamble consumer brand Charmin. It was excerpted from a case study prepared by Professor Bodo Schlegelmilch and Assistant Professor Tina Claudia Chini of Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration

As the oil industry consolidated in the mid-1990s, Houston-based Conoco faced a major brand challenge. One of the world's leading energy companies and a prominent petroleum retailer in U.S. markets, Conoco saw an opportunity to accelerate profit growth through the convenience store format. But in order to build a powerful convenience store brand, the company knew that it would have to break away from the generic "mart" approaches adopted by other major petroleum retailers. It also would need to differentiate itself from new offerings, such as upscale coffee bars, that were encroaching on the edges of the convenience store market.

In the fight against commoditization, companies are scrambling to create value-added services to protect their precious margins. But making the switch is easier said than done. To complete its metamorphosis, Dow Corning needed to transform the entire company.

Incentive programs are common in the software industry, where, instead of relying on a direct sales force, corporations like Sage Software often turn to small resellers to pitch their applications to a vast market of customers. Incentives as extensive and generous as Sage's are rare, however. For the past three years, the company (formerly known as Best Software) has invested $1 million a year to provide 100 resellers with $10,000 each to hire a salesperson. The initiative, which Sage calls the 100/100 program, provides interesting insights into why entrepreneurs delay recruiting salespeople--sometimes until their companies falter--and what mistakes businesses make in the hiring process.

How Coach learned to know, not guess, what customers want.