In the previous chapters, we have discussed all the aspects of marketing case studies. But as a student, you must have always felt a gap between the academic curriculum and the case studies. To bridge this gap between the academic world and real-life scenarios, I will be sharing some marketing case examples here.
My objective here is to give you an idea about what kind of case studies are typically asked. It will also make you familiar with the areas you should focus on for each type of cases. Let us look at some marketing case examples that you must have already come across or are surely going to come across.
Marketing Case Examples
Below are the four types of challenges often faced in the marketing world and thus are usually given as case studies.
- New Product Launch: This case study usually assesses your ability to apply various marketing approaches to a product launch. These case studies will test your creative skills and strategic planning abilities.
- Launching a new campaign for an existing product: This type of case study is generally asked to assess your rebranding experience and gain insight into your outlook on difficult situations.
- Launching your product into an international market: This type of case study assesses your expertise with foreign marketing campaigns and your ability to recognise the risks and rewards of selling a product in a different country.
- Dealing with negative customer feedback: This type of case study tests your capacity to deal with bad publicity. When it comes to marketing, there's always the risk that a buyer would post a poor review of your product, affecting other customers' purchasing decisions.
Implementing the 5-step case analysis structure
Here, I will take the example of the Dairy Milk Worm Infestation Controversy and how the 5-step case structure can be helpful in this case.
Example of Cadbury – Worm Infestation Controversy
The Food and Drug Administration Commissioner received information regarding the infestation in two bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk just a month before Diwali, in October 2003. He called for an investigation and issued a statement to the media. Cadbury's brand and reliability were under rigorous examination in India, where the firm is synonymous with chocolate. During the first 10 weeks, the sales volumes plummeted, store supply and display fell short. The staff morale also got disturbed, particularly among the sales team. The challenge was to re-establish trust with key stakeholders and re-establish credibility for the corporate brand.
Over the next six months, a targeted and intensive communications programme was developed to re-establish credibility and re-establish trust among key players.
- The company broadcasted the message in the media was that infestation was a storage-related issue, not a manufacturing issue. Cadbury's perspective on the subject was widely accepted by the audience.
- A new package was introduced to reduce the possibility of infestation. Eight weeks following the distribution of new packaging, sales volumes had nearly returned to pre-crisis levels. This indicated that the corporation had taken substantial steps to reduce the risk of infestation. This demonstrated the brand's and company's consumer trust.
Gradually, the consumers' assessments of factors such as the company's image, responsiveness, and behavioural indicators such as the propensity to purchase Cadbury chocolates increased significantly.
Source: mbaknol
Let us now look at how you could have implemented this scenario's 5-step case analysis structure.
Step 1: 5Cs Analysis - The first step is to do the 5Cs analysis and find out which factors will affect the issue at hand. In this case of worm Infestation, the problem here is revolved around Customers, Collaborators and Company.
Step 2: Decision Problem - The next step is identifying the decision problem. Here, the challenge is to improve the company operations and the distribution network (collaborators) to improve customer feedback.
Step 3: Evaluation of Alternatives - The next step is to evaluate the several solutions that can solve this situation. One solution could have been changing their distribution network. The second option could have been banning this product and relaunching a new product. The third option is to improve their packaging and simultaneously improve the brand image in the market. Once evaluating all the alternatives, the company decided that the third alternative would be most effective. cadbury then started charting the recommendations accordingly.
Step 4: Recommendations - The task is to detail the evaluation in this step. The first recommendation was to develop packaging that would decrease the chance of infestation even after production. The next step is to create promotions so that the customers again start trusting the brand.
Step 5: Planning - To implement the above recommendations, the idea was to fast-track the creation of new packaging and launch it. Secondly, all the food safety standards were complied with to gain the customers' trust. The company earned a safety certificate from all the authorities. The final step was to promote all the actions taken by the organisation. For this, the company roped in its brand ambassador to create a sense of assurance in the market. Soon, the company's sales started rising and reached the pre-crisis level.
The Final Summit
Now that you have understood all the aspects of marketing case studies, it is time to further enrich your marketing knowledge and skills. It is essential to have an in-depth academical understanding and a practical sense to become a successful marketer.