[jas_maverick]

Well there were reality Tv shows, games, dares etc, so why not case studies
Okay agreed that most of case studies we go thu are 'reality' ones only, so lets discuss them.

We will take example of a problem in some company and then discuss how the problem should be solved or what are the routes available. Pls lets not make it a GD over here and instead each one gives his/her opinion, no lengthy arguing PLEASE!! And i repeat only reality cases, that will help a lot.

I have few cases with me, i will first start with that of Pringles potato chips.

Case I - P&G found out that main problem the ppl had while taking chips on picnics/outings or having them for long storage for long distance market catering was that they would 'perish'. And hence chips manufacturers catered to only local customers. There was no big brand. So it decided to make them with a speacial coating so that they remain fresh for long time and packaged them in a strong cylindrical box to bear transportation jerks. THinking it'd soon make itself as the first real chip brand, P&G was saddened to find that the sales were very low, and only few ppl that too many of them old were buying it.

Being a manager, now how wud u analyse the case and help P&G out. Mind it, its a real case, & P&G did do smthing. If u know, pls dont give THAT solution, else any discussion is welcome

PS: Will b back opnly on monday, happy analyzing till then

[technogeek]

Nice Thread.

Basically the situation could have arrived due to lack of proper awareness as to what is causing the lack of sales.

Here go my solutions.

Advertise & Publicize
Basically any new product that is released needs a huge amount of publicity to signify its uniqueness. The ads used should not be something like another brick in the wall. See the fellow advertisers and learn from them. For example, Hutch has created a kind of interest among the customers before it actually revealed its name and telling that its actually a cellphone network service. The ad should be in scuh a way that it should create an awareness in the public regarding the potential disadvantages if the normal, low-quality chips are consumed after storing then in a long trip.

Making this as our positive point, we should project the new packing, the anti-breaking chips kind of a thing (*during the transportation*).

During rising period of the product, quote unbeleivable price for the product, say some 4/- per pack (which actually should have been put somewhere near Rs.10/-). Advertise near the schools, and malls with attractive colours and stuff.

Free Stuff
Give off free posters of the brand ambassdors if 3 or 4 packets are bought. Offer free autographed keychains, shirts, pens, coffee mugs etc... in exchange for empty chips packets.

Contests
Arrange contests and offer winners free trips to Europe or Watch-the-World Cup-Final kind of prizes. Offer lunch with celebrities if a person wins a draw or something.

Ofcourse, Preity and Juhi are always there to work for us!!!

Reverse Strategy
Ask the customers to send in entries for advertising strategies. The best advertising strategy shall get a grand prize .

More to come...

[abhi_g1]

if there is not other major brand there then we should capitilize on that as we can make our market there.regarding low sales of the chips inspite of good packing .it should be encountered by making an advertisement showing the advantages of these new packed chips over its old counterpart.that will definitely make an impression advertisement should be made such that it catches the attention of the audience.like that of fevicol it should leave its impression on the peoples mind.it is very important.another way to go about it is to conduct a feed back by the company in a particular colony of that area where sales are very low.we can get some points from there.another impoetant point made was that only old peaople buy them .so we should ask then also why r they buying these chips they will definitely give some good points to support there decision.we can also give something free with two buy of that packet that will definitely increase its sale.we should know wht the children eat in that particular area as they are the most important of all buyers .

[suchipoochi]

very good thread started JAS!!!!

well for a product to click well in the market it has to go about wit a good and perfect marketing mix...thats the 4P's:razz:RODUCT,PRICE,PROMOTION and PLACE!!!!!!!
in case of pringles...the product thats the potatoe chips is real good and have like in diff flavours and also as fat-free i guess..but they didnt come up wit an impressive promotion that is actuallie needed for a new product in market and also when the product was launched by P&G...we all rem the ad the chip poping out of the chip case and a gal stacking up chips in her hand and eating it...well that was not impressive enough!!!!!And the price was also high compared to its compinent competitors....

we have lays which is as in today one of the leading potatoe chips in india...well they had der perfect market survey done as wats the eating lots taste and preferances and came out real impresive ads and had der set of eminent showbiz personalities bein the brand ambassdor!!!!and came up wit real good punch lines..for eg.uncle chips..real old brand and still has some loyal customer munching it on..dey had this real cool punchline..bole mere lips i love uncle chips...

pringles i guess as u mentioned was or is popular amoung the elder lot and the NRI's..well my aunts kids used to make big fuss abt pringles !!!!the company should do a market research to click well..

and like today we get lays at diff price range and for the price of pringles one can get half kg local potatoe chips which is good quality, nice and chrispy enough...

as mentioned above by the other PG's promotion,awareness n price is were the pringles went all boomed up!!!!!!!!!

[jas_maverick]

Hmmmm.. well i expected more participation, but chalega

Case I - P&G found out that main problem the ppl had while taking chips on picnics/outings or having them for long storage for long distance market catering was that they would 'perish'. And hence chips manufacturers catered to only local customers. There was no big brand. So it decided to make them with a speacial coating so that they remain fresh for long time and packaged them in a strong cylindrical box to bear transportation jerks. Thinking it'd soon make itself as the first real chip brand, P&G was saddened to find that the sales were very low, and only few ppl that too many of them old were buying it.

Well all i can wringle out from u guys' analysis is that the advertising is wrong and you want it to be hep, right? Now guys before u advertise, u need to be very sure abt the kind of ppl u are gonna advertise for. Abhi got a very strong point there that if old ppl like it, find from them ki bhai jab no one else is buying, how come they are, i.e. whats the selling point for them. What else was discussed was marketing strategy, but dear first we need to analyze the market and the cause, then go for rectification. Theres this subtle difference between cause and the effect, sales are low, okay. u can push sales up by advertising. but what if low sales is just an effect and not cause??
So i wont discuss the sales strategies for now and get to the problem. P&G did teh surveying part and found out that not many ppl really WANTED this long lasting chips !! They wanted it be just as simple as a crunchy potato chip, with salty taste and that crackling sound, the sound that is now shown many a times to impact upon the crispiness. Oldies were buying it coz they had it stored for longer times, as they wud go for vacations to their different kids and hence spent less time at home. So Pringles was nice option for longer storage and travel. The high price and different taste dint look nice patron pullers.
So what P&G did was that it changed teh product's image as a simple potato chips who longed last to that of a premium brand in itself. Thats how it started to be regarded as a premium brand, elite brand and of course long lasting one

Abt the advertising, of course there were nice ideas from geek and soochi, and nice 'P' break up, soochi. I will discuss another case tmmrw, till then comments n critiques are welcome, we can discuss what else cud have P&G done. Waise this one is regarded as one of the entry in the list of Big Mistakes of P&G

[SandyM]

sorry, ppl posted on the wrong thread

[suchipoochi]

hmmmm...gee our taste and preferances can sometimes be so complex-ly simple.......
but i dun see much of pringles in market des days though...but the chips is sure yum

[jas_maverick]

Okay guys, long time, but am back. Next case syudy is abt an airline -

There was a time when no airline wud give decent service to City A in US. There were 4 flights in a month from there and charged good money but less services. Plus the flights were notorious to be cancelled in the last min, as pilot decided to bypass City A. Now a guy introduces flights from there and gives quality and get ladies all dressed in eye catching attire, cost is decent and way less than those charged by other players. Went okay for few months untill the big players decide to lower the prices to damn cheap level in order to wash out the new player. What is the way out if u are the manager of this new airline? remember u dnt have enuf cash. This one has in reality nice and different ending

[schivam]

Hi Jas,

The response to this thread may be poor but please keep it going. It is a great way to test your business acumen.

Based on the description you put out, I believe City A is a small city and does not generate much traffic. This would mean that this city would not have the biggest of airports, which would in-turn mean that the number of gates available at the airport are limited. Since this new airline operates only from this city, all its aircrafts fly from this airport. This would allow the new airline to reserve a majority of the gates at the airport. What this would mean is, the bigger airlines now have fewer gates for the their operation, which would lead to increased delays. In order to get access to more gates the bigger airlines would have to use gates reserved for the new airlines. The new airlines can now give rights for these gates at a very high premium to the bigger airlines. This not only will increase their cash flow but will also force the bigger airlines to increase their fares.

The fact that city A is a small city might be a disadvantge to the bigger airlines but it will be the new airlines biggest advantage. Since the new airlines is small and operates only out of city A it can concentrate all its offers,benefits and services just to city A, this is something the bigger airlines cannot afford to do as it would severly impact their other markets. The new airlines can increase their customer loyality by offering special deals for customers of the local banks and business institutions. This would ensure that most of the local market would prefer the new airline. Technically the bigger airlines could use the same marketing strategy but it would not make sense financially as city A is not a priority market for the big airlines. They would not want to waste their resources and efforts on a city which does not generate high traffic.


Schivam

[SandyM]

Hi Jas, gr8 thread man....keep it going.

Coming to the case, this is my slution.

Well, according to me, reduction of prices would,should and could only be the last option(anybody's guess)as it wud only lead to a price war,in which the smaller player cant cope up with the bigger players.
The immediate objective of the airlines must be to maintain its customer base,if not increase.This is because, the bigger players can afford to reduce prices in a small sector, as their aim would only be to eat into the customer base of the new airlines,which would start a price war, which the smaller player cannot sustain in the long run and so are compelled to shut shop and then the whole sector would be in their pocket.This way, the bottom line of the bigger player even if it gets affected for a couple of quarters, would be made up by the increase in the long run.Now, what if the bigger player cant eat into the smaller airlines customer base, the bottom line of the bigger player would be affected for a longer time and the most plausible solution for them would be to discontinue services in the sector.
So the smaller player should target the weaknesses of the bigger player,which are lack of reliability of the bigger player,evident from past record.
Also, the airline should go all out on an aggressive campaign and let its patrons know that they were and always,are here only for them , i.e the smaller centres and that that was their niche market and so the question of last minute cancellation of flights etc. would just not arise.In order to build and increase the confidence of their customers, they can give bookings much in advance,offer things like flying miles,specifically for that sector.Give the customers priority status if they fly more than a certain number of times in that sector.Offer free pickups for these priority customers,telephonic check-ins to them(this was stopped after 9/11).
Also, since customer perception becomes the key to sucess here, i think they shouldnt do anythng in panic,that gets them bad publicity(i think schivam's 1st point may lead to this).

Also, if the airline operates only from city A(which is not specified in the case) , schivam's solution may hve an impact.