3 Page Marketing Strategy Case Analysis

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Fundamentals of Case Analysis

Why Cases?

Cases….

 build familiarity with marketing and management problems.

 develop your ability to think like a manager

 Enable understanding of the link between problems and analysis (market research)

 Build communication skills

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Cases

 Snapshot of specific event(s)

 Realistic

 Self-contained

 Require action by managers

 Recommendations must be defended

 Selected for a reason

Step 1: Read The Case

 Skim  get a feel for the situation

 perspective

 critical dates

 Read carefully  highlight key points (different colors)

 margin notes

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Step 2: Determine the Major Problem

 Where to look

 Symptoms versus problems

 Market focused and actionable

 Psychological traps  Posing the wrong question: The Framing trap

 Over-relying on first thoughts: The Anchoring trap

 Your problem diagnosis determines alternatives, criteria and ultimate choice of a solution.

“If I had but one hour to save the world, I would

spend 55 minutes defining the problem.”

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Step 2: Determine the Major Problem

 Identify the essential elements of the problem  Determine major versus minor problems  Establish a scope for your analysis

 Reexamine your problem definition as you go.  Even after a lot of effort and defining the problem,

you may find that as you dig into the solution, your perceptions of the original problem may change

 With more information, you may need to revise your problem definition

 It is very much an iterative process

Step 3: Analysis

 What analysis will help solve the problem?

 Discuss pros and cons of each alternative BUT  Don’t invent alternatives (no “straw man”)

 Provide a balanced perspective  Qualitative and quantitative

 Translate key data into meaningful information

 Don’t overlook tables, charts, exhibits, footnotes

 Equal and unbiased evaluation of all alternatives

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1. How well is the Air Zoo fulfilling its mission? 2. Who are the customers of the Air Zoo? What drives each group

to visit? 3. How realistic are the estimates that Bob presented? 4. What other information would be beneficial to Bob in making this

decision? 5. Given that the estimates Bob made are correct, what will be the

financial impact of the free admission promotion? 6. Would you recommend that the Air Zoo enact the Free

Admission promotion for the 4-month summer season? Why or why not?

Discussion Questions

Step 3: Analysis

 Be sure to note relevant situation factors BUT  you don’t need a separate SWOT analysis

 Understand uncertainty and risk  How much is your decision based on fact and how

much is it based on assumptions  What are the risk factors and what is the risk tolerance

capability of the organization

 Assumptions, opinions, and premises  Justify  Separate facts from assumption, opinions, premises  Consider the reliability and validity of sources

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Step 4: Recommendation

 Be explicit but concise

 Discuss the risks (if any) that are involved with your decision?

 Discuss the sensitivity of your decision

 Do not:  Fire the owner/president of the company

 Propose to “invent” a miraculous new product

Step 4: Recommendation

 Do not:  Propose to “do nothing” unless strong justification

can be made that no problem exists, status quo will be most profitable, or firm is helpless to react

 Present recommendations that are not economically feasible (buy Google to hedge against market cycles)

 Propose non-marketing alternatives

 Investing all available cash in lottery

 In general, R&D is not a marketing issue

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Common Mistakes in Case Analysis

 Rehashing information in the case!!!!!!  Concluding the data are inadequate to reach a

decision.  Failing to provide adequate qualitative analysis.  Failing to provide adequate quantitative

analysis.  Failing to be decisive. Be convincing.  Avoid “maybe” and “possibly”  Avoid “I feel”

Common Mistakes in Case Analysis

 Writing  Check spelling  Pronoun agreement (it vs. they)  Overall readability (no paragraph > 1 page)  Word confusion (affect vs. effect, whether vs.

weather)  Plurals (medium vs. media)  Avoid colloquialisms and trite phrases  Avoid writer pronouns (I and We)  Be cautious about judgmental language

 For example, excess profit

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Common Mistakes in Case Analysis

 Content  Numerical calculations should be justified, supported,

and in exhibits

 Use common sense with numerical calculations and writing numbers  Write $1.37 million, rather than $1,372,345.34

 Do not reproduce any exhibits from the case

 Avoid vague solutions (Target how? Segment how?)

 No SWOT is required

 Have I mentioned there is no need to repeat case facts?

Restating Case Facts

 From the case:  “Demand for raw grapes is expected to increase

25% in 2009.”

 Restating a case fact:  “The grape market will be 25% higher next year.”

 Using case facts:  “Because demand for grapes is expected to

increase by 25% in 2010, an aggressive pricing strategy will not be necessary.”

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Common Mistakes in Case Reports

 Don’t assume the reader knows what you (should) know, about the case.  Intended reader (boss) knows the general issues

of the case, but gave you the assignment to analyze and report back to them

 There is no case to refer to.

Common Mistakes in Case Analysis

 Terminology – Be Precise  Contribution margin is not the same thing as profit

 Revenue is not the same thing as profit

 Positioning is not the same thing as target strategy

 Market share is not the same thing as market coverage

 Be specific  i.e., profit margin is expected to increase to 13.8%

 Avoid vague terms  i.e., “Sales will increase by a huge amount.”

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Format – Body of Report

 Follow the correct format  3 page max, double spaced

 1” margins (MS Word default is 1.25”)

 Time New Roman – 12 point

 Provide your recommendation(s) to the company  Strong evidence should be given to support your ideas

 Exhibits are expected, separate page for each

 Exhibits should be labeled (i.e., Exhibit 1)

 Exhibits should be titled (i.e., Shurr-Glide Customer Segments)

Format – Writing Style

 Keep in mind who is the intended reader.  Generally your boss

 Information that is not relevant to the report should not be included in your write-up

 You do not need to tell the boss what his position is or how long he has worked in the company (hopefully he knows this).

 Never, ever, misspell critical names (company, brand, etc), nor should you miss key facts

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Format - Exhibits

 Exhibits are used to convey information in a simplified format.  Should be new information

 Do not create exhibits from the cases

 Should be neatly typed

 Calculations are not needed

 If explanation of exhibit is needed, use footnotes

 Recreate in Word, rather than cutting and pasting from Excel

Grading Criteria

• Format – 5 points • Clarity of writing – 10 points • Analysis – 20 points • Recommendations – 15 points

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