practice case

1

Rescue Link

You are the head of marketing for Rescue Link, an aftermarket communications system similar

to GM's OnStar system that has been in business three years. The system is compatible with 95%

of the automobiles and trucks on the market today that were not factory equipped with a similar

communications system. Rescue Link allows the user to push a button on the rearview mirror to

communicate directly with a Rescue Link advisor, someone who will call emergency services for

the user after a crash or help the user handle other problems that person might have with the

vehicle.

To bolster sales you asked your marketing team to put together a national promotions campaign

three months ago. One of the key pieces of this promotions campaign will be a thirty-second

advertisement that will run for the first time during Super Bowl 50 on February 7, 2016. Your

company has already paid a nonrefundable advertisement fee of $5.1 million to the NFL for the

right to run the advertisement during the first quarter of the game. It is presently November 13,

2015, which means the final advertisement must be approved no later than November 23, 2015

so it can be produced in time to be aired during the Super Bowl.

Earlier today your marketing team presented to you the following layout for the advertisement.

This is the only advertisement they have worked up for the Super Bowl. If the advertisement is

not approved in its present form or with slight modifications, there will be no time to create

another advertisement.

A man sitting on his porch swing pats an old golden retriever on the head. “I love my truck,

and so does old Jake here,” he says, nodding toward the dog. “Woof!” Jake the dog said.

The man laughs, looks at the camera again, and says, “I never thought it would save my

life.”

The screen goes black, and the words “Actual recording of Rescue Link call, July 15, 2015”

appears. The audio clip features the voice of a Rescue Link operator and the panicked voice

of the man on the porch swing. A transcription of the conversation appears on the screen as

it unfolds.

Operator: Rescue Link, how may I help you?

Customer: Help me, help me, the water is rising!

Operator: Sir?

Customer: I am cut off! The water is rising fast!

Operator: Stay calm, sir. I have pinpointed your location, and I am calling for emergency

assistance right now.

Customer: Hurry! Hurry!

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Operator: Stay on the line, sir.

Operator: I have a Rescue Link customer in need of an immediate water rescue at the 4800

block of Maple Street. Yes. Correct. Thank you.

Operator: Sir, help is on the way. I will stay on the line with you until emergency services

respond.

Customer: Thank you! That water is still coming up!

[Minutes later]

Customer: They are here! They are here! Thank goodness!

The screen returns to the image of the man on the porch swing. “That was pretty scary,” he

says, smiling. “And wouldn’t you know, I had left my cell phone at home. If it had not been

for the Rescue Link button in my truck, I would not be here today.”

“Woof!” says Jake the dog.

“Ha, ha, ha,” the man laughs.

“Rescue Link can be installed on 95% of the automobiles and trucks on the road today,” a

voiceover proclaims. A Rescue Link logo briefly fills the screen, and the commercial ends.

The recording was an actual recording, and the man would likely have been swept away by

rising flash flood waters if he had not received prompt rescue. However, as head of marketing

you know that of the more than 77,000 calls made to Rescue Link operators over the program’s

first three years of operation, it is the only one that directly lead to rescuing a customer from a

life-threatening situation.

You are now sitting in your office thinking about the advertisement presented to you this

morning. The decision on whether to run the advertisement as presented, modify the

advertisement, or cancel the advertisement is solely up to you. What would you do? Analyze

and format your analysis according to the case instructions given in class.