Great Ideas for Teaching Marketing
Ideas and resources for teaching marketing
Real Burger World (or RBW as it later became known) was a small hamburger chain established in the UK in the early 2000’s. Despite a significant financial investment, professional management, the use of branding consultants, and extensive media coverage, the business did not prove to be viable and closed within a few years.
This case study is based upon … See the full activity...
For this exercise, which is based on a recent media release, you will review Sports Direct (a major UK sports retailer) and the impact of its attractive staff bonus on sales and profitability. But while profits are up, your task is to identify any concerns that they need to manage?
ACTIVITY/TASK
SportsDirect.com is a large sporting goods retailer based … See the full activity...
In this mini-case, you will review the efforts of the J.C. Penney department store to more efficiently compete on price, primarily underpinned by a cost-cutting program. But is this the best approach?
ACTIVITY/TASK
The J.C. Penney department store chain is currently through a major cost-cutting program, associated with its transformation strategy. The firm’s goal is to cut expenses by … See the full activity...
From Bricks and Mortar to Online Retailing
In this exercise, you need to review the key findings from recognized industry forecasting firm regarding the potential impact of online retailing on traditional shopping centers and retailers. The challenge is to determine the best way forward for these traditional retailers.
ACTIVITY/TASK
Traditional shopping centers (shopping malls) are under significant pressure to adapt … See the full activity...
Many firms target their sales promotions at wholesalers and retailers in an attempt to generate greater support and sales. Sometimes these trade promotions are designed to get preferential treatment from the retailer (e.g. better store/shelf placement) and sometimes they are simply designed to pass through to the end-consumer (such as a discount).
Listed below are some possible trade promotion tools. … See the full activity...
Loyalty programs have become increasingly popular in recent years. In this exercise, you just need to decide whether a large (and fictitious) retail chain should implement a similar program. To help you decide, below is an excerpt from one of their manager’s meetings discussing the proposal.
ACTIVITY/TASK
Larry:
I think that it’s important that we introduce a major loyalty program, … See the full activity...
A significant proportion of planned sales promotions do not get effectively, implemented due to the lack of full support by the retailer (except for major brands who tend to have strong retailer relationships). Your task in this activity is to determine whether or not the retailer is likely to run/support the sales promotion.
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Big ‘n Tasty noodles is the … See the full activity...
Firms may use a variety of sales promotion tools to help them increase short-term sales. Choosing from the below list of possible tools, identify which one/s would be most appropriate for:
ACTIVITY/TASK
| Sales Promotion Tools |
Chocolate bar? |
Computer software? |
Clothing store? |
|
|
1 |
A |
This case study outlines the strategic plan for Thompson-Smith, a fictitious retailer in Australia with multiple brands (retail formats). Your task is to evaluate each of their strategy initiatives. In other words, to what extent do you agree with their five strategic priorities?
ACTIVITY/TASK
Thompson-Smith is one of Australia’s largest retailers. They have around 1,000 different stores, across five … See the full activity...
Even a simple retail business, like a fruit and vegetable store, requires a clear strategy in order to be successful. This is actually becoming a greater challenge, given the expanded product offering of the major supermarket chains (who offer their own fruit and vegetable sections).
Your task is this activity is to determine your strategy for a suburban fruit and … See the full activity...
This activity outlines two situations in regards to the potential impact on the firm’s positioning due to their distribution channel selection. Your task in this activity is to answer the assessment questions at the end regarding each situation.
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Increasing Sales of Jeans
The manufacturer of a well-known brand of jeans has determined that its selective distribution strategy is limiting … See the full activity...
Due to the growth in franchising over recent years, many people have been attracted to this particular form of business ownership. The following is a conversation between two brothers who are planning to buy into a retail franchise system. But their problem is that they cannot decide ‘when’ to buy a franchise. (Note: The ‘when’ refers to the franchise system’s … See the full activity...
In this activity, you need to determine whether a new furniture manufacturer should set up its own sales team or utilize an established company of sales agents (as briefly outlined below). To help you determine the most appropriate option, a number of consideration questions have been provided for you.
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Option One
A common cliché is ‘let’s cut out the middle man’. Removing the middle-man (a wholesaler) from the channel will provide a higher per unit margin for a manufacturer, but will it result in a higher profit overall? For this activity, help the following manufacturer decide whether or not they should use a wholesaler?
ACTIVITY/TASK
Olive’s Olives is a producer of … See the full activity...
This activity highlights several common channel conflict situations, across three different industries. For each situation, your task is to determine how you could minimize the level of conflict.
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Chemists (drug stores) and Supermarkets
Pharmaceutical (drug/medicine) companies make a broad range of products. Some must be sold via chemists/pharmacies (such as medicines), whereas some can be sold in supermarkets (such … See the full activity...
When a firm utilizes multiple channels, it is likely that channel conflict will occur from time to time. The following situation is based upon a real business situation. What would you do in this situation?
ACTIVITY/TASK
Pop-mints are a fairly successful brand of breath fresheners. Their main competitor is Tic Tacs, and their indirect competitors are the various brands of … See the full activity...
It was only about 20 years ago that most banks typically only used one distribution channel (their branches). However, since that time they have dramatically expanded the number of channels that they use. Below is a list of common distribution channels for a bank. Your task is to identify the most appropriate mix of channels for two different banks.
ACTIVITY/TASK… See the full activity...
Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world. It is around three times larger than the world’s second largest retailer. Many years ago, Wal-Mart embarked on an ambitious program of modifying its logistics system. This is briefly described below. For this activity, your task is to determine which parts of their customer offering are only possible due to their efficient … See the full activity...
Coca-Cola is a product/brand that has been around for well over 100 years. Today it is widely available and is acknowledged as the most valuable brand in the world. In this task you simply need to determine (from the information provided); which one of the 4P’s is the most important in their marketing mix?
ACTIVITY/TASK
Corrine:
It’s clear that Coke’s … See the full activity...
Retailers often face the challenge of deciding between ‘everyday low pricing’ and ‘high-low’ pricing. As suggested by the names, the first approach uses a consistent low pricing approach, where the second approach utilizes higher prices combined with frequent specials/discounts. Your task is to help determine what would be the best pricing approach.
ACTIVITY/TASK
Greg:
At this meeting we need to … See the full activity...
