Case about the company. Top 10 Jay Chiat Awards International Marketing Case Studies

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A case is a specific situation in the life of a firm or company, described in detail: starting with the emergence of a problem, defining a goal, setting tasks, and ending with a description of the results.

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The case is like a photo album of a newborn, in which loving parents collect details of the baby's life. They glue an envelope with the first curls, a tag from the maternity hospital, record the dynamics of weight and height, indicators of the development of speech and fine and gross motor skills, daily photograph and film not only the child, but also those who are involved in the upbringing process, write letters-dreams about how they want to see him in the future and what efforts they make to raise a worthy person.

How cases are used

Case (case-method - "case-study") was originally invented 100 years ago in the United States for teaching management disciplines at the Harvard School. The teachers asked successful businessmen to describe in detail the history of the creation of the company, and based on these stories they created situations (“presented problems”), the solutions of which were found by the students. This teaching method is considered one of the most productive. In addition, today at a job interview you may be asked to solve a case.

In 2010, the term adaptive case management (ACM) appeared. This technology allows you to find an effective solution to the problem. At the same time, ACM participants use established templates that are adapted to a specific situation, i.e. choose the best of what has already been used before.

Case in marketing

This is a powerful tool to increase sales, which must be used where you can visualize the results of what was BEFORE and became AFTER.

The case scheme is standard:

• Detailed description of the situation.
• Identification and definition of the problem.
• Setting goals.
• The process of solving problems and achieving goals.
• Result, comparison with initial data.
• Reviews.

Case types

Marketing cases can be divided by text size into:

• short - about 1.5 -2 thousand characters;
• medium - about 500 words;
• long - 7000-10000 characters.

Some researchers argue that longer case stories with a compelling plot evoke positive emotions and gain more likes.

It is better to create at least 2 versions of the text by volume: one will be an abstract, and the second will be a detailed narrative about how your product solves customer problems.

By form:

• text - it is supposed to have pictures, tables, graphs and even animations.
• text and presentation - it turns out brighter than the text version.
• video is the most costly from a financial point of view, because. you need to write a script for a video, pay for the work of the operator and designer.

Using cases in marketing, advertising

Potential clients trust real cases more, which allow assessing the level of professionalism of employees and understanding the features of building strategies in project implementation, the validity of the cost of services or products.

The task of a case in advertising is to demonstrate a service or product in action, to provide convincing answers to all the objections of a potential buyer, to convince the client of the need to purchase the company's products. The case is used for more effective promotion of the site, any service or product.

Case goals:

• Present a material that will show clients the whole process and scope of work to solve the problem.
• To prove to the client that the company has sufficient positive experience in achieving the goal.
• Show the effectiveness of decisions made by the company.

In addition, there is another task of describing a case - this is an opportunity to analyze the work of your company and evaluate what helps to achieve the goal and what hinders.

How to conduct a case study

It is necessary to analyze everything that was done, using, first of all, statistics and evaluating the final result.

• Evaluate the processes, determine which are successful and which are not.
• Pay attention to the coherence of the team.
• Answer the question: “Are the costs justified to achieve the goal?”

Analysis of the case will allow you to understand what mistakes were made. You will understand how to avoid them in the future.

How to write a good case study

Successful cases are selling cases. When developing them, you need to remember 10 rules.

• Write a catchy and catchy headline. They can be of two types:
  • title-problem: How to quickly and easily make a stylish renovation in your apartment?
  • title-result: Dream apartment in 30 days!
• Put in the base interesting story your client. Tell us about his problem and how you dealt with it.
• Accompany the narrative with visual information - tables, graphs, diagrams. Show off your services or products.
• Write in plain language for the target audience. Eliminate incomprehensible terminology and professionalism. Use simple clear sentences.
• Compare the situation before and after. Show some subtleties in overcoming difficulties and successful completion project. Quality design is no less important than numbers.
• Add testimonials from customers and employees.

Cases allow you to tell about your company. They increase credibility, attract customers.

The question is asked, as a rule, by students who have encountered this term for the first time. However, this concept is becoming popular in business communities. Before answering the question of what cases are and giving examples of their solution, let's delve into the history of the origin of the term.

The emergence of cases

The concept first appeared in 1924. Professors at a prestigious university realized that the textbooks of previous years were not capable of preparing graduates for modern professions. The manuals and manuals that are relevant at this point in time have not yet been created, and the previous ones are already outdated. Then the professors thought out business cases - the actual tasks of our time that graduates had to solve. To do this, business owners were invited to Harvard, who instructed graduate students in detail. Entrepreneurs at the seminars talked about the real problems that their companies faced. After that, graduate students had to find their own solution to these problems. The peculiarity of such training is that there are no correct answers. You just need to find the best way out of the current situation. In other words, everyone chooses the solution of cases individually.

The innovation of Harvard professors proved to be effective. Graduates already at the exit actually had a semblance of experience. They knew the problems and tasks of successful companies, they could easily cope with the tasks. In fact, the solution of cases by the student gave him real practice within the walls of the university. Therefore, since the middle of the twentieth century, this method has become widespread throughout the world.

Appearance in Russia

In our country, even with the collapse of the socialist system in the nineties of the last century, the education system for a long time existed on the knurled. The country no longer exists, but there are USSR textbooks. Even textbooks on the history of the CPSU with Lenin on the covers finally disappeared only by the mid-nineties of the twentieth century, not to mention other disciplines.

And only Messrs. management cases began to appear in the leading universities of our country. Today this method is actively developed in Russia. In addition, thematic case-clubs are opened. Particularly popular with schoolchildren and students are the MSTU club. E. Bauman, NUST MISIS Career Center, etc.

So what are cases? Let's move on to the concept itself.

concept

Case (from Latin casus) - an extraordinary situation, a problem whose solution cannot be found in textbooks. A more accurate interpretation of the term "casus" is a problem that needs to be solved, however, this term came to Russian from English, in which the Latin word casus is pronounced as "case".

Students simulate a problem situation that is as close as possible to the real one, and they must find a solution. The bottom line is that there is no right answer. There is only the opinion of teachers and a real way out of this situation, if the case, of course, was taken from life. Solution methods, reasoning, collective discussion, etc. are evaluated.

So, what is a case, we explained, now let's move on to the goals.

Goals

Although the topics of the cases may differ from each other, the modeling itself, as a rule, has common goals:

1. Validate student intelligence and analytics.
2. Develop an argument for your position.
3. Developing resilience to stressful situations.
4. Teaching time management skills.
5. Development of communication

Cases during the interview

This method is used not only in educational institutions. Today, many firms use it during interviews. Every day, the employer looks less and less at the resume of the applicant, at the level of his education, work experience, etc. It is enough to offer a candidate for a position a few cases, and everything becomes clear about a person better than various pieces of paper and recommendations.

Of course, this does not mean that education and experience do not matter. Without them, you may not get to the stage of solving the case at all. However, it is the last stage that becomes the decisive factor when choosing an employee. In this regard, Google stands out, which develops its own case modeling techniques. They are specific to each job. Work experience, level of education will not help the candidate if he cannot solve cases. And they sometimes amaze the imagination with their deceptive simplicity.

Case examples

Let's take an example. The company faced the problem of the efficiency of employees in the sales department. Three people work. The first works with 70% of clients, the second - with 20%, and the third - with 10%. With these indicators, the second one shows the highest sales, but it only works with regular customers. The third, on the contrary, works only with new clients, while the first works with both new and regular ones. The task for the manager is to increase the sales plan and redistribute the flow of customers in such a way that the company receives maximum profit.

To solve this problem, you need to answer the following questions:

• What are the possibilities for improvement in this situation?
• What standards can help improve the results of each salesperson and the sales team as a whole in the long run?

Perhaps the first seller works best with new buyers, or with regular ones. It is also worth trying to swap the second and third seller. Those. the second one will only work with new ones, and the third one will only work with permanent ones. Perhaps they have a professional crisis, and a change of scenery is needed.

Second example

An interview is underway for the position of Head of Human Resources. The candidate must have such a quality as the ability to be flexible and avoid unnecessary conflicts. It is proposed to solve the following case: the CEO insisted that the firm take the daughter of an influential person. The previous manager gave her the position of assistant secretary. The girl herself did not show herself in any way, she did not identify herself with the company, and she had no desire for career growth. To this is added the lack of experience in other enterprises.

During her work, her main skills have become: receiving incoming documents, keeping records, packaging documentation in folders. Six months later, the position of a leading document management specialist was vacated. The CEO insisted that this girl take the position. However, the company has many other employees who deserve a promotion. In this task, the applicant must make a choice: either go against the general management, or work with a disgruntled team.

Perhaps the candidate will find an acceptable option for both the CEO and the team. Case examples do not have correct solutions. Each case is individual.

There are not only business cases, but also cases in other areas: pedagogy, medicine, jurisprudence. In every profession, you can simulate a problem situation.

KEYIS 1. Intellectual Property: Implementation Challenges in a Global Economy (Case Study of Microsoft's Activities in China)

Microsoft is the world's largest software development company software for personal computers, which created MS-DOS, and then WINDOWS. These programs, which are operating system and graphical user interface, respectively, are constantly used in more than 90% of personal computers around the world. In addition, Microsoft has many popular software applications, including OFFICE suites and OFFICE SUPPORT. An integral part of Microsoft's international strategy was to expand into China, where 5 million personal computers were sold in 1998. With a population of 1.5 billion, China represents a potentially huge market for Microsoft. Microsoft's goal is to increase sales from zero in 1994 to $200 million in 2002.

However, during its implementation, the company had to overcome very serious difficulties - unlicensed use of its own programs. About 95% of all programs on the Chinese market in 1998 were unlicensed. The company suffered big losses from this. Most of the company's products used in China are illegal copies that were made and then sold without any benefit to Microsoft. For company leaders, this is obvious. A few buildings from the company's Hong Kong office is a small shop that sells CD-ROMbi, each packed with a dozen computer programs which would amount to $20,000. The suggested price is HK$500 which is equivalent to US$52! According to the company, the Chinese government itself sets a bad example. Microsoft lawyers lament the fact that Beijing does not budget for software purchases, forcing its bureaucracy to find cheap software solutions. Based on this, Microsoft claims that most of the government uses pirated software.

Making matters worse, China is becoming a massive exporter of counterfeit software. Customs in Hong Kong held up a shipment of 2,200 such discs en route from China to Belgium. The problem arises because the Chinese authorities do not enforce their own laws. Microsoft encountered this when it first tried to use the Chinese legal system to sue software pirates. The company forced the authorities of the Chinese province of Guangdong to raid the manufacturer of fake holograms that are used by Microsoft to confirm the authenticity of the instructions for their programs. The Chinese authorities convicted the counterfeiter, admitted that there was a copyright infringement, but paid Microsoft only $2,600, while the pirate company was fined only $3,000.

To compete with counterfeit software, Microsoft cut the price of computer software in China by nearly 200% in October 1994. This promotion probably had little effect, since the software still costs between $100 and $200 compared to illegal copies of the same software offered for $5 to $20.

Another tactic of the company has been lobbying the US government to influence the Chinese authorities to comply with their own laws. Part of the attempt to lobby for their interests was the entry of "Microsoft" in a kind of guerrilla war. Company representatives rummaged through dumpsters, paid locals for espionage, posed as money-raising businessmen to collect evidence of piracy, which was then turned over to US trade authorities. This tactic has worked since the US government is currently trying to influence China: US support was the main condition for China to become a member of the WTO. The US has said it will not support China's membership until China starts enforcing intellectual property law.

This demand was backed up by a threat to impose $1.08 billion in tariffs on Chinese exports until China agrees to tighten enforcement of the laws. After a tense estrangement, in February 1995, China relented and agreed to US demands. The Chinese government has begun enforcing intellectual property law, shutting down factories the US says were making counterfeit US products, accepting US trademarks including Microsoft, and instructing government ministries to stop using pirated software.

In addition to these actions, Microsoft announced that it will work with the Chinese Ministry of Electronics to develop a Chinese version of the operating system. WINDOWS systems. The Microsoft principle is: The best way to stop the use of pirated software by the Chinese government is to do business together. Once the government profits from increased sales of legitimate Microsoft products, it will also have an incentive to reduce sales of counterfeit software.

As a sign of Microsoft's progress in tackling China's piracy problem, a Beijing court paid Microsoft 800,000 yen in March 1999. ($744,720) in damages after two Chinese companies were found guilty of violating copyright law. For the first time, Microsoft has filed a software piracy case in a Chinese court. Although the monetary compensation was small, the victory signifies the emergence of this kind of trend in China.

CASE 2. "Crayfish Wars"

Once upon a time, Louisiana was the property of France. Napoleon sold this territory to the United States during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, but many French people remained to live there. Some time later, their descendants became the creators of a special Cajun culture, which today is famous in the United States for its unique music and cuisine. The basis of this cuisine is the "sacred lobster", as they like to call it in Louisiana. (Crawfish is a crustacean that is an ancient inhabitant of the lakes of Louisiana). Lobster is the main ingredient in crayfish pies, crayfish soup, and okra pod soup. Like wine for France, it is a symbol of local culture. Its breeding is a major industry that generates $300 million a year for Louisiana farmers. At least, incomes were such until competitors in the face of the Chinese appeared on the market.

In the early 1990s, Louisiana importers welcomed the development of the Chinese lobster breeding industry to meet the growing demand for them. In China, the lobster breeding industry has proven to be very lucrative for entrepreneurial farmers. The first lobsters from China appeared in Louisiana in 1991. Although the natives immediately noted that the Chinese lobsters were not tasty enough, however, consumers did not seem to notice any difference. They may have liked the price, which was $2-3 per pound depending on the season, compared to $5-8 per pound for Louisiana lobsters. Thanks to a significant price advantage, sales from Chinese imports soared from 353,000 pounds in 1992 to 5.5 million pounds in 1996. In 1996, Louisiana state employees estimated that 3,000 jobs had been lost by the local industry. These were mostly low-paying jobs as lobster cleaners. This was due to an increase in the market share of Chinese imports.

In 1996, the Committee for Research and Promotion of the Lobster Industry sent a petition asking for an anti-dumping campaign by the Committee on International Trade, the "right hand" of the US government. The petition alleged that Chinese lobster producers were dumping their product, selling it at low prices in order to put Louisiana producers out of business. It was decided to impose a 200 to 300% import tax on Chinese lobsters. The State of Louisiana spent $350,000 to support this action.

Lawyers representing China's spiny lobster industry justified the low prices as lower breeding costs, not a dumping campaign. One Louisiana Chinese lobster importer noted that 27 processing plants supplied his company. Workers in these factories were provided with housing and other amenities, plus they received 15 cents an hour, or $9, for a 60-hour week. The same lawyers noted that Chinese lobsters proved to be good both for individual American buyers, who thereby saved money and, moreover, were uninterruptedly provided with them, and for the Louisiana restaurant business, since production became more economical. Lawyers also noted that this action does not protect the interests of American buyers, since this is nothing more than an attempt by Louisiana lobster producers to restore their monopoly on the market, thereby making more profit.

However, the Committee on International Trade remained deaf to these arguments. Using arguments more typical of the heroes of Alice in Wonderland, the Committee justified this by saying that China is a country with a "non-market economy", as it is not a member of the WTO. The Committee then took into account the prices of the "market economy" country, Spain, in order to establish the true market value of the lobsters. Since lobsters in Spain are sold at twice the price in China, which is almost the same as in Louisiana, the Committee concluded that the Chinese were dumping. In August 1997, the Committee imposed a 110% to 123% tax on Chinese lobster imports, thus eliminating the price advantage enjoyed by the Chinese. In an effort to protect American jobs, the Committee sided with Louisiana producers over the interests of American buyers, who are now forced to pay a higher price for lobsters.

KEIS 3. Continuation of automobile wars: USA - Japan

On the international stage, Japan has long supported free trade agreements. However, the US government has repeatedly stressed that the Japanese approach to this is cynical and neomercantilist. The Japanese, US officials said, are happy to establish international agreements that open up foreign markets for Japanese products, but at the same time protect their domestic market from foreign competition. As proof, officials point to huge disparities in trade between the US and Japan, which in 1994 amounted to over $80 billion (the US imported $80 billion more from Japan than it exported).

In 1994, Japanese economists conducted a study that showed that the food, cosmetics, and chemical industries were the main areas in which the Japanese government protected Japanese manufacturing from foreign competition through various import restrictions, such as quotas on the amount of products that can be imported into Japan. According to the estimates obtained, in the absence of barriers protecting these areas from foreign competition, imports would have doubled and prices in Japan would have fallen significantly.

The studies conclude that lowering the prices of goods in these areas would have saved the average Japanese consumer $890 in 1989. However, at the same time, there would be a decline of more than 20% in production in certain areas, including the cultivation of wheat, oilseeds, leaf tobacco and the production of canned vegetables and fruits, cosmetics. Trade liberalization would result in the loss of more than 180,000 jobs in Japan. It would seem that the Japanese government is shielding these areas from more effective foreign competition in order to keep jobs, even if the average Japanese consumer is forced to buy goods at higher prices. Guardianship of the food sector can be justified by the fact that Japanese farmers who are interested in this protection are a powerful political force in Japanese society.

The US government claims that Japan has also taken a neo-mercantilist stance by importing cars and auto parts. Japan is the main exporter of cars and parts to America and Europe, but historically Japan has only imported 3% of cars and 2% of parts. Other developed countries import from 22% to 78% of cars and from 16% to 60% of spare parts. The Japanese government is restricting imports to Japan by imposing strict security screening requirements on imported goods, designed to increase the cost to foreigners trying to sell goods in Japan, according to US trade negotiators. For example, the US Department of Commerce states that the introduction of front brush protection as a vehicle safety feature is mandatory only in Japan. To do this, it is necessary to carry out a series of works, including production, testing, additional inspection, the cost of which reaches $ 3,000 per vehicle.

The Japanese government denies such accusations. Government officials claim that American auto companies are not popular in Japan because their products do not meet the needs of the Japanese market. They point out that while 80% of cars sold in the Japanese market have engines under 2000cc, no American company sells cars in Japan with the same capacity. They also indicate that the share of imported machinery and parts is increasing in the Japanese market. From 1990 to 1994, for example, the share of imported cars in the Japanese market increased from 5.1% to 8.1%.

CASE 4. Costs of protectionism in the US

The US often presents itself as a country that is committed to unrestricted free trade. In negotiations with trading partners such as China, the European Union and Japan, one can often hear assurances from US trade representatives that the US economy is open with few customs duties. Although customs duties on goods imported into the United States are indeed lower than in other industrialized countries, they still occur. A number of studies have shown that during the 1980s, tariffs cost US buyers about $2 billion a year.

A study by Gary Hufbauer and Kim Elliot at the Institute for International Economics looked at the impact of customs duties on economic activity in 21 industries with annual sales of $1 billion or more that the US carefully protected from foreign competition. Among these industries were: the manufacture of clothing, ceramic tiles, bags and sugar production. In many of these industries, tariffs were originally introduced to protect American firms and their workers from outside competitors offering goods at lower prices. The usual argument for imposing tariffs was that US firms without such support would go bankrupt, causing a significant increase in unemployment. Thus, the tariffs were presented as having a positive effect on the US economy, not to mention the US Treasury, which benefited from the corresponding revenues.

The study found, however, that while these tariffs saved 200,000 protected industry jobs that would otherwise be lost to foreign competition, they cost US buyers about $32 billion in year in the form of higher prices. Even after the proceeds from these fees went to the US Treasury, the total amount paid by the nation was still $10.2 billion a year, or more than $50,000 per job saved.

The economists who conducted these studies proved that these figures underestimated the actual cost that a country incurs in imposing these duties. They argue that by making imported goods less competitive with American goods, the tariffs allowed local producers to charge higher prices because they did not have to compete with cheaper imported goods. By dampening competition, even slightly, these tariffs removed the incentive for firms to become more efficient, thus slowing down economic progress. Moreover, the authors of the study noted that if duties had not been introduced, some part of the $32 billion released annually would have been spent on other goods and services. The growth of these industries would offer new jobs, offsetting the loss of 200,000 jobs in protected industries.

CASE 5. International expansion of Wal-Mart

Founded by Sam Walton in the 1960s, by the early 1990s, Wal-Mart had become the largest discount retailer in the United States, with $32.6 billion in annual sales. from a small store in Arkansas to a national leader, was built on a team of first-rate managers who introduced innovative strategies based on the company's commitment to provide consumers with a large selection of high quality products at a low price.

The firm pioneered the development of a distribution system in which central warehouses were strategically positioned to serve clusters of stores. This allowed to reduce costs in terms of inventories and logistics. The firm was also one of the first to use computer information systems to track internal sales and communicate this information to suppliers. The information provided by these systems was used to determine the pricing strategy and stock levels. Today, Wal-Mart is still a leader in information systems applications.

All Wal-Mart stores, distribution centers, and suppliers are connected to each other via a complex information system and satellite communications that allow daily adjustments to orders, stocks and prices. In addition, the company has a dynamic and elitist culture that delegates key decision making to store managers, department managers, and individual workers (whom Wal-Mart refers to as "colleagues"). Wal-Mart is known to treat its employees very well, but at the same time requires them to actively participate and perform their duties perfectly. This culture is supported by the share participation of workers in the division of profits and ownership. Thus, Wal-Mart has created a culture and control system that encourages employees and managers to do their best for their company.

Despite the successful development, by 1991, Wal-Mart began to experience serious problems. With 1,568 stores across the country, its development prospects in the US were very limited. Wal-Mart decided to try to expand beyond the US and create an "international brand name". The company discussed expansion options, including licensing its brand name for franchise, but then decided it would be best to develop through Wal-Mart's wholly owned subsidiaries in foreign countries that would allow such investment. The company concluded that its competitive advantage was based on a combination of culture and supporting information and logistics systems, and that such a culture and systems would be difficult to transfer to franchised businesses.

In 1992, Wal-Mart began its ventures by opening 6 stores in Mexico. By the end of 1997, Wal-Mart had 402 stores in that country, in addition to 144 in Canada, 13 in Puerto Rico, 9 in Argentina, 8 in Brazil, 3 in China, and 3 in in Indonesia. Wal-Mart also announced its decision to buy 21 Wertkauf supermarkets in Germany, the first joint venture in Europe. Following one strategy, Wal-Mart, after opening a store in another country, transferred several American employees there for 2-3 years to help establish the company's system and transfer the Wal-Mart corporate culture to new employees.

This strategy seems to be working so far. Wal-Mart's international stores generated more than $5 billion in addition to the company's $120 billion in 1997 revenue. They are still making a profit.

CASE 6. Rise of the Finnish Nokia

Industry cell phones- one of the stories of rapid economic growth observed in the 90s. The number of cell phone users is constantly increasing. By the end of 1998 there were about 150 million users worldwide, up from 10 million in 1990. Three firms dominate the international market for cellular equipment (meaning cell phones, base station equipment, and electronic switches): Motorola, Nokia, and Ericsson. Of the three, Nokia's rapid rise was the most surprising.

Nokia is located in Finland - a country that was not leading in this kind of technology. In the 1980s, Nokia was a sprawling conglomerate whose activities included the production of tires, paper products, household appliances and telecommunications equipment. Today it is a concentrated 10 billionth manufacturer of telecommunications equipment, second only to Motorola. Nokia's sales and revenues are growing by more than 30% annually. How did this former conglomerate take the world's leading position in cellular equipment? The answer can be found in the history, geography, politics and economy of Finland and its Scandinavian neighbours.

It all started in 1981 when the Scandinavian countries came together to create the world's first international cell phone network. With a low population density, the cold territories of the Scandinavian countries created all the prerequisites for the peoples living here to become pioneers in this area, since the costs of conducting traditional wire telephone connection they were much higher than in many other states. Therefore, telecommunications services were in high demand. People who drive cars in the winter in the Arctic, the owners of remote northern homes need phones to call, for example, someone for help in case of trouble. As a result, Sweden, Norway and Finland became the first countries in the world to take the idea of ​​cellular telecommunications seriously.

They found that while a user was paying about $800 to install a wireline telephone service to remote areas, those same areas could be connected to a wireless network. cellular communication for only $500 per person. As a result, by 1994, 12% of the population in Scandinavia were cell phone owners, compared to less than 6% in the US, the world's second most developed market.

Nokia, as a long-time supplier of telecommunications equipment, was in an advantageous position, but there were other conditions in Finland that helped it develop its competitiveness. Compared to other developed countries, Finland has never had a national telephone monopoly. On the contrary, telephone services in the country were carried out by about 50 autonomous local telephone companies, whose boards of directors set prices as a result of a referendum (which means - low prices). These independent and cost-conscious phone service providers prevented Nokia from achieving a monopoly in their country.

With typical Finnish pragmatism, they would go with the cheapest supplier, be it Nokia, Motorola, Ericsson or whatever. This situation was very different from that which prevailed in most developed countries until the late 1980s and early 1990s, where local telephone monopolies usually bought equipment from a leading local supplier or manufactured it themselves. Nokia responded to this pressure by doing everything possible to keep production costs down while remaining a leading technology company.

The implications of these efforts are clear. While Motorola remains the number one cellular equipment manufacturer, the once obscure Finnish firm Nokia has suddenly appeared on the horizon. And it is Nokia, not Motorola, that is the leader in digital cellular technology, which is the future. Nokia leads the way in this area because the Scandinavian countries were the first to switch to digital technologies - five years ahead of all other countries.

Encouraged by its low-price oriented Finnish customers, Nokia now has the lowest cost system of any global cellular equipment manufacturer, with more revenue than Motorola.

CASE 7: The Rise of Software in India

“Dry theory, my friend, but the tree of life is lush green” - they usually remember the famous classic phrase when they want to say that it’s time to move from words to deeds.

To complement the discourse on cinema marketing, I decided to invite all interested readers to practice practical marketing.

Firstly, it is much more interesting for me, as an author, and for you, as readers, and secondly, it will allow us to add new aspects and details of elaboration to the topic on which we are solving problems.

In addition, in the course of solving the tasks I propose, any reader will be able to offer their own case for public discussion. Perhaps, in this way, some problem will be solved for someone and one headache will become less.

I want to immediately clarify the understanding of the prospects for waiting for the results of this project, so as not to mislead readers, and especially participants who offer their own options for solving problems. Find an unambiguous, uniquely correct solution of the problem posed in marketing cases tasks we will obviously never be able to. And this is connected, first of all, with the very nature of marketing, as a science of perception. And, as it has long been known: "There are no comrades for the taste and color."

Therefore, the main task of the cases is not so much to get an unambiguous answer, but to study the decision-making technology itself using practical examples. Designate a range of factors that affect the result, summarize the experience of cinemas that have already been looking for solutions to similar problems. And, at least, determine the vector of direction and methods for solving the problem and at least one more step closer to the cherished goal.

In general, for me personally, marketing is 50% creativity and 50% technology. Technique is marketing tools, and creativity is not only unexpected and original creative solutions, but also intuitive variability in the use of these very marketing tools. I would compare the technology for solving a marketing problem with taking an integral. It is known that even a monkey can be taught to calculate the differential, but only Homo sapiens can take integrals. The only difference is that in marketing all integrals are not taken.

TOPIC: MARKET VOLUME. PROBLEM FOR EXAMPLE.

Preamble:

Knowing and predicting the volume of the film distribution market is one of the key factors for being able to correctly assess the competitive position of the cinema, its financial potential, the effectiveness of the competitive strategy, the prospects for payback, the need and size of investments.

Case №1-1

Conditions:

The average monthly actual box office in the city of N with a population of 100,000 people, with one five-screen cinema in the shopping and entertainment center operating for two years, is 3.98 million rubles. and the average monthly attendance is 20,000. Another four-screen cinema has been opened in the new mall. The repertoire policy of cinemas does not have significant differences. The pricing policy of the new cinema differs from the current one by lower prices by 30%.

Task:

Determine the total average monthly box office in city N if the operating cinema adjusted its prices by 30% downwards?

Additional information:

Parameters of the current shopping and entertainment center: area 20,000 sq.m., standard content for tenants + zone for children's gaming machines, distance from the city center -700 m, nearby sleeping area. The cinema has the largest hall in the city.

Parameters of the new mall: area 25,000, standard tenant content + slot machine zone + fitness center, distance from the city center - 0 m.

An example solution:

To begin with, let's deal with the possible change in cinema attendance in general. Let's define the factors that can affect the change in attendance:

• a) Ticket price reduction
• b) Interest in the new cinema
• c) Advertising campaign for the opening of a new cinema
• d) Reciprocal advertising activity of the operating cinema
• e) Improved service availability (distance, total number of sessions)

Let's make an assessment of the possible change in attendance by the influence of each factor separately.

a) Ticket price reduction- can affect both the frequency of visits to cinemas and the attraction of an additional audience, for which the price was a fundamental decision-making factor. Since the cost reduction was significant, it can be assumed that this factor will increase cinema attendance from 10 to 15% with a phased achievement of this result.

b) Interest in a new cinema- most likely will provide a local surge in attendance of the new cinema during the first one or two months, mainly due to visits to the previously operating cinema, this factor can provide an increase in attendance up to 20-25% in the first month, followed by a decrease to 0%

d) Response advertising activity of the operating cinema - will not have any significant impact on attendance and will most likely affect the general hype around film distribution in the city, however, you can count on an increase of 3 to 5%, mainly due to a synergistic effect with lower prices

e) Service Accessibility Improvement(distance, total number of sessions) - at the initial stage it will not give any significant results, but in the subsequent period it can bring up to 10% increase in attendance.

Conclusion: the total number of cinema visits as a whole can increase from 27% to 55% in the first month of a new cinema and then stabilize to the level of 23-30%. Taking into account the 30% reduction in the ticket price, it can be assumed that the city's box office will increase by 10% in the first or second month of the new cinema's operation, with subsequent stabilization at the previous level or even a decrease by 3-4%.

Perhaps for this task you will offer a different argumentation and formulate a different conclusion. Let's discuss together, offer your solutions.

Below I propose two similar tasks as a development of this one.

TASKS FOR STUDY.

Case №1-2

Conditions:

Match conditions Case №1-1

Task:

Determine the average monthly box office for each of the cinemas.

Case №1-3

Conditions:

Match conditions Case №1-1

Task:

Determine the total average monthly box office of city N if the operating cinema left prices at the same level?

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Case №1-4

Conditions:

The volume of the region's annual cinema market is determined by the formula V=P*K*S, where V is the actual volume of ticket sales per year, P is the number of residents in the locality, K is the attendance rate, S is the average ticket price

Task:

Create a formula for calculating the values ​​of K and S, using socio-demographic, economic, migration and other indicators of the state of the region. All indicators must have an unambiguous interpretation, have specific values, and be freely available.

Possible indicators:

Average salary, number of students, number of schoolchildren, average age audience, diversification factor of production, remoteness from a more developed center, number of cinemas and the level of their equipment and multiple screens, suburban population, etc.

H some explanation for this case. Based on the variety of factors that affect the volume of the cinema market and the absence of any clear proven dependencies of the market on these factors, most likely this task has a pronounced futuristic character. I dare to suggest that a couple of years will not be enough for any research institute to search for a cherished solution. And taking into account the constant variability of the very number and composition of influencing factors, the search for this solution generally loses its meaning.

However, knowing the formula for accurately calculating the volume of the cinema market is one of the most cherished desires of investors. Therefore, I propose to use the only scientific approach that is always at hand to find a solution to this problem - the scientific poke method. Do not be shy, offer any creative solutions, in the end, the combination of many factors can be expressed in one factor, and, at first glance, that does not affect the activity of moviegoers in any way.

Try to apply this problem to your own city.