AMM CASE QUESTIONS

Students should read the case and come to class prepared to discuss the following
questions. Case presentations/briefs should NOT be in Q&A form. This questions are
merely provided to help you answer all issues exhaustively.

HBS Case: Altius Golf and the Fighter Brand

1. Why had Altius Golf lost market share? What will happen if Altius maintains
the status quo?
2. What should Altius’s objective be? What tradeoffs must it manage?

3. Analyze the economics of Altius’s overall golf ball business compared to its
competitors and for the three proposed Altius product lines. What are the
implications of this for the advisability of introducing Elevate?
a. What is Altius’s and its competitors 2012 revenue and gross profit? (for student
requiring more explicit guidance on how to approach the analysis)
b. What is the value of a point of market share for Altius? (for students requiring
more explicit guidance on how to approach the analysis)

c.What are the implications for Elevate, considering its unit contribution and gross
margins compared to Victor TX and Victor? (for students requiring more explicit
guidance on how to approach the analysis)

4. Should Altius implement the Elevate strategy?

a. If so, what are the risks to the brand and how can they be managed? What
sales result would you expect for each item in the line if Elevate is introduced?

b. If not, what are the alternatives, assuming the board expects growth in the
profit contribution from the golf ball line? How would these restore Altius’s
market and financial position, and what are their advantages and
disadvantages?

HBS Case: Casper Sleep (A)

1. How significant a threat is the “direct-to-consumer” mattress firms to traditional

“Big Mattress”?

2. How was Casper able to differentiate itself from other “direct-to-consumer” firms?
Why was it able to pass by direct-to-consumer pioneer Tuft and Needle?
3. Evaluate Casper’s promotional strategy from launch to September 2015. Did the
initial focus on “earned,” rather than paid, media make sense? Why or why not?

4. What is the appropriate mission for Casper communications? To Chief Creative

Officer Luke Sherman, it’s all about brand love” (case, p.2). To CEO Philip Krim, it’s
“sales performance in the short-term” (case, p.2).

5. With ambitions to establish itself as the “Nike of Sleep,” what message and media
mix would you recommend Casper for the next phase? In particular, should Casper
use TV as a medium or not?

HBS Case: Chase Sapphire

1. Assess the introduction of Chase Sapphire Reserve card? Was the card good for
JPMorgan Chase? For the sapphire brand? Why or why not?

2. Why has Chase Sapphire Reserve been so successful in acquiring customers? Will
this success continue over time? Why or why not? What changes would you make to
their customer acquisition strategy going forward?

3. The behavior of individual adopters of the card will vary in how much they spend,
whether they pay all of their charges in full each month, and whether they churn (i.e.,
whether they renew their card annually or not). As noted on the top of page 3 in the
case, three customer archetypes were transactors, revolvers, and dormants. Assuming
the following for each type of customer, how can the Chase Sapphire team best design
its product and brand to attract the right customers? Has it done so successfully with
the Chase Sapphire Reserve? Why or why not?

Transactors/ Revolvers:
Both spend $16,000 per year
Credit balance carried: $0 for transactors, 50% of annual spend for revolvers
Interest rate average: 21%
Renew the card at $450 annual fee
Dormants:
Spend only enough to earn the sign-on bonus
Credit balance carried: $0
Do not renew card at $450 annual fee

4.) If you are a competing credit card provider, how do you respond to the Chase
Sapphire Reserve? How should Chase position itself to be ready for these competitive
responses?
5.) How successful will Chase be at retaining Chase Sapphire Reserve customers into
their second year? Why? What would you suggest they do to improve their odds of
retaining their customers?

6.) Over time, the Sapphire brand has evolved from a single product (Sapphire
launched in 2009) to a three-item product line as shown in case Exhibit 5. Going
forward, how would you manage the Chase Sapphire brand and product portfolio?
Does Chase have the right number of products in the line? Are the features of each
product the right features? What changes, if any, would you make to the Chase
Sapphire Preferred card given Chase Sapphire Reserve’s success? What would you do
with the no-fee Chase Sapphire product? What, if any, changes should be made to the
Chase Sapphire Reserve card?

HBS Case: Metabical – Pricing and Packaging Decisions

Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug

Consumer Behavior/Decision-Making for New Products unit in introductory Marketing

courses or in Modules.

1. How does Metabical compare to current weight-loss options?

2. What are the pros and cons of the forecasting methods presented by Printup? If
you had to estimate demand for this product, how would you go about it? What
would your demand (unit) forecast look like for the first five years?
3. What considerations should be taken into account when making decisions
about the package count? What package size would you recommend?
4. What pricing strategy approaches would you suggest Printup explore? What
are the advantages and disadvantages of each strategy? What price would you
recommend?
5. What impact does your pricing decision have on profitability? What is ROI over
the first five years for each of the pricing strategies identified?

HBS Case: Red Lobster

1) How has Red Lobster’s positioning changed over time? Do the current ads
reflect the repositioning that Lopdrup and his team envisioned when their
efforts began in 2004?
2) What were the most effective elements in Lopdrup’s repositioning plan (initiated
in 2004)?
3) Compute restaurant level profitability under the following scenario: The mix of
patrons shifts with the restaurant gaining 2000 new unique Experiential
customers, but losing 1000 Indulgent customers and 1000 Frugal customers.
4) Should Lopdrup make Experientials the target segment and modify Red
Lobster’s positioning accordingly? If so, how should he change its marketing
mix (i.e., the 4 Ps)?