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Back to Newsletter Vol 2, Issue 02, May 2020
Marketing
The case talks about the change in tactics adopted by the world’s largest publicly traded jewellery chain, the China-based Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited (CTF) in response to the changing economic conditions in China. The company not only changed its retail strategy, but also adopted a multi-brand strategy to serve newer customer segments. The case starts out by describing CTF’s early days in Hong Kong and the business practices it followed to revolutionize the jewellery industry there. It then documents CTF’s meteoric rise in China, which the company entered in the days following the economic boom in the country in the 1990s. Later, the case describes in detail the strategy undertaken by CTF to combat the poor economic scenario in China in the 2010s. The company not only changed its retail strategy, but also adopted a multi-brand strategy to serve newer customer segments. The case then describes how CTF leveraged technology to improve its offerings. It also takes a look at the competition faced by CTF and the measures it was taking to emerge as a global jewellery brand.

Chow Tai Fook: A Chinese Jewellery Giant Changing Tactics
Zomato, one of India’s leading Food Service Aggregators (FSAs), was engaged in a conflict with restaurant partners over its practice of offering high discounts to customers. On August 15, 2019, hundreds of restaurants under the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) launched a logout campaign and delisted themselves from platforms of FSAs such as Zomato, EazyDiner, Nearbuy, Magicpin, and Dineout, alleging that the aggregators had distorted the food service sector through aggressive discounting and predatory pricing, which hurt the core value proposition and bottom line of restaurants. Zomato, in particular, came under severe criticism as its premium subscription-based dining out service Zomato Gold (ZG) had 6,500 restaurants partners and a total of 1.1 million subscribers in India as of August 2019. As part of the campaign, around 2,500 restaurants logged out from the ZG service. Zomato’s co-founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal (Goyal) urged restaurants to stop the logout campaign in the interest of consumers. He admitted that Zomato had made some mistakes and tweaked the ZG program. However, NRAI refused to accept the modified version of the plan, saying that the corrective measures would not resolve the key issue of deep discounts. Goyal then said he would stand by the changes made. He even expanded the ZG service to food delivery. However, time was fast running out for Goyal as Zomato ran the risk of being overtaken by rivals. He would have to resolve the issue quickly in the best interests of all the stakeholders.

Can Zomato Continue its Deep Discounting Strategy? (Abridged)
The case is about Atlanta-based fast food restaurant chain Chick-fil-A’s innovative business practices that made it the 3rd largest restaurant chain in the US. Known for its delicious chicken sandwich, Chick-fil-A was one of the largest family-owned restaurant businesses in the US. It was recognized as the top intimate fast food brand in 2019, ahead of popular brands like Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks Corporation. With its guiding principle of serving others, the company witnessed consecutive years of growth since its founding in 1967. The success of Chick-fil-A was attributed to its simple ingredients, menu additions, efficient drive-thru performance, and single-owner franchise system, among others. In addition to freshly-prepared food made with the best-quality ingredients, customer service and hospitality were the driving force that helped Chick-fil-A distinguish itself from other fast food restaurants. Chick-fil-A took great care of its employees while offering a warm, familiar workplace environment and this translated into the best customer service in the fast food sector in the US. The company focused on innovating and improving its products, services, and processes in order to better serve and nourish customers and communities. Innovation was the central part of Chick-fil-A’s business. It continued to innovate through its innovation center that focused on digital technology. The innovation center focused on restaurant design and customer experience, menu enhancements, and food service design. All these practices helped Chick-fil-A attract and retain customers, and made it the ‘most beloved fast food chain in America’. Despite the challenges the company faced due to its beliefs and the competitive business environment, it maintained a leading position in the industry. However, with competitors fast catching up, it remained to be seen, going forward, whether the fast food giant would be able to hold on to its position.

‘Chick-fil-A’: A Recipe for Success
Zomato, one of India’s leading Food Service Aggregators (FSAs), was engaged in a conflict with restaurant partners over its practice of offering high discounts to customers. On August 15, 2019, hundreds of restaurants under the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) launched a logout campaign and delisted themselves from platforms of FSAs such as Zomato, EazyDiner, Nearbuy, Magicpin, and Dineout, alleging that the aggregators had distorted the food service sector through aggressive discounting and predatory pricing, which hurt the core value proposition and bottom line of restaurants. Zomato, in particular, came under severe criticism as its premium subscription-based dining out service Zomato Gold (ZG) had 6,500 restaurants partners and a total of 1.1 million subscribers in India as of August 2019. As part of the campaign, around 2,500 restaurants logged out from the ZG service. Zomato’s co-founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal (Goyal) urged restaurants to stop the logout campaign in the interest of consumers. He admitted that Zomato had made some mistakes and tweaked the ZG program. However, NRAI refused to accept the modified version of the plan, saying that the corrective measures would not resolve the key issue of deep discounts. Goyal then said he would stand by the changes made. He even expanded the ZG service to food delivery. However, time was fast running out for Goyal as Zomato ran the risk of being overtaken by rivals. He would have to resolve the issue quickly in the best interests of all the stakeholders.

Can Zomato Continue its Deep Discounting Strategy?
The case “Oatly AB: Bringing Disruption to the Global Dairy Industry” talks about the way Sweden’s oat-based dairy products company Oatly AB (Oatly) was disrupting the global dairy industry. The case starts out by mentioning the intentions behind the creation of Oatly’s flagship product – oat milk – and the company’s inability to make it a mainstream product for almost 20 years, despite numerous product line extensions and expansion into several new markets. The case then documents the rebrandingThe case “Oatly AB: Bringing Disruption to the Global Dairy Industry” talks about the way Sweden’s oat-based dairy products company Oatly AB (Oatly) was disrupting the global dairy industry. The case starts out by mentioning the intentions behind the creation of Oatly’s flagship product – oat milk – and the company’s inability to make it a mainstream product for almost 20 years, despite numerous product line extensions and expansion into several new markets. The case then documents the rebranding strategy implemented by Toni Petersson (Petersson), CEO of Oatly, to alter the company’s brand positioning and make it into a lifestyle brand, in a bid to boost sales of its oat milk. The case details how the success of the re-branding strategy prompted the company to venture into the highly competitive alternative dairy market of the US, where consumers were not really aware about oat milk. It later provides information about the unique way the company went about creating product awareness by using baristas at independent coffee shops as ‘brand evangelists’. Details are also provided about the supply chain issues encountered by Oatly following its market success in the US. A glimpse is also provided into the competitive scenario and the future plans of the company, which included expanding operations into China. It remained to be seen whether Petersson could successfully transform Oatly – one of ‘The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2019’ – into a global brand.

Oatly AB: Bringing Disruption to the Global Dairy Industry
The case examines the approach of GE Healthcare, a leading global medical technology and life sciences company, to innovation and design thinking. In the early 2000s, the company began focusing on building a world-class, award-winning design team. With the ongoing demand for more user-oriented products and services, GE Healthcare used design thinking as its core competence. By putting the user experience at the center, the company not only used design thinking in its new product development but also trained its employees so that they could use design thinking in their everyday projects. The case discusses how GE Healthcare’s empathetic view helped the company develop several successful products. The case also analyzes how the company used design thinking in its innovation journey. This case provides an insight into the development of GE Healthcare’s two most successful products – The Adventure Series Radiology Solution and the Senographe Pristina Mammogram Machine. The case ends with a discussion on GE Healthcare’s continuing to use design thinking in creating innovative products and services.

Design Thinking and Innovation at GE Healthcare
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