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Case Study

The Philips marketing journey (C)

By Seán Meehan

8 pages

December 2007

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Reference: IMD-5-0731

In 2001 Gerald Kleisterlee took over as CEO of Philips amid a financial crisis. The company was about to post its worst ever losses and was being viewed by many as a candidate for takeover or break-up. Kliesterlee engages in a process for re-establishing priorities for Philips and reformulating its strategy from being a conglomerate story to be a high growth electronics play. He knows that the company needs to be more externally focussed and decides to hire a Chief Marketing Officer, Andrea Ragnetti, to provide the impetus. The (A) case ends by posing the question: What should be Ragnetti’s initial plans and priorities? The (B) case describes the key initiatives launched and driven by the Ragnetti as well as all the other activities going on that support the new focus on being market-oriented. Having established a research validated rationale for a new positioning, some Divisional heads once again oppose the plan on the basis of cost and allocations thereof. The (B) case ends by asking what Kleisterlee should do. The (C) case describes the position Kleisterlee takes and describes the key events since the launch of Sense and Simplicity. A performance (financial and brand) summary is provided.

Learning Objective

To better understand how to create the conditions for outside-in transformation of a complex corporation and to appreciate the bridge brand and customer insights play in linking the customer to the corporation.

Keywords

Positioning, Brand, Customer Focus, Change, Electronics

Settings

World/global
2002-2007

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

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This case study is part of a series

Philips marketing journey (B)
The Philips marketing journey (A)
The Philips marketing journey (C)

This case study is part of a series

Philips marketing journey (B)
The Philips marketing journey (A)
The Philips marketing journey (C)

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