Saurer: The China challenge (A)

Consumer preferences are increasingly favoring brands with a strong local identity. The reasons for this trend include environmental concerns and challenges in our fast-paced, interconnected world. Global crises -- such as the COVID-19 pandemic, c...

More than 80% of purchases are made by women. But reaching, interacting with, and converting female consumers is a challenge for most companies. You can get through the maze of marketing to women by using these four guidelines.

While it’s tempting for business leaders to think they can safely navigate a divisive cultural and political landscape, it’s a fool’s errand.

The case study delves into strategic transformation and leadership transitions at Unilever since 2009. Unilever has been an industry leader of business sustainability. Paul Polman was a pioneer who introduced the idea that, by addressing social and environmental problems, a company can unlock new growth opportunities. Polman launched a 10-year Sustainable Living Plan with three objectives: to enhance health and well-being, livelihoods and environmental sustainability. Alan Jope followed in Polman’s path and launched a novel plan for the new decade called The Unilever Compass, focused on sustainability. Unilever took a strategic turn during Jope’s tenure and asked the brands to use their products to solve social issues. He called this “purpose-led branding,” which confused investors. They believed social branding would take the company’s focus away from growth. Tensions were high at Unilever and resulted in a change in leadership. The company wants to focus on growth, which raises questions about the future of corporate sustainability at Unilever.

Leading Chinese companies are preparing to take advantage of exposure and opportunities as top sponsors and suppliers to the UEFA EURO 2024 Men’s Soccer Tournament (Euro 24) — played by European teams thousands of kilometers away from China. 

Marketing campaigns for sustainable offerings often fail, leaving businesses with products that do not sell. How can companies reach customers more effectively?

Nespresso, the global leading brand in portioned coffee, is facing an existential threat. The company’s current market base, which consists primarily of aging consumers, is likely to decline in the medium to long term. To compensate for the certai...

Chris Tung is President of Strategic Development at Chinese e-commerce multinational Alibaba Group. He tells Amit Joshi how the company is integrating AI to optimize its customer experience.

Many companies overestimate customers’ appetite for sustainable products, flooding the market with offerings that don’t sell. The reality is, social and environmental benefits have less impact on purchasing decisions than basic product attributes ...

The case explores the efforts of Hamilton Mann, Group VP, Global Digital Marketing & Digital Transformation at Thales, to build a sales enablement platform as part of Thales’ larger digital transformation. “ContentFlix” aimed to be a one-stop sales enablement platform bringing together content for presentations and sales pitches and integrating solutions from across the business. Thales’ key account teams were used to operating in silos and via face-to-face interactions. Similarly, marketing and sales were distant and did not work together as effectively and seamlessly as they could. ContentFlix was intended to break down those silos and encourage collaboration between the company’s different businesses and marketing and sales teams. Mann’s team had launched ContentFlix quietly, tackling each implementation challenge as it came, and adoption had been steady. The Covid pandemic changed everything. Enforced lockdowns meant that remote cooperation between units became the only way to do business. The platform’s adoption accelerated beyond Mann’s expectations and continued to grow post-pandemic. The case explores how the team planned the platform, supported its rollout across Thales and continued to build it throughout the pandemic and beyond. The case explores in rich detail the obstacles and challenges as well as the successes Mann and his team face. The case closes with the rise of generative AI (GenAI). The team starts to consider where GenAI could enhance ContentFlix. What possibilities were there to take the platform to its next stage of development?