This is an open book exam. Please feel free to consult your notes. All questions need to be answered comprehensively. You are encouraged to use as many ‘marketing principles/concepts' as possible (as per discussion in class and as per chapters advised to be studied).
Q1. The company BIC launched a product "Bic Underwear" in Europe (Greece, Austria & Ireland) in 1998. It was withdrawn in 2005. In your opinion what were the marketing implications of the strategic introduction & the strategic withdrawal. Please identify corporate assumptions. What could be the consumer behavior factors relevant to the product?
Q2. In 2013, Burger King (BK) launched a product "Satisfries" (low calorie & low fat content).
By the end of 2014, BK had started dropping the product in spite of the heavy marketing investment. Please discuss the targeting & positioning issues in detail! In your opinion what went wrong? Were there any strategic assumptions which were violated by the Managers?
Q3. In the present ‘high tech environment', it would not be surprising to learn that ‘natural diamonds' can be lab produced with identical qualities! We can empirically guarantee that these "artificial diamonds" = (are equivalent to) "natural diamonds". Please develop competitive marketing strategies for each of them! Is there a product life cycle issue involved in this case? Please explain!