autumn/winter 2008 case reviews
Unilever in Brazil (1997-2007):
Marketing Strategies for Low-Income Consumers
Marketing to low-income consumers
is an important, but often overlooked,
aspect of product line planning.
Alexander Chernev, Associate
Professor of Marketing at the
Kellogg School of Management,
Northwestern University, USA,
discusses how he uses the multiaward-winning Unilever in Brazil
(1997-2007): Marketing Strategies
for Low-Income Consumers, to help
students understand the importance
and feasibility of this aspect of
consumer marketing.
The first thing to note about this case is its catchy title always good for the classroom prospects of any case.
I use cases in about 75% of my teaching and usually
shorter ones than Unilever in Brazil (1997-2007):
Marketing Strategies for Low-Income Consumers.
However, the strengths of this interesting case are
considerable and I have found it to be a very effective,
enjoyable and flexible teaching instument in an area
that does not enjoy a large supply of relevant cases.
The case centres on the decision of Unilever in Brazil as
to whether to introduce a new low cost washing powder
in a market where it already holds the predominant
share of washing powders. Whereas most cases focus
on marketing to the ‘top of the pyramid’ of consumers,
this case provides the opportunity to examine the
‘bottom of the pyramid’.
Each of my classes is around 60 participants and I teach
several of these streams in parallel and benefit from
multiple student ideas and reactions to the case scenario.
I always learn something new about the case when I
teach it. I have also used the case with groups of around
20 executives, where it works well. I ask participants to
prepare by reading the case in advance of the class and
to discuss it in small groups. The process of considering
the case requires the students to think across many
variables and suggest ways to integrate and test various
strategies. One of the nice features of the case is the
unique, counter-intuitive, solution Unilever develops.
As the case progresses it allows the class to examine
the important issues of cannibalisation of other
products in a product line and whether low-income
consumers represent a potentially profitable target
customer base for a company. These marketing issues
are faced by industries right across the board, and are
often misunderstood, so the case is highly relevant for
many participants including executives.
Teaching strategy
I generally teach the case on the core marketing course
taken by all 650 full and part time Kellogg MBAs.
10
autumn/winter 2008 case reviews
Columbia’s Final Mission
The teacher’s view
The case has a detailed teaching note, including more
exhibits and background information to the case action,
but I always produce my own teaching notes which
focus on what I am actually going to do when I walk
into the class and thereafter. Managing the class
discussion to allow the key learning points to emerge
is an important requirement of the teacher, but the case
is sufficiently well put together that less experienced
teachers could enjoy teaching it too. I use the video
that accompanies the case in bits throughout the class,
at the relevant points, to literally see the other products
in the line and then to enable my students to visualise
what actually happened.
Key learning points
I tend to unfold the case by guiding discussion for
most of the class, but reserve the last 20 minutes for a
‘mini-lecture/de-brief’ to clarify the main learning
outcomes. Marketing classes can often be criticised for
being too generalist or discursive, so it is important to
me to make sure my participants have had a chance to
concentrate on the key relevant theoretical concepts
and models before the class ends. The key points I
develop centre on understanding customers and their
needs as an essential element of value creation,
understanding buying behaviour and when new
brands constitute the best strategy in a competitive
market context.
This case is well structured and lively and students
always seem to enjoy it. I am actually always surprised
at how involved they get with the subject of washing
powder. There are also funny aspects to the case such
as the selection of brand names, which add to the
enjoyment of the class. One of the other advantages is
that students cannot find the solution to the case
dilemma on-line, which can increasingly be a problem
for the teaching of cases with high-profile subject matter.
Ultimately the focus is not what Unilever did, but why
it did it, which always enhances lively student debate.
Teaching the real experience of
management and group decisionmaking, especially under severe
pressure, is always a challenge in
the neutrality of the classroom.
Trevor Long, Visiting Fellow at
Henley Business School, University
of Reading, UK discusses how he
uses Columbia’s Final Mission and
how the multimedia dimension
enhances the potential for
participant engagement.
Core course teaching entails detailed and lengthy
preparation, so I tend to ask myself how long the shelf
life of a particular case might be. This case deals so
enjoyably with such basic and important marketing
issues and does the job so well, that it passes my
longevity test and I expect to be teaching it again on
many occasions over the next few years.
When the Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon
re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, the loss of the
seven astronauts on board captured the headlines.
The dilemmas faced by six key NASA managers and
engineers during the pre-entry period of the Shuttle
did not make the news, but their story is examined in
this case and provides a powerful and enjoyable
Student reaction
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