OPENING CASE: Global Branding of Avengers and Iron Man
Summary
The opening case explores how Marvel movie studios capitalized on the popularity of lead
character Tony Stark (and the actor that plays him) in branding its Avengers and Iron Man
franchises. The company also coordinated with parent company Walt Disney Studios to generate
an effective global marketing plan. Discussion of the case can begin with the following
questions.
QUESTION 1: What is behind Marvel’s global brand strategy for its movie franchises? What is
the company hoping to accomplish with this strategy?
ANSWER 1: Marvel pursues a “pull strategy” based on high brand recognition and mass media
advertising by hiring actors and directors with significant international appeal to play characters
QUESTION 2: How does Marvel’s relationship with the Walt Disney Company affect its global
branding strategy?
ANSWER 2: The Walt Disney Company reinforces Marvel’s high-visibility approach to
branding. Disney is a global company with well-established distribution channels around the
QUESTION 3: How does Marvel’s global branding strategy benefit from interest in characters
created over 50 years ago?
ANSWER 3: Marvel recognizes that there are several market segments that may be interested in
its film franchises for different reasons. Comic book readers may not necessarily be interested in
CRITICAL THINKING AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
QUESTION 1: Imagine you are the marketing manager for a U.S. manufacturer of disposable
diapers. Your firm is considering entering the Brazilian market. Your CEO believes the
advertising message that has been effective in the United States will suffice in Brazil. Outline the
possible objections to this. Your CEO also believes that the pricing decisions in Brazil can be left
to local managers. Why might she be wrong?
ANSWER 1: While babies’ behinds serve the same function in all cultures, and the product’s
technical standards may be similar, sensitivity to bodily functions does vary across cultures.
Thus, the advertising message may need to be changed for different attitudes towards what is
appropriate advertising. Likewise, where it might be progressive to show an ad with a male
QUESTION 2: Within 20 years, we will have seen the emergence of enormous global markets
for standardized consumer products. Do you agree with this statement? Justify your answer.
ANSWER 2: One could either choose to agree or disagree, while the best answer would likely
hedge it somewhere in the middle. There are already enormous global markets for products like
QUESTION 3: You are the marketing manager of a food products company that is considering
entering the Indian market. The retail system in India tends to be very fragmented. Also, retailers
and wholesalers tend to have long-term ties with Indian food companies; these ties make access
to distribution channels difficult. What distribution strategy would you advise the company to
pursue? Why?
ANSWER 3: The firm should sell to either wholesalers or import agents. Because the retail
system in India is very fragmented, it would be very expensive for the firm to make contact with
QUESTION 4: Price discrimination is indistinguishable from dumping. Discuss the accuracy of
this statement.
ANSWER 4: In some specific instances this statement is correct, but as a general rule it is not.
When a firm is pricing lower in a foreign country than it is in its domestic market, it can be
QUESTION 5: You work for a company that designs and manufactures personal computers. Your
company’s R&D center is in North Dakota. The computers are manufactured under contract in
Taiwan. Marketing strategy is delegated to the heads of three regional groups: a North American
group (based in Chicago), a European group (based in Paris), and an Asian group (based in
Singapore). Each regional group develops the marketing approach within its region. In order of
importance, the largest markets for your products are North America, Germany, Great Britain,
China, and Australia. Your company is experiencing problems in its product development and
commercialization process. Products are late to market, the manufacturing quality is poor, costs
are higher than projected, and market acceptance of new products is less than hoped for. What
might be the source of these problems? How would you fix them?
ANSWER 5: The dispersion of activities makes sense—products are produced in the lowest cost
location and marketed by people familiar with local conditions. (The R&D in North Dakota must
QUESTION 6: Reread the Management Focus on Levi Strauss, and then answer the following
questions:
a. What marketing strategy was Levi Strauss using until the early 2000s? Why did this strategy
appear to work for decades? Why was it not working by 2004?
b. How would you characterize Levi Strauss’s current strategy? What elements of the marketing
mix are now changed from nation to nation?
c. What are the benefits of the company’s new marketing strategy? Is there a downside?
d. What does the Levi Strauss story tell you about the “globalization of markets”?
ANSWER 6:
a. Levi Strauss was highly successful in the 1990s with its iconic 501 jeans—a global symbol of
b. The company had a three-strategy: move production off shore where jeans could be produced
more cheaply; broaden its product line, introducing a line of jeans that could be sold in
c. Benefits include tailoring products to specific markets and cultures. The downside could be
d. One size does not fit all when it comes to globalization. It is important for companies to assess
CLOSING CASE: Domino’s Worldwide
Summary
The closing case describes how Domino’s Pizza expanded its business globally and what steps it
took in various countries to ensure success. The following questions can be helpful in directing
the discussion.
QUESTION 1: Do you think it is wise for Domino’s to stick to its traditional “home delivery”
business model, even when that is not the norm in a country and when its international rivals
have changed their format?
ANSWER 1: Domino’s decided to maintain its home delivery business model because it made
QUESTION 2: What do you think Domino’s does from an organizational perspective to make
sure that it accommodates local differences in consumer tastes and preferences?
QUESTION 3: How does the marketing mix for Domino’s Pizza in Japan differ from that in the
United States? How does that in India differ from the U.S. marketing mix?
QUESTION 4: What lessons can we draw from the Domino’s case study that might be useful for
other international businesses selling consumer goods?
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INCORPORATING globalEDGE™ EXERCISES
Use the globalEDGE™ site {globaledge.msu.edu} to complete the following exercises:
Exercise 1
The consumer purchase of specific brands is an indication of the relationship that develops over
time between a company and its customers. Locate and retrieve the most current ranking of best
global brands. Identify the criteria used. Which countries appear to dominate the top 100 global
brands list? Why do you think this is the case? Now look at which sectors appear to dominate the
list, and try to identify the reasons. Prepare a short report identifying the countries that possess
global brands and the potential reasons for success.
Exercise 1 Answer
Search phrase: best global brands
Best Global Brands is an annual ranking that has been published by Interbrand since 2001. It
provides a breakdown of the brands by sector, and by region, and features several other insightful
charts and graphs to discuss how branding has been evolving globally.
Exercise 2
Part of developing a long-term R&D strategy is to locate facilities in countries that are widely
known to be competitive. Your company seeks to develop R&D facilities in Asia to counter
recent competitor responses. A publication which evaluates economies based on their
competitiveness is the Global Competitiveness Report. Locate this report, and develop a
presentation for the top management team that presents the benefits and drawbacks for the top
five Asian economies listed.
Exercise 2 Answer
Additional Info:
The Global Competitiveness Report assesses the competitiveness landscape of about 150
economies, providing insight into the drivers of their productivity and prosperity. The report tries
to analyze sustainable competitiveness by looking at basic requirements (infrastructure, health,
education, institutional framework), efficiency enhancers (market size, technology, financial
markets, labor efficiency, etc.), and innovation and sophistication factors.