CASE 30 – Target Marketing with Google AdWords
Synopsis: Starting late last century, search engines began to develop interactive advertising models
based on user interests, such as keywords typed into a search engine. The concept–
Use:
Chapter 14 Illustrates factors that need to be considered in developing a communications program.
Discussion Questions
Given the dynamic nature of websites, instructors should review the David Jones website for
audiences and sections. Probable audiences and sections include:
• Consumers, with sections for products, specials, store locations, store hours, contact
information, gift registries, wine club, e-mail newsletter registration, and online shopping.
• Investors, with a section containing financial information
• Media, with a section containing news items, press releases, company history, and
contacts.
• Fans, with a section for social network applications such as Facebook and Twitter.
• Other?, students may have a good argument for another section.
– What do you particularly like about the website? Why?
– What do you particularly dislike about the website? Why?
There is no absolute correct answer to the above questions. Rather, students should present a
clear argument to support their particular likes and dislikes.
– copy [For example, do you have a “call to action,” does your advertisement mention a specific
benefit?]
Case Synopsis, Uses, Discussion Questions, and Answers
– keywords, keyword phrases, and negative keywords [Use the Keyword Tool to help select
specific keywords.]
– geographical targeting
Although there is no textbook answer, excellent students would support their answers via results
from the applicable Google tools. Key points to review include:
– The ads must follow Google guidelines. That is, the first line has a maximum of 25 characters.
The next two lines and the final line with the website address, each have a maximum of 35
characters.
– Each ad should have a call to action such as click here or call now.
– Each ad should mention a consumer benefit.
– The geographical targeting should align with the target market.
– The landing page should not be the David Jones home page, rather a page on the DJ site that
aligns with the AdWord copy.
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CASE 31 – Diamond in the Rough
Synopsis: The president of Diamonds Furriers is evaluating her store’s sales force compensation
strategy. A family business in the Nashville area for 40 years, Diamond Furriers has a
Use:
Chapter 15 Generate a discussion of the pros and cons of different methods of compensating
salespeople.
Discussion Questions
1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the various alternatives Ruth Diamond is
considering?
100% salary
Salary +
Commission
Annual
bonus
Motivate salespeople to make
sales
–
++
+
Provide customer service
++
–
+
Build long-term customer
Performance of nonselling
++
–
+
Administrative cost
++
–
++
–
+
There are advantages and disadvantages to each of the compensation methods that Ruth
Diamond is considering. The present system, 100 percent salary, does not put pressure on the
salespeople to make sales and thus enables them to spend more time developing long-term
customer relations, performing nonselling activities such as setting up displays and making sure
the selling area is neat, and providing services to customers. However, Ruth Diamond is
Case Synopsis, Uses, Discussion Questions, and Answers
is not suited for them. In addition, they might not provide services for the customers or
nonselling activities for the store that take time away from selling.
The annual bonus plan encourages teamwork among the salespeople to achieve the sales goal
required for the annual bonus. However, the motivating potential may not be consistent during
the entire year. For example, salespeople might not be highly motivated at the beginning of the
2. Do you have any other suggestions for improving the store’s sales?
Ruth Diamond can consider altering other elements of the retail mix to increase sales such as
the merchandise assortment, location, pricing, and services offered to customers.
3. What would you recommend? Why?
The advantages and disadvantages of the plans above should be the basis for answering this
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CASE 32 – A Stockout at Discmart
Use:
Chapter 15 Examines issues in store management, including stockouts.
Chapter 17 Illustrates how customers evaluate a retailer’s service, what obstacles hinder retailers in
providing good service, and how retailers can improve their customer service.
Discussion Questions
1. Why did this service breakdown occur?
Generally speaking, the service breakdown occurred because Discmart was out of stock of an
item that should have been in stock. Customers don’t like to make a trip to a store for a specific
2. How was this service gap related to the other gaps (standards, knowledge, delivery, and
communications) described in the gaps model in Chapter 17?
This service gap, like all service gaps, is a combination of all of the gaps that comprise the gaps
model, which are described below:
Knowledge gap: The difference between customer expectations and the retailer’s perception of
customer expectations.
place. Customers expect merchandise that is advertised to be in stock, plain and simple.
Discmart’s service standard should therefore be to never be out of stock on advertised
merchandise. Since they were out of stock, the standards gap occurred.
merchandise.
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CASE 33 – Customer Service and Relationship Management at Nordstrom
Use:
Chapter 5 Describes the retail market strategy of an upscale department store, including its sources
of competitive advantage.
Chapter 15 Illustrates how Nordstrom’s dedication to customer service is instilled through its
treatment of its own employees.
Chapter 17 Examines the various service issues that could arise that could impact customer service
at a department store.
Discussion Questions
1. What steps does Nordstrom take to implement its strategy of providing outstanding
customer service?
Nordstrom’s emphasis on customer service springs from its core business philosophy of taking
care of people, and profit will take care of itself. Its emphasis on customer service is well
captured by the notion that Nordstrom’s “service is not service like it used to be, but service that
never was.”
Salespeople at the store are instilled with this culture of superior customer service and well
trained to assist customers. Salespeople almost act as if they were “personal shoppers” and
follow the customer from department to department offering advice and help. The opportunity
to cross sell across departments, of course, maximizes the sales and commissions, but the
2. How do these activities enable Nordstrom to reduce the gaps between perceived service
and customer expectations, as described in Chapter 17?
The various gaps that could exist between perceived service and customer expectations and how
Nordstrom attempts to reduce these are detailed below:
Standards gap: The difference between the retailer’s perceptions of customers’ expectations
and the customer service standards it sets. Nordstrom attempts to close the standards gap
by setting for itself the highest standards of customer service and ensuring its
implementation. It helps employees develop innovative solutions to service problems,
including returned merchandise, and salespeople are given the tools and authority to do
whatever is necessary to satisfy customers. In addition, the management always backs up the
decisions of subordinates.
Communication gap: The difference between the actual service provided to customers and the
service promised in the retailer’s promotion program. Despite its high standards of service,
Nordstrom’s implementation of service policies and the actual service delivery make the
promise of high service come true for all customers.
3. What are the pros and cons of Nordstrom’s approach to developing a competitive
advantage through customer service?
Nordstrom’s approach to competitive advantage through customer service is one of the
most sustainable approaches to competitive advantage. While other retailers may match
Nordstrom’s merchandise assortment, promotions, prices, and store management strategies,
they may find it hard to mimic the relationship that Nordstrom has with its customers. The
focus on lifetime value of the customer treats customers almost as if they were part of the
business. Nordstrom’s inverted pyramid view of the organization reflects this philosophy.
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CASE 34– Zipcar: Delivering Only as Much Driving as You Want
Synopsis: Zipcar, the world’s leading car-sharing company, offers the pleasure of driving without
the hassles of ownership. Zipcar’s biggest growth obstacle may be Americans’ inability to
Use:
Chapter 17 Customer Service
Discussion Questions
1. Using the five dimensions of service quality (reliability, assurance, tangibility, empathy, and
responsiveness), evaluate Zipcar.
Reliability- Is the ability to perform the service dependably and accurately. For Zipcar, reliability
would involve having cars that are reliable and safe for the drivers to rent. In order to do this,
Zipcar should perform regular maintenance on its cars and keep an updated fleet.
2. Compare Zipcar’s service quality performance with that of the most recent car rental service
(e.g., Avis, Hertz) that you may have used.
This may apply only to students who have rented a car through both Zipcar and a competing car
rental service. Other car rentals like Avis and Hertz lack the convenience of Zipcar and are often
3. How well has Zipcar handled service failure situations? What could it do to improve
recovery efforts?
Case Synopsis, Uses, Discussion Questions, and Answers
The case provides an example of a customer who was trying to use Zipcar, but the car he rented was
not where it was supposed to be. Zipcar told the customer to take a cab and reimbursed the
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CASE 35– A Musical Quandary in an Italian Restaurant
Synopsis: Jake recently has been promoted to manage one of the restaurants in an Italian restaurant
chain. He has an important decision to make regarding what music to play, and he
identifies two promising options: playing Neapolitan music to be consistent with the
Use:
Chapter 16: Illustration of how music impacts store atmospherics.
Discussion Questions
1) How does music add value to businesses?
Businesses use music because it adds value. Music has the potential to induce positive feelings
among customers, as well as enhance some intrinsic elements of the store’s atmosphere. A
consensus in prior research indicates that the use of music influences store assessments, store
2) What type of music would you recommend that Jake play in his restaurant?
The choice of music depends largely on Jake’s goals for the restaurant. If he is looking to increase
the authenticity of the store, it would be more appropriate to play Neapolitan music that suits the
Italian theme of the restaurant (Herrington and Capella 1996). Higher appropriateness ratings are
3) Identify other retail settings in which music influences consumer behavior.
CASE 36 –Yankee Candle: Product Management and Innovation
Synopsis: Yankee Candle (YCC) is a leading manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer of premium
scented candles and accessories in the $70 billion giftware industry. YCC grew steadily
since its beginning in 1969. This case highlights innovative retailing strategies as the
definition from secondary data (Mediamark, 2009).
Uses:
Chapter 5: Target market identification (Mediamark data, 2009*), Strengths and Weaknesses analysis
as part of strategic retail planning process
Chapter 4: Market segmentation
Chapter 6: Ratio analysis (Morningstar 10K report, 2010)
Discussion Questions
1. Examine the Newell Brands website (http://www.newellbrands.com). How does
Yankee Candle create value for Newell Brands? (
Hint
: Evaluate Yankee Candle using
SWOT analysis to answer the question).
Students may offer suggestions for additional complementary products and also discuss the
2. Refresh your memory about marketing strategy by doing an online search of “BCG growth
share matrix.” Then go to http://www.ycscentsystems.com/ to learn more about Scent
Systems and the ScentIlligent approach to experiential branding. Is this new strategic
business unit (SBU) for Yankee Candle likely to be a star, question mark, or dog in terms of
the BCG growth share matrix? Explain your answer.
Students’ answers will very. This SBU could be considered a question mark. For now it would have a
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CASE 37 – Interviewing for a Management Trainee Position
Synopsis: This case asks students to participate in a variety of professional development steps in
Use:
Chapters 1 Illustrates important elements of the interview process for retail management trainees
Chapter 15 Human Resources
Teaching note
It is unreasonable to expect a college student to have a resume loaded with jobs and experiences, but
it is perfectly reasonable to expect a college graduate to have a succinct resume that highlights
education, job experiences, significant accomplishments, and honors.
1. Assume the role of the college recruiter for a national retail chain that is reviewing
résumés to select candidates to interview for a management trainee position. Which of the
three résumés on the following pages do you find effective? Ineffective? Why? Which
applicant would you select to interview? Why?
Marti Cox has a poor resume. Her objective is vague. She seeks a position in product planning, but
has no experience to uphold this ambition. The student does not offer any related courses or jobs
to support her career objectives. Her work experience lists no responsibilities or tasks. Marti Cox
Richard Kates has a better resume. He lists a more specific objective than Marti Cox and offers
reasonable experience for a college student. He has a good amount of experiences to share, but
Richard forgot that the resume should be brief, succinct, and uncluttered. Despite a more
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