PRESENTED
February 28, 2012

The Client:

Kohl's has taken an aggressive approach to grow Facebook fans as the number one social media strategy for marketing.  To date, the number of fans has grown to just over 5.7 million, more than most if not all direct competitors (Macy’s, Target, Walmart, etc). These "fans" represent some of our Kohl's best brand advocates, and Kohl's has identified the opportunity to continue to grow the fan base. While there are a number of ways to monetize these fans, the immediate goal is to grow the fan base and develop engagement opportunities for the fans to keep them active, involved and excited about the Kohl's brand.

The Case:

Develop a Facebook program/promotion that is designed to grow the fan base and increase engagement for the back to school time period of Week 3 July through Labor Day.

Ideas to Consider:

• Brand Portfolio
• Community Relations / Involvement
• Competitors
• Consumers
• Other Marketing Efforts
• Kohl’s strategy/framework

Kohl’s Facebook:

Kohl’s Facebook History & Facts

-     Kohl’s Social marketing presence began with a Facebook page, launched in May 2009

-     The site has now grown into a Marketing and Customer Care tool, giving Kohl’s customers a voice with an instant response from Kohl’s

-     Kohl’s now has over 5.7 million fans

Kohl’s Facebook Vision: Put consumers in touch with Kohl’s via the most engaging forum; thereby creating positive, lasting memories and commitment to the Kohl’s brand

Kohl’s Facebook Objectives:

1.   Drive Sales

2.   Build the fan base

3.   Increase the emotional commitment to Kohl’s

Judging:

Teams are judged by a panel including top management executives.

Each team has fifteen minutes to present their case analysis and recommendations from a required written overview, and ten minutes of Q&A. All team members must actively participate in the presentation phase, which is followed by a question and answer period.  Judges base their decisions on such criteria as the depth and comprehensiveness of analysis, relevance, originality, Q&A, and overall presentation.

Rules:

• PowerPoint presentation is required for all teams
• A one page written executive summary is required

Presentation will be 15 minutes maximum, followed by 10 minutes of Q & A.

CASE 3
AOL Inc. / Advertising.com Group

PRESENTED
February 21, 2012

The Client:

AOL Inc. is the company originally known as America Online from the 1990’s.  The company merged with Time Warner in 2000 and later became a wholly owned subsidiary of TW.  In 2009 TW spun off AOL to make a new public company, AOL Inc.  The company is headquartered in lower Manhattan Island in New York City with operations/offices in Europe and both coasts within the US and approximately 5000 employees worldwide and revenues of $2.4 billion. 

The new AOL is a company who is focused on Web Content experiences and Internet Advertising but still does provide dialup ISP services.  The Technology center of the company is based in Dulles, VA with significant installations in London UK, Palo Alto CA and Baltimore, MD.  The “Advertising.com Group” incorporates all of AOL’s advertising business units, including the Network Advertising business unit (formerly Advertising.com).  The Advertising.com Group also includes various AOL business-to-business groups, and is responsible for $1 billion in annual revenue.

The Case:

Help us showcase our core value “We take fun seriously” by planning three events.

The Parameters:

The new AOL embraces six specific core company values that it expects its employees to live each day in order to make the company a great place to work and to be a successful business.  One of these values is “We take fun seriously”.  Using this core value (description attached) we propose a challenge that revolves around planning an event for three focus areas.  Each event has its own budget of $5000, and its own specific target demographic.  Each event will be judged independently, and the team with the best two-of-three events will be declared the winner. 

Event 1: The Culture Club – for AOL employees.
Plan a fun event for the Baltimore campus.  The aim of the event is to bring our Baltimore employees together for a period of fun and relaxation.  This event should focus on the specific culture of our Baltimore office.  In addition to planning the event, you must create a short video pitch (30 to 90 seconds) for us to display on our corporate intranet site.  This video is due at noon Monday (February 27th) so that we have time to have our office vote on their preferred event.  The office vote will be used to determine the score for this event (but is not the only criteria).
 
Event 2: University Recruiting – current and recent graduates in business, advertising, and technology
Plan an event that we could run on a college campus to help us recruit talented upcoming and recent graduates for our Baltimore office.  The event should highlight the culture of the Baltimore office, the culture of AOL, and also help us to target the top-tier job applicants that we are looking for.

Event 3: Baltimore Branding – Baltimore business, advertising, and technology communities
Plan an event which we could use to make AOL better known in the various communities in Baltimore.  The fact that there is an AOL office in Baltimore is not very well known, and we are looking to get our name out into the various business communities in Baltimore in order to help us in recruiting, partnerships, leadership, as well as give something back to these communities.

The Deliverables:

Each of the above events must have the following deliverables:

• Presentation to be given at the judging event – due Tuesday, February 28th, at the judging event
• Written budget to be handed out as part of your presentation – due February 28th, at the judging event

Additionally, the Culture Club event must have:

• A 30-90 second “elevator pitch” to be displayed at AOL – due Monday, February 27th by 12:00.

CASE 2
Von Paris Moving & Storage

The Client

The Von Paris family moving business story is a page out of Baltimore history as well as the history of the moving and storage industry. It begins in 1892. This business has endured and grown to become one of the few American companies that has experienced over 120 years of operations, growth, and success under one family’s ownership and management. Since 1892, the name Von Paris has been synonymous with quality. We were one of the first moving and storage companies in the country to convert to a motorized fleet and were pioneers of long distance moving. Von Paris Moving & Storage is a family-owned and operated business. Today, fourth and fifth generation family members continue to provide outstanding service as “The Mover with the Gentle Touch.” Von Paris is the official Mover of the Baltimore Orioles, the Baltimore Ravens and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. The company is a privately held corporation headquartered in Savage, MD with locations throughout central Maryland. Annual revenues exceed $15 million.

The Case

Moving and Storage firms such as Von Paris have traditionally had three primary revenue streams for household goods moving. There are National Account employee relocations, government & military moving, and finally residential (or COD) clients who pay for their own moves. Residential household goods moving revenues account for a full 45% of our annual revenue. Our firm has relied heavily over the years on a few very basic forms of lead generation for finding new residential (C.O.D.) clients: Referrals, Yellow Page Advertising, Direct Mail. The cost per lead of Yellow Page Advertising and Direct Mail campaigns has risen sharply over the past ten years as readership of Yellow Pages has fallen sharply and consumer attention to Postal Mail continues to slide. Von Paris Moving and Storage needs to focus our marketing dollars on finding new residential customers through expansion into internet marketing and electronic solutions.

Project Objectives

• Develop a detailed marketing/business plan to improve our number of household goods moving leads gained through a new marketing plan focusing on internet marketing, social media and other electronic solutions as elements of the plan.
• The plan should also incorporate reputation management plan that promotes
• good reviews along with a branding strategy that emphasizes the following
• elements:
• local market dominance
• trust, best value and consumer confidence
• the rich company history
• the service capabilities of the company.
• Provide short and long term projections on the cost per lead and the incremental improvement of our ROI.

Since Von Paris is a privately held company, the final plan/results should be considered proprietary and confidential.

CASE 1
ENTERPRISE: RIDESHARE

THE CLIENT
Founded in 1957 by Jack Taylor, a former Naval Aviator, Enterprise Holdings has grown to become a $12.6 billion dollar company that is still privately owned and operated. Enterprise Holdings encompasses Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Alamo Rent-A-Car, and National Car Rental as well as our Commercial Truck, Car Sales, Fleet Management, WeCar, and RideShare divisions. With over 68,000 employees Enterprise still promotes from within based on performance. We hire over 8,000 college graduates each year into our widely recognized Management Trainee Program. Nearly all of our employees start in this program including our senior level managers. Management Trainees learn our business from the inside out– taking care of customers, developing marketing plans and working with an energetic team of professionals as they progress through the company.

CASE
Founded in 1994 as a division of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Enterprise Rideshare is a business service offered to companies, or individuals, with similar commuting needs. Enterprise RideShare provides commute alternatives to employees and employers. It is positioned as an employee benefit, providing flexible vanpool programs. Over the past 12 months RideShare began operating within the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan markets, initially targeting military installations for vanpool programs. Rideshare would like to expand their current target audience by identifying and marketing to potential employers and employees within the private sector.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

Outline and identify the ideal candidate for vanpooling from an employer perspective, as well as an employee perspective. Also research successful employer vanpool programs and identify common traits.

• Complete a SWOT analysis to directly compare Enterprise RideShare to our Competitors.
• Develop a multi faceted marketing plan (presentation materials, social media campaigns, office flyers, print ads, etc) to:
• Develop brand awareness from a consumer standpoint
• Sell employers on supporting vanpool programs
• Entice employees to attend formation meetings and join vanpools