FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

ACADEMIC YEAR 2021/2022

CASE STUDY

BBMK1013: PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING

BACHELOR IN ACCOUNTING (HONOURS)

BACHELOR BA (HONS) IN FINANCE & INVESTMENT
BACHELOR BA (HONS) IN MARKETING
BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (HONOURS)
BBA (HONOURS) IN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
BBA (HONS) IN TOURISM MANAGEMENT

YEAR ONE

DUE DATE: 16th April 2021 TIME: 4.00pm

Student’s Name :
Student’s ID :

Instruction to Candidates:

Answer ALL questions.

Standard format: Times New Roman (12pt) or Arial (11pt), 1.5 spacing, 1” margin, A4, Microsoft Word document.

For the submission of your answers, you are required to use this page as your cover page. Name the document
with the following filename:

<student’s ID>_<subject code>_CASESTUDY,

for example, D100000A_BBMK1013_CASESTUDY.

Submission date: By 16th April 2021, 4.00pm through teams.

Late submission will NOT be accepted and be awarded ZERO (0) mark for the case study. Any students that are
caught plagiarising or letting part or whole of their work to be plagiarised will be penalised, with all the students
involved be awarded ZERO (0) mark for the midterm test.

Case Study Case 1 Case 2 Case 3 Total

Marks Obtained
Case 1: Marketing Ethics: How Young is Too Young? (10 MARKS)

Instruction: Answer all the questions below.

Walmart rolled out a cosmetics line aimed at girls as young as 9 years old. According to the Wall Street
Journal, Walmart introduced this line—called geoGirl—to meet the demands of “tween” girls. The
geoGirl line was developed free of chemicals (phthalates and parabens), synthetic colors, and fragrances,
allowing marketers to promote the “environmentally friendly” product offering to parents. Capitalizing
on this demand trend, Target launched the Hello Kitty line. Tween boys are not to be left out. Axe markets
a line of chocolate scented body spray and Old Spice developed Swagger body wash. Recently, focus
has been placed on girls’ self-images as they near the teen years. Some child development experts say
that make-up for young girls places too much emphasis on appearance while others say a little lipstick
shouldn’t cause much concern.

Questions:

1. Is it an appropriate business strategy to use a popular movement such as environmentalism to

market an unrelated product? (AACSB: Written and Oral Communication; Ethical Understanding
and Reasoning)
(5 marks)

2. Apart from the question of placing undue emphasis on a child's appearance, what factors should
marketers consider in developing campaigns for these types of products? (AACSB: Ethical
Understanding and Reasoning)
(5 marks)
Case 2: Marketing Ethics: Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica Data Scandal (10 MARKS)

Instruction: Answer all the questions below.

In early 2018, Facebook faced a firestorm of criticism when it was learned that a political data firm hired
by Donald Trump’s election campaign—Cambridge Analytica—had gained access to private data on as
many as 87 million Facebook users. The Facebook profiles contained information on user identities,
friend networks, “Likes,” and other data that could be used to target American voters and influence their
behavior. The data breach raised important questions about how the social media giant protects the huge
amounts of user information it amasses and employs for its own market targeting activities. Facebook
founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that Facebook had made a “huge mistake” in not adequately
protecting user data from exploitation. Said Zuckerberg, “The reality of a lot of this is, when you’re
building something like Facebook that is unprecedented in the world, there are going to be things that
you mess up” (see http://fortune.com/2018/04/04/facebook-mark-zuckerberg-data-cambridge-
analytica/).

Questions:

1. Is it wrong for Facebook and other companies to use customer profile information to market
products and services? Does it help customers or harm them? Explain your thinking. Discuss other
examples of companies targeting consumers by using consumer data collected online. (AACSB:
Written and Oral Communication; Ethical Reasoning)
(5 marks)

2. In today’s digital environment, what steps should Facebook take to update its data usage practices
to better protect users? What types of protections do you value most as a consumer? (AACSB:
Written and Oral Communication; Ethical Reasoning)
(5 marks)
Case 3: Online, Mobile, and Social Media Marketing: Get Your Groupon (10 MARKS)

Instruction: Answer all the questions below.

Local marketing is an effective tool used by marketers to reach intended market segments. Groupon has
capitalized on this concept by tailoring brands and marketing to the needs and wants of local customer
segments—cities, neighborhoods, and even specific stores. According to its website, Groupon “offers a
vast mobile and online marketplace where people discover and save on amazing things to do, see, eat,
and buy. By enabling real-time commerce across local businesses, travel destinations, consumer
products, and live events, shoppers can find the best a city has to offer. Groupon is redefining how small
businesses attract and retain customers by providing them with customizable and scalable marketing
tools and services to profitably grow their businesses.” This concept lies at the heart of Groupon’s
mission: “to connect local commerce, increasing consumer buying power while driving more business
to local merchants through price and discovery.” To help consumers make those connections, Groupon
offers a mobile app, online marketplace, and social media touch points where customers can readily
access information on its daily deals.

Questions:

1. Discuss the ways in which small businesses utilize local marketing in your community. (AACSB:
Written and Oral Communication; Information Technology; Reflective Thinking)
(5 marks)

2. Do you use Groupon? Is it effective in helping local businesses to meet the challenges of local
marketing? Why or why not? (AACSB: Written and Oral Communication; Reflective Thinking)
(5 marks)

*THE END*