Brand Development through Brand Extension and Licensing: Pininfarina Extra

The case is set in March 2012, after the death in 2008 of Andrea Pininfarina President of the company, and the consequent change in governance in favor of his younger brother Paolo and Pietro Angori (the new CEO), and the effects of the post-crisis period, with a fundamental refocus of company’s assets and operation, including a series of resizing and divestments. Thus, this paper describes the days of the decision of how to increase the importance, and exploit the full-potential, of non-automotive related design activities. Management challenges included the decision on a) introducing a broad series of new products through Pininfarina Extra, b) how to organize the activities in macro-areas beyond the historical core business (“delivering the most exciting and elegant sport car”), c) how to limit the risks of Brand extension, and d) how to decide on make/license. The management should then reflect on how to maximize the design capabilities of the company, outside of the automotive sector, to capture its full Brand potential. The case has been developed outside-in, through public information only

smart - Continuous Conceptual Innovation with “Limited” Product Innovation: The Strategic Role of Communication to reinforce Brand Equity

The smart brand case describes the “strategic role of innovation in communication to reinforce brand equity”. A fundamental step change in marketing approach, started over twenty years ago, and translated into both a success in the market and into a new way of thinking and feeling the driving experience in urban areas, in a context with “continuous conceptual innovation combined with limited product innovation”

Macron: The Strategic Role of Sponsorship to Sustain Brand Growth

Macron is one of the fastest growing sportswear companies in Europe, ranked today as the 3rd most widespread football brand by UEFA. The case describes sponsorship model utilized by Macron in sport marketing, used by the company as a core element to sustain the company and brand growth in several geographies. Operating in a fast growing, but complex global market, whose key players are international brands such as Nike, Puma and Adidas, Macron decided to leverage on Pro-clubs’ sponsorships, as a key marketing tool to generate revenue in its core business - teamwear and merchandising. As a result, Macron created a new business model that became a reference for some competitors such as Errea, Jako, Hummel and Erima. Core management decisions have been a) to identify the right strategy for pro-clubs’ sponsorship (e.g., how to segment in tier and which Tier of Pro-Club to sponsor, how, etc.), b) to select sports and brands that could be sponsored according to specific criteria (e.g. brand image, values, etc.), c) to define the reference market where to compete (e.g., Brands with main focus on sports-wear vs. Brands with main focus on teams-wear) d) to strengthen Brand Equity while maintaining the integrity of company values. As a result, today Macron is an international company that sponsors more than 60 professional clubs, which has chosen the brand based on trust, reliability and quality perception. The management should then reflect on how to utilize sponsorship, co-marketing and partnerships to sustain growth in merchandising and teamwear and strengthen own position in a complex market

Digital Enablers for New Decision Journeys: Creating and Adopting Digital Touch Points – Sorgenia

The case study highlights the effort of a utility company to rethink its marketing approach reorganizing activities along the Customer Decision Journey. Main management challenges were: (A) Identifying digital enablers for CDJs while adapting the business to digital innovation; (B) Highlighting Sorgenia’s positioning as the first non-incumbent Italian energy company in an overcrowded market formerly characterized by a semi-monopolistic regime, subsequent to the market liberalization foreseen for July 2020; (C) Creating and adopting digital touchpoints to personalize the energy offers, to increase simplicity and to reinforce environmental sustainability in the long term; (D) Underlying Sorgenia’s distinctiveness as Digital Energy Company

Effects on Consumers' Subjective Understanding and Liking of Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labels: A Study on Slovenian and Dutch Consumers

In the context of the ongoing debate on front-of-pack labels (FOPL), extant research highlights a lack of clear indications on which label is most effective in increasing consumers' knowledge of food nutritional quality, and in favoring informed food choices. In this study, we have compared the effects of two different labels, one nutrient-specific label (i.e., NutrInform Battery) and one summary label (i.e., Nutri-Score), in terms of consumers' "subjective understanding" and "liking". Our work advances prior research on FOPL performance by focusing on two different countries-which have different socio-political contexts and which, from previous studies, present limited evidence on the topic-Slovenia, currently utilizing the Protective Food logo, and the Netherlands, who has recently adopted the Nutri-Score. The study also confirms, in line with previous research, a higher effectiveness of the nutrient-specific label, NutrInform Battery, on all analyzed dimensions in tested countries, when compared to the summary label, Nutri-Score

Uncovering the Effect of European Policy-Making Initiatives in Addressing Nutrition-Related Issues: A Systematic Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis on Front-of-Pack Labels

The last decades have been marked by the introduction of front-of-pack labels (FoPL) as an institutional corrective action against obesity and nutrition-related illnesses. However, FoPL-related policy-making initiatives issued by the European Union evolved over time and led to a diversity of labels with different effects on consumers' decisions. As a result, the extant literature adapted to the regulative scenario over the years and investigated the effects of the labels, creating consensus on some topics while being fragmented on others. Similarly, policy-makers adapted some regulations to the evidence supported by the research. With the aim to systematize the overall structure and evolution of the literature on FoPL, investigate the presence of a consensus on specific topics through a co-citation analysis, and examine the evolution of the consensus and co-citation networks over the years and potential research gaps, we report the results of bibliometric and co-citation analyses and a systematic literature review involving 170 papers and a selection of 49 articles published in the last months, for a total of 219 articles, analysed according to three timespans (Period 1 (1989-2011); Period 2 (2012-2016) and Period 3 (2017-2022)). Our findings highlight the interplay of policy development and FoPL research, the presence of few self-reinforcing and well-established co-citation networks based on validated evidence in the literature and the presence of alternative emerging theories that offer different and valid perspectives overlooked by mainstream co-citation research networks

The Role of Strategic Fundraising in Marketing Plan of Non-profit Companies: The Case of Susan G. Komen Italy

The case is mainly focused on the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on Susan G. Komen Italia, on all the initiatives put through by the association and on the role of Strategic Fundraising in NPOs’ marketing plans. The Italian charity sector is populated by small and medium entities competing to “win” donors supporting their cause, and in turn organisations of smaller scale have to confront with larger NPOs, both cancer and non-cancer focused, well-known throughout the National territory , which are favoured by their brand equity and their past reputation, leading to an intense competition in terms of potential “donors wallet”. This framework has undergone several challenges related to the worldwide spread of Covid-19: the pandemic caused dramatic changes in terms of events and initiatives to be rescheduled or rearranged, favouring the shift to online instruments. The “next normality” driven by the lockdown has become a trigger for the creativity of marketers in several different fields, including NPOs’ sector. With this in mind, this paper highlights Komen’s effort in Italy to rethink its marketing and fundraising approach reorganizing activities along the Donor Decision Journey. The case focuses on analysing strategic fundraising as the key element of NPOs’ marketing plans

In Search of Superiority: Exploring the Effectiveness Gap of Front-of-Pack Nutritional Labels. An Assessment of Consumer’s Decision-Making Process Toward Healthier Food Choices

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to issues on overweight and obesity. This is due to the combined effect of the focus of policymakers, aimed at solving a problem that is currently severely affecting public health in multiple countries, and a rising stream of academic research, directed at identifying the best tools to help customers make healthier food choices within a balanced and varied diet. In this respect, the use of Front-of-Pack Labels (FOPLs) on pre-packaged foods and their impact on consumer decision making have been investigated from multiple angles, with the hope of identifying a FOPL that could be considered undoubtedly superior to all others, and thus worth being standardized through the intervention of supra-national regulatory bodies. Despite utilizing similar theoretical frameworks, two major streams of evidence emerge, depending on the underlying view on how a consumer should be supported (more guided vs. more informed) and the subsequent measurements of objective vs. subjective understanding. While on objective understanding, Summary Labels appear to be more effective, on subjective understanding, Nutrient-Specific ones are more supportive to consumers, when taking an informed food decision. Further research should be developed to arrive at a new unified theory and a clear view on which FOPL could best support consumers in their decision-making toward healthier food choices

Measuring Consumers’ Acceptance in Food Labels: a Cross-Country Investigation on Usefulness, Ease of Use and Trust

Front-Of-Pack Labels (FOPLs) are being increasingly investigated as a tool to guide customers toward healthier food choices. Existing theoretical models focused on consumers understanding have not been able to provide clear evidences of which labels are more effective on food choices. Drawing on extant studies conducted on primary grocery shoppers from Italy, France and the UK we developed a new framework, the Front-Of-Pack Acceptance Model (FOPAM), to evaluate label effectiveness in terms of usefulness, ease of use, attitude, trust and behavioral intention. Our findings highlight significant relationships between perceived usefulness, ease of use of the labels and trust towards them, and the way consumers form their attitudes and intentions towards buying healthier product