Running head: LADY GAGA CASES ANALYSIS Lady Gaga Case Table of Contents Executive Summary: ..................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction: ................................................................................................................................. 2 Key Issues: ..................................................................................................................................... 2 Problem Statement: ...................................................................................................................... 4 Available Alternatives: ................................................................................................................. 4 Alternative 1 (Proceeding with the concert with Lady Gaga alone): - ................................. 4 Alternative 2 (Proceeding with a small theater and cut costs): - .......................................... 4 Alternative 3 (Cancelling the tour): - ...................................................................................... 5 Analysis of Alternatives:............................................................................................................... 5 Recommendations: ........................................................................................................................ 6 Conclusion: .................................................................................................................................... 7 References ...................................................................................................................................... 8 LADY GAGA CASES ANALYSIS 1 Executive Summary: The sample case refers to Lady Gaga, an up-coming artist for the pop music genre. The case helps the readers to understand the crucial points which can be adapted to for brand marketing, promotion, and its success in the market. The case puts across the strategist that help leverage the seller name as well as the appropriate tactics to venture into a successful marketing process. Lady gaga possess outstanding qualities like passion for excellence in the music industry, high standards of fashion design, uniqueness and her natural talent helps her to achieve success in her career. The pop star was faced with some issues both in the early stage of her career as well as in the current present scenario. Carter, her manager, together with other peers, were of great help to her during her career time and are still struggling to help her to become the best in her career to gain more fame. They help her through making relevant decisions which include thinking out whether to plan for a tour or take some other consideration. The team was hit by Kanye West's decision to pull out of the tour (p.8). Kanye West decision makes issues difficult and narrower for the team to decide. The tour intends to make lady Gaga the most famous pop artist. The feared to lose the resources that had already been imposed in the preparations of the tour if it fails. The case submits three alternatives that are available to Lady Gaga’s manager, Carter. Carter needs to make a decision on which action to take from the available alternatives. The decision will determine whether the artist's brand name will be at its best and whether the losses are minimal. The best suggestion is to choose to go for the tour since Gaga’s brand name is accessible and that it will help in making the tour successful. The decision to go for the tour is meant to cover the earlier expenses. LADY GAGA CASES ANALYSIS 2 Introduction: The given case tells about a success story of an iconic pop artist, the Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga revolutionized the music world through records as well as performing on live shows. She has a sense of vigilance and aggressiveness in her performance (Horn, 2015). The case elaborates on the circumstances or rather a journey which Lady Gaga has gone through in her music career right from the initial stages. The case describes the way the artist fought against the challenges through her determination, desperation, and the responsibility of the other people that concerns her career. Lady Gaga’s methodology incorporated pro-active use of the social media network for active listening and responding to her fans, which a person speaks to them (p.1). Lady Gaga has also won several awards which tells much about her natural talent as well as the consumer choice to keep listening to her over and over. • Key Issues: Lady Gaga has enjoyed success as a music icon three years where her achievements are not an attribute of her talents, but it is as a result of the efforts that the team has put in marketing her before the audience that has given her tremendous support. When she formally entered the market, she faced significant setbacks in which her initial contract was made with Def Jam records and the company rejected it the project after three months (p.2). When she linked Carter and Herbert, the group faced difficulty in marketing the first project on the radio. Key radio stations refused to play her first song due to its nature of being much of dance and that she was not famous about her fan base by the time (Schmidt, & Horländer, 2015). By the time she gained support and created some fan base from social media, it was still tricky to market through the mainstream in the struggle to create LADY GAGA CASES ANALYSIS 3 improved brands. Gaga was committed to ensuring that her fans receive a worthwhile experience, which in turn led to the company being unable to make much money from the selling of show tickets. • Lady Gaga and her team prepared in their next move to reach the mainstream audience, and they reached out to collaborate with Kanye. Regrettably, Kanye surprised the world when he grabbed the microphone from Taylor Swift the MTV's Video Music Awards (VMA) winner and clearly stated before the audience that Beyoncé merited the award (p.9). Everyone was astonished, including Kanye's fan base. He created much controversy, and he later withdrew from the upcoming that was planned to collaboration with Gaga. Kanye's actions put his brand at stake, but significant consequences were directed to Lady Gaga due to the upcoming tour in which Gaga had already spent money. • Gaga was in a financial constraint has she stated that she had gone bankrupt for the fourth time and that her manager wanted to shoot her since every money she gets got used up in shows. • The industry for recorded music was under new encounters since the new trends shifted the music from digital retailer to space in an attempt to create room for short shelf life (p.1). Since the artists use recording labels, it has dramatically deducted the costs from their royalties including those related to album recordings video productions covering tours as well as radio promotions (p.1). Most artists only receive the share of the sales; hence, they do not receive their advances back. Lady Gaga used a label of Stream Line Records which is a product of Universal. As a result, she was not receiving much from it too. • The agent, William Morris Endeavour, who was signed by Lady Gaga, was receiving a percentage from her gross profits in exchange for his service. Carter also had an obligation LADY GAGA CASES ANALYSIS 4 to consider the implications of Gaga’s partner in the venture in the event of withdrawal as well as including WME agency and the promoter. • Carter's job was put at stake since Lady Gaga trusted his decisions for him being her manager. Problem Statement: Lady Gaga is facing financial, which is a significant obstacle for developing her fan base. The challenges increase as the team struggles to create alternatives. Available Alternatives: From the case, there are three alternatives which Carter is going through at the moment. He has to decide going forward with the planned concert with Lady Gaga without anyone else, or he may perhaps create a small theatre tour and consider adjusting the expenses accordingly. The third alternative to shut out and cancel the concert to reduce the associated costs. Alternative 1 (Proceeding with the concert with Lady Gaga alone): Despite VMA being a disaster for Kanye, Lady Gaga received much publicity which greatly attracted interest for her planned tour that was yet to come. The team ought to take advantage of the buzz and engage in viral marketing to generate sales to make the tour a success (Deflem, 2017). The team should consider twenty-five areas which have a range of sixteen to twenty thousand seats. The price of the tickets should range from one hundred to two hundred dollars. Such a deal will be a substantial financial gamble which will make Lady Gaga’s brand established with a broad fan base. Alternative 2 (Proceeding with a small theater and cut costs): The team can reduce the financial risks settling in the creation of minor schedules that entails organizing concerts at smaller venues. The decision will reduce financial profits. The small venues will have a different seat capacity with 8000 maximum seats per theatre while the pricing LADY GAGA CASES ANALYSIS 5 of the tickets will range for seventy dollars to a maximum of a hundred dollars. The team will face a challenge in redesigning a new tour within the remaining short time, yet the show might not be much profitable (Deflem, 2016). The advantage will be strengthening her brand and creating a strong fan base, which will guarantee good profits later. Alternative 3 (Cancelling the tour): If the team settles on canceling the tour, Lady Gaga’s prospects will be at risk, and she might fade out from being a star. Looking at the situation, proceeding with the tour will mean that the team will incur extra costs and the losses will go beyond $4 million that was spent on "Fame Kills" (p.9). The tour was an important decision for her team since the concert will create massive publicity and enormous incomes for the team (Deflem, 2017). The income from the concerts was increasing steadily despite the decrease in the revenue from recorded music (p.1). Analysis of Alternatives: Pros Cons Alternative ➢ The determinant of any business is commitment. Gaga committed to her brands’ fans to increase her popularity through carrying on with the tour. ➢ Continuing with the tour alone will give her confidence nd, it will help in growing her brand. ➢ Performing with Kanye would have been an advantage to increase her fan base since Kanye’s fans would also support her. Going to the concert alone will make the fans question why Kanye opted out which puts her at risk of losing the support of her fans. LADY GAGA CASES ANALYSIS ➢ She will triumph over all the losses if her plans work while she is on her own. ➢ If she goes on with the tour, her fan base will increase since she will build on her fame at the MTV awards. 6 ➢ She will not be able to perform some song titles without Kanye since they planned together. ➢ It is risky for her to go to the concert alone since she is new in the industry. She might underperform and lose her image. Alternative II… ➢ This option will give her a chance to meet the expectations of the fans to some extent. This will make her maintain her popularity. ➢ This option reduces the risk of losing significant amounts of money. ➢ The event can be successful despite the turn out being less as expected before. ➢ Gaga is a risk taker, so she might not like this alternative. ➢ Her brand will not develop to a higher level as it was planned. ➢ The returns will be less ➢ The marketing will reduce since the budget has reduced ➢ The fans will express a mixed reaction which might turn out that the majority might get disappointed OPTION III… ➢ There are no monetary risks for this option ➢ She can postpone the tour and have a better plan in the future, which will help her meet the expectations of the fans. ➢ Her personality does not align well with this kind of decision. ➢ The fans will be disappointed ➢ She will lack confidence ➢ The fans may think that she is not independent ➢ She still is faced with financial constraints. Recommendations: I can recommend that the first alternative, which is proceeding with the tour alone is suitable for Lady Gaga. She has already spent her resources, which includes time and finances that amounts to four million dollars (p.9). The manager is pushing her since he wants to recover the spent money. She can capitalize on the VMA event that gave her great publicity. She made some fans during the VMA awards, so she will not be severely off (Deflem, 2017). Going to the concert alone will boost her confidence and ability to perform live on the stage alone. The projected LADY GAGA CASES ANALYSIS 7 expenditure for a start-up is twelve million dollars, as stated in exhibit 10 (p.9). The returns for the concert are lucrative bearing in mind that the 25 concert entails a capacity of between 16000 to 20000 seats while the tickets range from $100 to $150 per ticket (Tsukamoto, 2015). The projected returns amount to $75000000. Proceeding with the concert will prove her commitment to her fans, and she will overcome the losses as well as the financial constraints. The second alternative reduces costs, but it brings the risk of a rush. Rushing will create mistakes which destroy the image of the brand. The first option is better, having it carries respect since Lady Gaga will be able to meet her fans and satisfy them; hence, her brand will be much stronger. Her fan base will have confidence in her, and she will look independent. Conclusion: From the above analysis of the case, it is clear that the successful marketing of the brands depends on aggression and profound talents. The marketing team requires to have the capacity to combine different aspects and marketing strategies. The success of in marketing a brand entails taking the risk even when faced by several challenges such as financial constraints and being abandoned by the people we think they incorporating them in specific ideas will be a boost. The nature and timings of stipulated strategies in expectation to promote a brand should be precise and reliable when aligned with the main objectives as well as the primary strategy. LADY GAGA CASES ANALYSIS 8 References Deflem, M., (2016). Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame: The Rise of a Pop Star in an Age of Celebrity. Springer. Deflem, M., (2017). The Audience of Lady Gaga: Beyond the Little Monsters. In Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame (pp. 121-143). Palgrave Macmillan, New York. Horn, K., (2015). Camping with the stars: Queer performativity, pop intertextuality, and camp in the pop art of Lady Gaga. Current Objectives of Postgraduate American Studies, 11. Schmidt, H. J., & Horländer, L. (2015). Personal Branding von Musikern. Tsukamoto, M., (2015). Hello, Kitty's Popularity and Its Change of Representation. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic, Business and Industrial Engineering, 9(1), 383-388. Running Head: STARBUCKS CASE ANALYSIS 1 Executive summary Starbucks acts as one of the most reputable firms across the globe. The reputation of the company came primarily from the abilities to deliver high-quality coffee products to its customers. The success of the firm did not last long, based on the occurrence of various issues. Some of the issues that occurred affecting the success of the firm include rapid expansion and explosion of product mix leading to the loss of touch to the initial Starbuck experience, the deterioration of the economy and rising competition. Situation analysis Starbucks act as a reputable firm across the globe. The company gained its reputation from the increased sales and product portfolio. Additionally, the firm enjoyed significance positive growth in the market due to reduced competition from the available rivals. The growth of the company enabled the management to improve its products while at the same time expanding the available portfolio. The expansion of the product portfolio for the company made it easy for Starbucks to enter into various markets across the United States and also the globe as a whole (Buchanan & Simmons, 2009). Starbucks enjoyed rapid growth for a long time based on increased customer buying and the creation of strategies aimed at expanding its business operations. Expanding its business activities led to the introduction of a platform that improved the level of interactions with a diverse set of customers (Buchanan & Simmons, 2009). Initially, Starbucks operated under a confined group of customers. In the past, the limited number of customers and segments in the market made it possible for Starbucks to create the ultimate connection from an emotional perspective. STARBUCKS CASE ANALYSIS 2 Maintaining a positive emotional connection with the customers made it easy for the company to guarantee its growth and hence, returns each year. However, the case study above shows that Starbucks created a wide range of products which it delivered to diverse populations. In the end, diversity of the products instead of resulting in increased sales led to a decline in the overall sense of Starbuck experience and hence, the connection with the initial clients. Starbucks initially reported under a set of guidelines that focused on the delivery of commodities to the customers while maintaining the sense of connection from an emotional [perspective. The emotional connection of the firm made it possible for the management to craft measures meant to improve the sales made each year (Buchanan & Simmons, 2009). Despite the strengths and opportunities the firm exhibited, Starbucks stood at a disadvantage from the competition and the existing weaknesses in its operations. Deciding on the best alternative to implement stands out as one of the aims of this paper (Buchanan & Simmons, 2009). Some desired alternatives include eliminating the idea of maintaining a more extensive product portfolio to concentrate on a single commodity and but not limited to, investing in restoring the previously existing emotional connection with customers. The loss of the connection between the company and the customers was primarily affected by the deterioration of the economy in the country. In 2007, Starbucks reported flat growth and sales for 2 quarters. Declining outcomes in the final quarter followed the flat growth. Changes in the market, such as a rise in the prices of gasoline, among others, increased the challenges that the firm (Buchanan & Simmons, 2009). In this context, the rise in the prices of gasoline among other environmental and economic changes created a platform that discouraged purchasing by the customers. Like many other retail businesses, Starbuck started recording declining sales and hence, revenue. In the end, the adopted strategies did not seem to help the company regain its stand. Therefore, based on this STARBUCKS CASE ANALYSIS 3 situation analysis, the following section will outline the environmental factors responsible for the occurrence of the issues which will form the foundation for the development of the final recommendations. Environmental analysis This section outlines the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that Starbucks exhibits based on the presented case study. Strengths Starbucks exhibits various strengths, which include the following. • A strong brand name • Strategic location and positioning of its stores across the globe • Able and supportive partners • High-quality coffee products Weaknesses On the other hand, the company exhibits various weaknesses that may affect its operations in the future as follows. • High level of competition from other firms such as McDonald's • A high number of products in its mix which makes it hard to achieve specialization • The exponential expansion which loses the connection between the company and customers • Opportunities Some of the opportunities that the firm exhibits include the following. • Segmentation of the target market to obtain a smaller customer group STARBUCKS CASE ANALYSIS • High abilities to customize its products and services • Improve its operational aspects to achieve excellence • Specialization in single or limited products 4 Threats The threats the company faces include the following. • Automation of the other players in coffee making • The mainstreaming of Espresso • Increasing competition. Problem statement To restore its initial success, Starbucks needed to decide the best alternative to take to restore its positive growth. Development of alternatives For the company to succeed in the market like before, the management must implement the right decisions to support such improvements. Some of the most appropriate alternatives that the firm ought to implement include the following. 1. Launching a sub-brand. This alternative would allow the company to focus on a confined product which targets the primary customers as opposed to a wide range of commodities. 2. The second alternative includes re-igniting the previously enjoyed levels of emotional connection with the customers. Emotional connection with the customers would lead to an improvement of the overall abilities of the firm to maintain effective feedback and communication mechanisms, thus promoting the initial Starbuck experience. 5 STARBUCKS CASE ANALYSIS 3. The third alternative includes implementing a loyalty program for the customers. A loyalty program would help the company to maintain the required level of connection with the customers while at the same time promoting sales. Evaluation of alternatives In an attempt to understand the significance of these alternatives, it is crucial to evaluate the mentioned options based on various factors as the table below shows. Alternative Time Quality Costs Reach Launching a Medium High High High Low High Low High Implementing Low High Low Medium sub-brand Revisiting and implementing emotional connection with customers a customer loyalty program From the table, the costs of implementing a subbrand, in this case, is high. However, the sub-brand would require a lesser amount of time to implement, followed by high returns in terms of quality. Further, this option would help the company to reach out to a bigger STARBUCKS CASE ANALYSIS 6 audience thus beneficial. On the other hand, implementing a customer loyalty program may not assist the company to reach out to more customers. Further, the loyalty program may lead to an improvement in the quality of products offered due to the incorporation of feedback offered by the customers. Further, this option is beneficial in that it would cost the company lesser time and finances to implement. Finally, creating an emotional connection with the customers may require a lesser amount of money and time to implement. The primary benefit for the program is that it would foster high reach abilities to more customers. Additionally, through the implementation of this program, the company may achieve high-quality products in the future. Based on the three alternatives provided, it is evident that the company should implement the emotional connection aspect with i8ts customers (Ferrell & Hartline, 2012). Recommendations For the company to start achieving positive outcomes, Starbucks, as Schultz claims, needs to recreate and revisit the initially implemented Starbuck experience (Snell, Lemley, Snell & Yemen, 2017). The Starbucks experience was made up of the connection that the customers and company maintained from an emotional perspective. To do this, Starbucks needs to implement a barista culture. This culture enabled the customer to interact with the coffee when being made. Additionally, the company would help to reduce the challenges the customers highlighted of aromas such as breakfast fumes when purch8ing or enjoying their drinks. This culture will allow the company to focus on a single brand. Focusing on a single brand will make it possible to specialize in the services offered to customers. STARBUCKS CASE ANALYSIS References Buchanan, L., & Simmons, C. J. (2009). Trouble Brews at Starbucks. Harvard Business Publishing. Retrieved 25 May 2019. From https://hbr.org/product/trouble-brews-atstarbucks/909A02-PDF-ENG Ferrell, O. C., & Hartline, M. (2012). Marketing strategy, text, and cases. Nelson Education. Snell, S. A., Lemley, A., Snell, S. A., & Yemen, G. (2017). Starbucks: Schultz Back in the Brew. Darden Business Publishing Cases, 1-18. 7
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