The purpose of this call for submissions was to encourage the creation of materials that directly or indirectly incorporated the ideas of the distinguished scholar Dr. Geraldine Fennell, a leading authority on consumer behavior analysis and market segmentation.
As a result of the project, five case studies were developed that completed all the planned stages. These case studies will be used as teaching tools to enhance academic training, as well as to disseminate innovative theoretical and methodological approaches in the study of marketing.
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The “Prince Humberto” Case
“It’s a classic snack for the schoolyard, high school, or college; it ‘tides you over’ between meals and sweetens your afternoon coffee. Alfajores are a staple of the Uruguayan diet—so much so that Uruguays eat about 10 million of them every month, and the market is worth $30 million a year.”
Every consumer has their favorite brand in a market that continues to grow steadily, where major players like Portezuelo and Punta Ballena dominate. However, new brands have entered the market, targeting niche segments such as Marley with its “low-calorie alfajores,” aimed at urban tribes; Juana la Loca, which has innovated by replacing the cookie with a chocolate bar; and vegan options.
In this context, and given the trend toward incorporating healthy foods into the diets of children (the primary consumers of alfajores) and adults, one might wonder whether there was room for a new product, and, if so, whether consumers were still unable to find products that adequately satisfied their desire for sweets, snacks, or light meals.
However, this question wasn't even on Martín's radar when he decided to add a line of alfajores to the classic products that his family's company, Príncipe Humberto, had been offering for more than 25 years.
Author: Verónica Balestero
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Case Study: “Hozon: Emotional Technology”
“Globally, the automotive market is trending toward increased supply and demand for electric and hybrid vehicles. Uruguay is no exception to this trend, and for several quarters now we have observed a steady increase in the market share of these vehicles,” said Jonathan Szwarcman, manager of Mercado Libre’s Vehicle Marketplace. This trend is evident with the participation of well-known players such as Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, and BYD (Sadar), as well as new brands like Trike, eMin, Farizon, FAW, JAC (Fiancar Group), Keyton, and Hozon (Novelli Group), offering vehicles ranging in price from $5,000 to $80,000.
In Uruguay, 215 electric vehicles were sold in 2020; in 2021, 660; and it is estimated that by the end of 2022, the figure will reach 1,000 vehicles, according to Autodata figures provided by Guillermo Novelli. Meanwhile, the government is promoting the purchase of these vehicles through various policies; for example, as of January 1, 2022, 100% electric vehicles are exempt from the IMESI tax, and a national charging network is being established throughout the country.
As for the international market, growth rates are in the double digits in Europe, and this trend is expected to continue in the United States over the medium to long term. The entry of Chinese players into this sector is also driving prices down and helping to boost sales of electric vehicles in other regions, such as Latin America.
Authors: Guiliana Casaretto, Alejandro Lebel
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The “Flor del Valle” Case
Scott leaned back in his chair. He was tense. He was an energetic man, the kind who has to make decisions all the time. This time, however, he didn’t know what stance to take. He asked Ernesto Bonn, one of the leading consultants in his industry, to help him look at the problem from a new perspective.
When Scott was approached in Europe about the possibility of heading the multinational’s operations in Costa Rica, the situation seemed pretty clear. It seemed very easy to grow a market with an annual per capita beer consumption of 22.5 liters to one of 50 liters, like Spain’s.
However, the situation with the Flor del Valle brand presented a major challenge. Flor del Valle was a local brand owned by the company that the multinational had acquired to enter the market. There was plenty of data, but it seemed to point in different directions. He was surrounded by very talented people who had different perspectives on the problem. They had hired the best consulting firms to provide their analysis, and while they agreed on some points, when it came to drawing conclusions, they seemed to reach dead ends. At first, he thought the decision to discontinue the brand was obvious, given that sales were not trending well. But his sales team, the distribution channels, and even the customers were opposed, so he had delayed his decision.
But it could no longer be put off. His immediate supervisor had given him an ultimatum to make the decision he considered best for optimizing the portfolio.
Author: Juan Pablo Carrero
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Case: “Fever and Coupon Drop in Montevideo: woOw!”
A year had passed since Groupon, woOw!’s last competitor in Uruguay’s e-commerce ecosystem, had ceased operations. However, Leonardo Silveira, CEO of the company he had co-founded six years earlier, was far from feeling the peace of mind he had expected from his monopoly position. The decline in growth rates for revenue and the number of customers seemed inexplicable.
As November 2016 drew to a close, Leonardo was preparing for the next general meeting with his leadership team. It was clear to him that they were once again facing significant changes. But what changes? What action plan should he present before it was too late and woOw! also had to leave the market?
Author: Daniel Segovia
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The “Diario El País Digital” Case
It was 3:00 p.m. on April 4, 2022. Uruguay’s then-president, Luis Lacalle Pou, announced on his Twitter account the end of the public health emergency caused by COVID-19, which had lasted just over two years and had affected every segment of society in one way or another.
The announcement eliminated a major incentive for attracting new digital subscribers to news outlets.
The media was precisely one of the industries that had been affected by the pandemic, a challenge compounded by longer-term issues that had arisen with the initial rise of the internet and, later, social media. During the two years of the health crisis, it became clear that, for many people, having access to in-depth information had provided a sense of security amid so much uncertainty.
Clara, the audience manager at the Montevideo-based newspaper El País, said to herself: “The moment we’d been dreading has finally arrived. Now we really have to start thinking about what we’re going to do to meet the newspaper’s goal of increasing the percentage of subscribers relative to unique IP addresses from 0.5% to 4% within three years.”
After completing her MBA, Clara had discovered that her passion lay in data analysis and customer insight. To be more effective, she had put together a team consisting of Sandra, Julio, and Sebastián—experts in various fields such as marketing and communications—with the goal of identifying the target audience and determining what incentives to create in order to reach the desired number of subscribers.
Authors: Sofía Brunstein, Enrique Kramer, and Gustavo Rubinsztejn
A Thought from Dr. Geraldine Fennell
“Don’t sell what you make; make what consumers want to buy” was the guiding principle behind Geraldine Fennell’s philosophy.
His main ideas were:
- "Bottom-up" consumer psychology.
- Differences between prospects and non-prospects.
- Focus on market segmentation versus population segmentation.
Dr. Fennell pursued several lines of research, including a model for understanding and categorizing customer preferences in order to contribute to better brand and product design.
The Carolan Research Forum was held in 2019 and 2020. It was an international call for proposals, and research proposals were selected. The conference—which was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic—drew some 600 participants from Latin America and Spain.
This list includes examples of research projects conducted by Spanish speakers in Latin America and funded by the Carolan Research Institute.