...create simple four and eight stud building blocks. Today, LEGO has turned into one of the most famous toy brands in the world. The aim of this case study essay is to asses the macro and micro environment in which LEGO is performing today. Micro Marketing Environment The micro marketing environment is defined as “the forces close to the company that affect its ability to serve its customers – the company, market channel, firms, customer markets, competitors and publics, which combine to make the firm’s value delivery system” (Kotler, Wong, Saunders and Armstrong, 2005) One of the most notable things concerning the micro environment of LEGO is that it is viewed as a strong brand. It been part of the toy market for so long, that grandparents and parents can remember playing with the toy as a child, and so often feel they have a relationship or bond with the product. The brand has also infiltrated many markets world-wide, and its fame is instrumental in its continued success. The case study states, it’s the only European company to enter the worlds Top Ten toy manufacturers. The product also has a unique selling point. The toy of LEGO is aiming to capture a creative imagination and also enable it to stand out in the market of dolls, cars, computer games etc. It is promoted as a “system of play”, which can be a strong selling point when trying to compete with educational toys. Another positive aspect of the micro environment of LEGO is the broad of products it sells and...
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...Assignment 1: Individual case analysis report Mahmud Safari (21295746) 1 Individual Case Analysis Report LEGO (A): The Crisis Mahmud Safari 21295746 Assignment 1: Individual case analysis report Mahmud Safari (21295746) 2 Table Of Contents 1.0Introduction 2.0 Analysis of General Environment 2.1 Economic 2.2 Socio-‐Cultural 2.3 Global 2.4 Technological 2.5 Political/Legal 2.6 Demographic 3.0 Analysis of the Industry...
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...Alisa Olson MGT405 Section 7 Sunduramurthy 29 November 2012 Case Write Up: LEGO Group LEGO Group has been a successful company in the toy industry since they started in 1949. As of 2010, LEGO remained a privately held company by the Kirk Kristiansen family. Annual sales reached an all-time high equaling over $3.7 billion. The company’s strongest lines were LEGO Star Wars, LEGO City, and LEGO DUPLO. Even though the company has maintained a competitive advantage, they face some seriously threatening issues. Some of the current issues they face are maintaining patents, company acquisitions, court battles, and new competition. In 1984, TYCO introduced Super Blocks, which were almost identical to the plastic brick design that LEGO has. TYCO had advertisements that stated “if you can’t tell the difference, why pay the difference”. LEGO launched a four year lawsuit against them, but by 1988 the patent for LEGO’s building block design expired, so they lost the lawsuit. All the effort against TYCO was wasted. LEGO should have renewed their patent to prevent incidents such as this one from happening. Once this patent expired, the barriers of competition were lowered significantly in the building toy market. In 2009, Disney acquired the comic book company Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. This provided Disney with control over Marvel’s vast catalogue of over 5,000 comic book characters to be used in future publishing, movie production, and licensing operations. This was...
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...BUILD-A-BEAR CASE INCIDENT 1. An example of need in a Build-A-Bear Workshop is when a child is looking for a stuffed for herself or an adult looking for a gift of their loved ones for special events. An example of wants is when they want a stuffed that they could make it by themselves and be able choose what kind of toy animal or stuffed toy you like. An example of a demand is when you can be able to customize the stuffed toy that you want such as dressing it up and putting a recorded sound message in it. Another demand is be able to track your stuffed toy just in case you lost it. 2. Build-A-Bear product is a personalized stuffed animal of your choice that is made in the workshop and is built with fun, excitement and unforgettable experience. You could make your Build-A-Bean stuffed toy special by either choosing to record a Build-A-Sound message or choose a pre-recorded sounds or songs. And to make it more special they have different choices of clothes and costumes that you could choose. In every transaction, the customer is exchanging an experience and a dream while a Build-A-Bear company is building a strong and long lasting customer relationship. 3. Marketing Concept is the best marketing management that best describes Build-A-Bear Workshop because they were focusing on customer needs and wants delivering the desired value and satisfactions. 4. The value that Build-A-Bear is creating for its customers is the lasting relationships because they were satisfying...
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...Re: Discussion on the process of selecting decision alternatives for the whistle issue of the toy company, evaluating theadvantages, disadvantages, legal, financial and ethical considerations involved in the various alternatives.The purpose of this memo is to outline three possible decision alternatives to address the problem of small lead traces tocontents of metal whistles produced by a U.S toy company due for shipment to South America; by discussing the methods forthe selection of decision alternatives, the advantages, disadvantages, ethical considerations, financial and legal prospective ofthe each decisions . The memo will further justify and analyze the impact of the recommended decision on customerrelationship as well as demonstrate the role of ethics and social responsibility in choosing this decision.While important financial or strategic information is used in the decision-making process, business ethics has become anincreasingly popular tool used in making decisions. Business ethics is commonly referred to as the professional judgment orethical perspectives used by an individual or a company executive team in resolving moral or ethical problems in business. Inresolving the problem of the lead-contaminated metal whistles, I will discuss three possible decision alternatives, methods ofselection of the alternatives, pros and cons of the alternatives as well as potential legal, financialand ethical consideration involved in the selection. Ethical decisions-making can be...
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...ugfgfhhjjkk hlklgfgfCreative Toys Case Creative Toys Inc. 1. If Inventory were to be written down in the 4th quarter instead of the 2nd quarter, it could cause the company to be compromised. One of the reasons that the allowance occurs in the 2nd quarter is because Browne realizes that it will make expenses appear too high, but, it will reduce the impact of the lack of future sales. However, if inventory were established in the 4th quarter, where they are expected to increase quite a bit, the transition would be easier. This is the reasoning behind Gurchick’s insistence of waiting for the 4th quarter. On the down side, if sales do not increase as expected, the company would be in substantial trouble. They will have a great deal of over stated income, which will be caught by auditors. They will make adjusting journal entries for this, which will decrease net income. If this decrease is too substantial then the books will be in the negative. Browne understands that the Chatter Chick was over produced, and is prepared to deal with the consequence. Gurchick prefers to take a gamble and hope for the best. 2. The corporate culture at Creative Toys is probably quite tense at this point. With Browne and Gurchick disagreeing over the course of action, the employees at this point are most likely wondering what the outcome of the decrease in demand will be and whether the company will be able to make it through this. I think that everyone is probably quite worried and tense at this...
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...The Walt Disney Company and Pixar Inc. To Acquire or Not to Acquire? Andrii Alekseienko Corporate Strategy Case Study 18 September, 2015 The Walt Disney Company and Pixar Inc. To Acquire or Not to Acquire? To answer the main question of the case, we must think of the main problems that it faces. We need to find the solution for Bob Iger. What to do with Disney: to make some improvements in the existed company to compete better with Pixar, or to make a deal with another studio? Or should he work more with Pixar, or maybe just buy the whole company? To answer this questions, I will use two tools: better-off test and ownership test. At first, Disney and Pixar can just stay at the same place, and make some reorganization in the company. But in this case, it’s gonna be hard, because this option requires a big amount of time and finance. Restructuring the company can take place to improve the system of enterprise management, changing economic and financial policies, operations, marketing systems, marketing and human resource management in order to improve the company. It’s a possible, but definitely not the best option. Of course, the acquisition between Disney and Pixar have some advantages for Disney, but it’s not so good for Pixar, because their technology is unique, and different to the other players on the market. Because of company’s corporate culture and the talents of their employees. If we talk about famous animated films and unique solutions, both in technology...
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...Attitudes of Todd McFarlane Toy in US A Research Proposal INTRODUCTION McFarlane Toys is the fifth largest action figure manufacturer in the US. Established in 1994 to manufacture and sell action figures based on founder Todd McFarlane’s comic book character Spawn, the international award-winning company has expanded into licensed products to become one of the premiere action figure producers on the planet. There is only one physical store in US which located in Arizona the headquarter of McFarlane Toys company. PROBLEM Some people complain that McFarlane Toys have quality issues that Todd McFarlane Toys Company does not replace the broke one. Also, the company announce that they don't replace or repair broken toys. If it is broken, you have to take it back to where you bought it. If you cannot get it replaced at the store, then you are just out of luck. Furthermore, there is only one physical stores which located in the headquarter of Arizona States. There is no public transportation systems where people can go there, the only method is drive car. Finally, the physical store which in Arizona branch sometimes closed without any notice. People always drive at least 40 minutes to there and upset due to their store closed without any notice in official website. OBJECTIVE Identification and analysis the characteristic of the Todd McFarlane Toys and make a proposal. Searching the literature about the relationship between consumers and Todd McFarlane Toys. Find out the attitudes of...
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...Principles of Marketing Management – Case Study of LEGO Chapters: • Introduction ------------------------------------------------ 3 • Company Background ----------------------------------- 4 • Marketing Focus------------------------------------------- 5 • SWOT Analysis -------------------------------------------- 6 – 7 • Time Series Analysis ------------------------------------- - 8 – 9 • Product Analysis ------------------------------------------ -10 – 11 • Suggested Marketing Plan --------------------------------12 – 13 • Conclusion --------------------------------------------------- 14 • References --------------------------------------------------- 15 INTRODUCTION – For a company that has firmly established its foothold for the last 75 years, developing a futuristic three – year marketing plan involves critically analyzing the current marketing strategies and stating new strategies to be implied in the next few years. In this paper, four current marketing development plans namely SWOT Analysis, Time Series Analysis, and Market Product Analysis are dealt in a detailed way. Awarded the “Toy of the Century” at the end of the millennia, LEGO Group has nurtured generations of children and pre-teens with its creative and learning construction blocks. Over the years, LEGO has developed newer version of...
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...Bel Mesbahi 4/10/16 – Meadow Humanities & The Creative Arts “What The Research Says About Play?” Reflection The study done about play and it’s importance regarding a child’s development was somewhat intuitive, yet highly intriguing. The author laid out the three theories regarding how crucial imaginative child’s play is to their development, being that “ethos of play,” states that play is absolutely the fundamental force in early childhood development. “Equifinality,” claims that pretend play definitely contributes to, but is not fully responsible for children’s development; and lastly, the “epiphenomenal,” theory states that play is not responsible for development in other areas for children at all. Thinking about the three theories objectively, as well as placing my own childhood memories in application with the theories, I can definitely say that imaginative play plays a tremendous role in the early development of children, and in that, I would take the position of “equifinality,” but even leaning towards the idea of “ethos of play.” One quote from the question and answer section Dr. Alison Gopnik summed up a good portion of my perception regarding the topic. “When children engage in pretend play, have imaginary friends, or explore alternative worlds, they are learning what people are like, how people think, and what kinds of things people can do.” This statement literally summarizes my creative development as a child. Myself, and a couple friends created...
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...brand. Without the memories that Sun-Maid Raisins evoke, the brand would border on commodity status. The familiar red package links many users to happy days of helping Mom in the kitchen (or the idealized childhood for some who wished that they had such experiences). The result can be a different user experience, one with feelings, and a stronger brand. Self-expressive Benefits Brands and products, as symbols of a person’s self-concept, can provide a self- expressive benefit by providing a vehi- cle by which a person can express him- or herself. “When I buy or use this brand, I am___.” A brand does not have to be Harley to deliver self-expressive benefits. A person can be cool by buying clothes at Zara, successful by driving a Lexus, creative by using Apple, a nurturing mother by preparing Quaker Oats hot cereal, frugal and unpretentious by shopping at Kmart or adventurous and active by owning REI camping equipment. When a brand provides a self-expressive benefit, the connection between the brand and the customer is likely to be heightened. For example, consider the difference between using Olay, which has been shown to heighten one’s self-concept of being gentle, sophisti- cated, mature, exotic, mysterious and down-to- earth, and Jergens or Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion, neither of which provides...
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...Walt Disney-Pixar Merger Brief Industry Analysis Because of the technology nowadays, one successful film can be distributed all over the world, which is in a form of motion pictures or DVD. Animation is one media that is spread all over the world; push it to be one of fastest growing industry. The demand for the animation is increasing from the emerging number of cables and satellite TV and the popularity of The Internet. In addition, in the past, the target market of the animation industry was just kids, but now, it expands market to cover all ages of customers. The companies can be range from a big company such as Walt Disney to an individual artist with a PC. The trend of the industry has changed from drawing and photographs, which is labor-intensive, to using computer technology in order to create the realistic and higher quality pictures. However, producing the animation is still labor intensive and take a long time, this push the cost of production to be high. Therefore, now we see the trend of outsourcing the production from North America to Asia Pacific area, which has a lower cost, high quality computer animation production, and lower cost. Walt Disney Company Overview Walt Disney is one of the leading companies in the world that provides entertainment experience since its founding in 1923. Walt Disney Company and its subsidiaries and partner have four business segments, which are media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, and consumer...
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...each of these three concepts. Needs: Need is defined as a state of felt of deprivation or lacking something. According to this case study, we can say that the children needs are entertainment, fun and creativity. We know that every child want to play with something whether the child belongs to a rich or a poorer family. The second thing is we can notice that the new born babies love to play with technology means they want creativity. They want to do something that is new and unique. Build-A-Bear customers are children, who have needs of belonging (joining the Build-A-Bear "club."), affection (creating and caring for another being), and self-expression (the ability to create a product that reflects elements of the self). Wants: Wants are basically “needs, that are fulfilled according to the costumer’s personality and culture.” In this case study, we can observe that the target customers are children and children love to play with animals. Due to the advancements in technology, the children are being something which they really want and know to be the only source of delightfulness. Hence, the company has added different assembly lines and clearly labeled work stations. Children want a place where they can get a toy of their choice where they have freedom to make a toy like bear of their own choice by choosing, stuffing, stitching, and naming the toy (bear). Demands: Demands are “wants, backed up by buying power”. The Build-A-Bear company gives experience to their costumers...
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...CASE 1 Presentation: “Lego: The fall and rise” MK-210 Principles of Marketing (Section-A) Program: BBA Marks: 5 ------------------------------------------------- There is one company that has made more than 400 billion bricks (62+ for every individual on this planet). It may also be called world’s largest tire manufacturer though in this case ‘bricks’ and ‘tires’ are of blocks made by Lego. This Danish company was registered in 1958 though it had been manufacturing blocks since 1932. It has twice been named Toy of the Century, by Fortune magazine and the British Association of Toys. Lego employees about 10,000 people, is spread in over 130 countries and is world’s fourth largest manufacturer of toys in terms of revenue after Mattel ($5.8bn), Namco Bandai Holdings ($4.5bn) and Hasbro ($4bn). Losses epoch (1998-2004) In 1990s the videogaming era boosted and in 1995 the internet came eventually taking away the share of children’s time from toys. As some analysts said that videogames in particularly were the prime reason for Lego’s eroding sales to the point that in 1998 it suffered losses for the first time in its history, however, it was not for the last time. Its losses reached the highest figure of 1,800 mDKK (million Danish Krone) in 2004 that was when hopes of its survival appeared low as the then newly appointed CEO Knudstorp said that hundreds of our customers wrote to us “Please don’t die”. He was then the major force in bringing the company back on its tracks and...
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...Chapter 1 LEGO Case Write-Up My key takeaways are 1) Company should combine business strategy, organization strategy and information strategy together in order to make a good innovation. 2) Keep uniqueness and develop new product to attract new segments is very important in a hypercompetitive environment. 3) A strong information management system can be very helpful. 1. How did the information systems and the organization design changes implemented by Knudstorp align with the changes in business strategy? After Knudstorp changed Lego’s business strategy changed, Lego changes its organization structure. They encourage product innovation and sales by offering incentives. They decrease coast by move manufacturing factories to cheaper places. In order to attract more consumers, they develop new series for new segments and extend virtual world and movie business. They also engaged the communities who had already set up thousands of Web sites and blogs. Which also related to IT technology improvement. The information systems of Lego changes too. They develop new technology to support the product design and development, also the virtual and video games. They use the technology to insist the real-time feedback from customers. They created a modularized and standardized architecture for their information systems, making it possible to expand more quickly and add capacity and functionality, as it was needed. They implemented an integrated enterprise system as well. These systems helps...
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