Cases

Vueling: Beyond Low Cost

On January 27, 2012, the Spanish airline Spanair announced that it was ceasing operations. A few days later, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary opportunistically unveiled the Irish company’s new routes to Spain during a press conference at Bilbao airport. Spanair workers, who organized protests following the airline closure, accused Ryanair of trying to force the...
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Primark: £10? Ooh that’s Expensive!

On August 5th, 2010, Paul Marchant, the CEO of the UK’s wildly popular discount clothier Primark, announced a new store opening on the poor relation end of London’s Oxford Street. The Primark store on the opposite end, up-scale Marble Arch, had opened in 2007 and, despite concerns about its location among higher end retailers,...
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Teens Today, Young Adults in 2020

Teens Today

The future and sustainability of many companies will depend to a great extent on teenagers¿ behavior and attitudes toward consumption. As such, getting to know this key group now will pay off in the long term when they become young adults. Based on the latest findings of an international study of teenagers across eight...
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Football, funding and MBAs By Mark Mulligan

Football, funding and MBAs By Mark Mulligan

  When arch-rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona clashed in their first football fixture of the 2010-11 season, there was more at stake than the top slot in Spain’s premier league. The match, between the world’s two wealthiest clubs with combined revenues last year of more than €800m was played at a sold-out Camp Nou...
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The Fall and Return of Pokémon

The Fall and Return of Pokémon IESE (España) In 2000, the Pokémon franchise saw its glory begin to fade. Gone was the idea that Pokémon would become a classic toy rivalling the likes of Barbie and Donald Duck. Those responsible for the franchise were forced to rethink their strategy to re-enter the child and...
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Starbucks: Addressing the Dangers of Success

Comín, Marta; Nueno Iniesta, José Luis IESE (España) In 2008 the Starbucks chain of cafés was having to face an unprecedented crisis. Its accelerated growth was beginning to threaten the company’s sophisticated image. Should they try and check this growth, or on the contrary, should they consider breaking into new sectors of the market?...
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Big Brother: Endemol’s Big Hit

This case describes the history of the Big Brother television show format, thought up by Endemol, which represent the global launchof the “reality show” concept. Following years of extraordinary success, Endemol and its Spanish subsidiary Zeppelín are thinking about how to vary the format to recover audience viewing levels.   Fillat D.; Nueno Iniesta,...
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Santander-Serfín: Revitalizing the Payment Systems Business

In June 2001, Ramón Tellaeche, director of products and marketing at Banco Santander Serfín in Mexico, was considering the commercial strategy which the means of payments division should follow over the following months in order to achieve its ambitious commercial objectives. Marcial Portela, general manager of Grupo Santander’s Americas Division, had set the objective...
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Real Madrid Club de Fútbol

In June 2004, Florentino Perez, a well-known Spanish businessman, was elected president of Real Madrid, one of the world’s top soccer clubs. In his campaign, Perez had promised to turn around the club’s finances, bring in world-class talent, and expand the club’s brand around the world through multiple channels. As re-election looms four years...
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Philips Bets on Recordable DVD: Conflicting Technologies

DVDs were the biggest success ever in consumer electronics, but it seemed that many consumers missed being able to record on DVD, as they did with their VCR. Moreover, research showed that they were willing to pay premium for recording. Was this the right moment to launch the first DVD Recorder in Europe? Early...
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