This is a case study from Harvard:
Snakes & Lattes: Playing the Marketing Strategy Game
Eric Dolansky
Aaron Slade, CEO of Snakes & Lattes (S&L), was tasked with overseeing the ambitious growth plan for the company. Snakes & Lattes was a chain of board game cafés in Toronto; customers could come and play board games, eat, drink, and have a good time. The firm had grown from one small location opened in 2010 to three locations in 2018, each larger than the last, and annual revenue had increased to $7 million. The company had announced plans to sell franchises in about 20 North American cities and open three more company-owned cafés. The immediate problem that Slade was wrestling with had to do with marketing strategy and communication. To date Snakes & Lattes had very controlled, centralized branding and communication, but each of the cafés was different due to its location, clientele, games, and history. With each venue having its own character there was room for more decentralized marketing, but only if it was not to the detriment of the brand. Two factors complicated this further: the company was involved in many non-café revenue-generating activities, and the planned rapid growth would exacerbate the existing problem of individual character of each café. Slade needed a strong marketing plan to complement the growth in locations.
Learning Objective
The key learning objectives of the case are as follows: 1. discover the link between strategy and tactics in marketing, and stress the importance of fit between them; 2. explore the value of a centralized versus decentralized communications plan; 3. understand the challenges of managing a rapidly-growing business, in terms of marketing consistency and brand identity; 4. learn how meaningful figures can be derived from relatively simple and sparse data.
Details
Pub Date:
Dec 31, 2018
Discipline:
Marketing
Subjects:
Consumer marketing, Target markets, Marketing plans, Strategic positioning, Growth strategy
Source:
North American Case Research Association (NACRA)
Product #:
NA0573-PDF-ENG
Industry:
Games,Restaurants
Geography:
Canada, Ontario
Length:
17 page(s)
