Case studies are an essential learning strategy in business classes because they provide an opportunity for you to critically analyze events that have taken place in real-life businesses. This develops your critical thinking and research skills as you research the competition and industry in which your business resides in order to formulate a recommendation for the challenges faced by the company.
For this unit, review the Marketing Spotlight: Chase Sapphire case study in Chapter 6 of your textbook. This assignment will be comprised of two parts; one part will ask you to respond to questions, and the other will require you to complete a case analysis.
Part 1: Evaluate this case and respond to each of the following questions using both theory and practical managerial thinking.
- Who are the customers targeted by Chase with the Sapphire card?
- What are the key value and profile characteristics of these customers?
- What value does the Sapphire card create for customers?
- From a customer’s perspective, what are the pros and cons of the Sapphire card compared to other credit cards?
- What role did promotional incentives, such as the bonus points, play in creating customer demand?
- Would Millennials remain loyal customers once they had taken advantage of the initial offer?
- Would the Sapphire card continue to be attractive to Millennials if its promotional incentives were reduced and became similar to other credit card offerings?
Your Part 1 response must be at least two pages in length. Follow APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment. Note that you will submit Part 1 and Part 2 in one document.
Part 2: Complete a case analysis of Chase Sapphire. This requires that you conduct research on Chase Sapphire beyond the case study material in the textbook. In the case analysis, you will look at the situational analysis, problem, and alternatives, and you will provide a recommendation. Refer to the instructions below as you construct your analysis.
Situational Analysis
- Discuss the external environment through the compilation of a PEST (political, economic, sociocultural, and technology) analysis.
- Discuss the internal and external environment through the compilation of a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis.
Problem
- Identify at least one organizational problem that Chase Sapphire is currently having or one in which you project it will have in the future. Base this upon your research and critical thinking.
Alternatives
- Compile three or four potential marketing-related solutions to the problem above. Remember that these are potential alternatives; you will not select all of the alternatives to solve the problem.
Recommendation (Marketing Strategy)
- Select one or two of the alternatives above to solve the problem that you identified in this case analysis. Discuss your rationale for choosing these and not the others. Include supporting research that will increase the depth of your analysis.
Part 2 must be at least four pages in length. Follow APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment. Support Part 2 with at least three sources outside of the textbook. As aforementioned, keep in mind that Part 1 and Part 2 will be submitted in one document.
There are several databases that will help you find company information and competitor or industry information. Below are descriptions of different databases and brief summaries about what they do.
Business Source Ultimate: This is one of our bigger databases. This main screen can be used for industry research. You can search for an industry using the NAIC code in the NAIC/Industry Code search bar or by choosing “Industry Profile” under publication type and typing a broad keyword into the main search box.
ABI/INFORM Collection: This database can be used to look for articles on specific companies as well as company and industry information. If you type in a company name, you can change the dropdown box that says “Anywhere” to “Company/organization – ORG.” You can add any keywords you want in the lower boxes and hit search.
