Indian Institute of Management Rohtak

ePGPX-02
Course- Marketing Management- III (Term-III)
End Term Examination – April-2020

Max Marks- 50 Duration: 3 Hours

Instructions- This Examination contains two cases and all questions are compulsory.
Case Study-1
The announcement from Facebook that it would be shifting to focus more on interpersonal
messaging capabilities, rather than wider news feeds, has implications not just for the social
media platform and its users but also for the marketers that advertise on the popular site. In
news feeds, it is relatively straightforward for companies to insert advertisements and
sponsored messages. But in direct, person-to-person messaging, their strategies will need to
change, especially if they want to avoid negative consumer reactions.
Most Facebook users have grown accustomed to seeing advertising and sponsored
entries on their news feeds. They can click to request that Facebook show them fewer such
advertising messages, but they cannot avoid them completely. Although some users still
complain about such entries, for the most part, people have come to recognize their news
feeds as public arenas, in which advertising seems generally acceptable.
In contrast, when engaged in one-on-one or small group messaging, users are less
likely to accept intrusions by advertisers. A conversation with friends or family members is
not a context in which consumers want to see branded messages. Beyond the risk of negative
responses, the exact methods that advertisers can use to reach users through messaging
services remain somewhat unclear.
However, a few innovative marketers suggest some potential options. For example, by
establishing service operations within a messaging app, companies can make it easier for
people to solicit those services. In this case, the marketing is not a conventional advertising
message; rather, it represents a new channel through which to interact with users. Thus
Domino’s maintains a presence in Facebook Messenger and on Slack, and pizza lovers can
send the company a direct message to get their dinner delivered to their doors.
Rather than direct services, some companies rely on messaging options to offer
recommendations and insights. Users can receive cosmetic and hair color ideas; they also
might use this channel to access important electronic documents, such as electronic tickets,
boarding passes, or receipts.
Regardless of how the marketers figure out methods to connect with message service
users, it is likely that Facebook will find a way to profit from it. Despite being somewhat
obscure about what the shift in its emphasis to messaging means for advertisers, observers
note that the savvy company would not undertake such a move without a good sense of how
it could earn new revenue from doing so. These sources of revenue might come from a

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percentage earned on every transaction (e.g., for every pizza Domino’s sells, it pays
Facebook a fee) or else from fees charged to brands to maintain a presence and connect with
specific customers through its Messenger.

Q1. In which zone of social media marketing do Facebook lie? Elicit the importance of
messenger to Facebook as compared to its instant messaging app WhatsApp. (10 Marks)
Q2. Do you agree with the sense that Facebook would not have made this change without
knowing how to earn revenue from it? (10 Marks)
Q3. Would you find it acceptable to receive advertising messages in the midst of
conversations with your friends on Messenger? What about service offers? How do they
differ? (10 Marks)

Case Study-2
What kind of Oreo eater are you? Do you love the stuffing most, scraping it off with your
teeth and casting the chocolate cookie aside? Or do you need to keep the flavors together and
dunk the whole thing in milk to get the most enjoyment? Or are you one of those who finds
the filling just a side note, focused more on the cookie crunch?
Mondelez, the company that owns the Oreo brand, is determined to find out, by
running a vast integrated marketing campaign designed to get consumers to vote for their
favorite style of the popular treat, across a variety of channels. To get things started, it
initiated a sweepstakes contest, for a $100,000 prize (as well as smaller prizes, like gift
certificates and Oreo-branded gear), which people can enter by voting online. The ballot
offers five stuffing choices, ranging from Thins and Originals to Double, Mega, and Most
Stuf versions.
At the same time as the contest runs, branded videos on TikTok, the relatively recent
and increasingly popular video-sharing site, promote Oreo as a fun and tasty option. Users
can vote on this platform too, by including a branded hashtag in their short shared videos.
Although these elements of the campaign are specific to the ongoing debate about
how much stuffing is the right amount, they are not the first integrated marketing efforts Oreo
has adopted recently. For example, in a partnership with Dunkin’, it created Oreo flavors for
donuts and coffees sold in stores. It also gives Alexa owners an option to ask the digital
assistant for updates about when new and seasonal cookie flavors will be available.
Thus, even though Oreo remains—after 107 years of existence—the top-selling
cookie brand, it also is determined to ensure its relevance and appeal to younger consumers.
Notably, an estimated 70 percent of TikTok users are between the ages of 13 and 24 years,
making it a highly effective channel for reaching young buyers, whether they love the creamy
filling or prefer their cookies crumbly.

Case Questions:
Q4. Is TikTok an effective marketing channel? Why or why not? (10 Marks)
Q5. What other sorts of information can Mondelez gather from consumers’ votes for their
favorite style of Oreo? (10 Marks)

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