Steak Sauce: Lawry's Defense" case to complete a formal written case analysis.

Chuck Smith, senior brand manager on A.1. Steak Sauce and Marinades, looked again at the e-mail message on his computer. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me," he muttered. "This is definitely not a good thing." It was Friday, February 14, 2003-Valentine's Day. Smith sighed, knowing he was going to have to reschedule his weekend plans again. He called his wife, told her the bad news, and then turned back to his computer.

The e-mail was from Susan Connor, Kraft's sales manager for Publix, one of the largest grocery store chains in the United States. She wrote: Hey, Chuck, I just got a call from my contact at Publix. He said that Lawry's is launching a new steak sauce product nationally with an April 1 start ship. Lawry's is asking for the Memorial Day ad at Publix, with a two-for-$5 promotional price point. He wants to know if we will match the pricing or if he should go with Lawry's for the ad. I have a meeting with him on Tuesday. What should I say?

Smith was surprised that Lawry's was launching a steak sauce and very surprised at the aggressive promotion pricing. He knew that Lawry's was almost certainly going to price its new steak sauce at the same level across the country to prevent diverting 1 between regions.

Immediately Smith scheduled a meeting with the division general manager for Monday to talk about the situation. He knew he was going to have to provide a strong recommendation on how A.1. should respond to Lawry's launch. Should A.1. defend itself against the launch and if so, what should A.1. do?

The analysis will cover:

1. A brief summary of the situation/marketplace conditions.

2. The key issue/problem to be solved

3. Enumeration of the alternative solutions.

4. A thorough analysis of the qualitative and quantitative pros and cons of alternative solutions.

5. Your recommendation for action.

6. Support, i.e. why your recommendation is feasible and preferable.

You'll be required to incorporate appropriate and accurate marketing math into your analysis. The numbers need to be accurate. And they need to be presented in a useful manner. Just copying a table or a graph from the case and dropping it into the appendix without any specific analytical tie-in to your case write up does not constitute quantitative analysis.