A real Danone case study linked to a brand issue
The students have been working on this real-life case study since January as part of the Brand Management course, one of the six options in KEDGE's MSc Marketing. After Evian and Volvic, they were challenged this year to study the Danone Produits Frais France branch for the Danette brand.
Professionals from an industry leader alongside the students
Designed in collaboration with three of the brand's product managers, the case presented on 21 January addressed the following analysis problem: how to accelerate the brand in the children's segment? The students were asked to answer this question by capitalising on the brand's assets.
An immersive pedagogy in line with the MSc
This type of practical case study, which is recurrent in the MSc programme, allows students to understand the challenges of a key industry profession. Facing real-life problems, working in immersion with professionals, designing and defending a marketing plan; these are the skills that are key to this module for the students of the programme.
Methodology and evaluation of the Danone case study
The students were divided into groups of 4 or 5 and coached by Fanny Capeau, professor of the Product Manager course of the MSc Marketing. They also had the opportunity to interact throughout the case with the brand teams to clarify the needs and challenges of the project.
They were given key data on the brand to prepare a plan accordingly: briefing figures on the dessert market, segmentation, consumer trends in this market, Danette's working methods, development of a new product, setting up a communication campaign.
Results of the case
On 16 April, after 4 months of work, the 8 groups presented their complete marketing plans for the year 2022 to the Danette teams. 2 groups stood out for the quality, professionalism and creativity of their presentations:
- Group 2 (Ophélie Arnoux, Soan Assie, Clémentine Germain, Agathe Giacometti and Sonia Cherchali) for their "Danette Cha Cha" project
- Group 9 (Sruthi Kolukuluri, Yueyi Ma, Juliette Valade, Arnaud Manus and Giselle Guzman) for their "Danette Snack Bio" project
A formative and professionalizing project
When approached at the end of their case study, students agreed that the learning-by-doing approach and the involvement of industry professionals was highly valuable:
The Danette case was the most concrete case in my entire school career. The access to so much confidential data was a real plus. I liked the challenge and the fact that we had almost carte blanche to create a product.
I personally enjoyed this case, and this end of cycle meeting with the Danette team was very enriching, especially thanks to their feedback on our presentation. The Product Manager course was very well constructed.
