I have published a series of cases with the intention of bringing more diverse and inclusive viewpoints to marketing classes. Most can be taught at the undergraduate or graduate level. If you are a marketing professor, please feel free to contact me and I am happy to provide additional materials (info@profgoldsmith.com).

Paramount
(2022)

RuPaul’s Drag Race: From Subculture to Mainstream

VH1, MTV, and LOGO were all popular television channels owned by the Paramount television network. One of the most successful shows on LOGO was RuPaul's Drag Race, a reality television show featuring drag queens. Paramount was considering moving RuPaul's Drag Race off LOGO to a different platform within the Paramount portfolio in 2017. Before deciding where RuPaul's Drag Race would air, Paramount needed to determine whether the show could be successful on another platform given its current fan base, how the potential move would affect the show's ratings, and whether the positioning or targeting strategy for the series would need to change if it were moved.

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Liquid Death
(2022)

Water Made Metal

Founded in 2017, the canned-water company Liquid Death had raised about US$125 million in venture capital funding and created a strong following within the punk and heavy metal communities. However, the brand was seeking to expand and needed to choose the best growth strategy, which involved deciding which customers to target, whether to develop new products or line extensions, how to continue to use promotions and communications to defend the brand's "cool" and eco-friendly image while appealing to a broader range of consumers, and how to stave off competitive threats.

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Daily Crunch
(2022)

Marketing a Start-up During a Shutdown

In December 2020, Laurel Orley, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Daily Crunch, was trying to determine her company’s next move in the midst of a global pandemic. Nine months prior, general business operations and consumerism as it was known had largely shutdown in the United States due to the COVID-19 virus. Her company, Daily Crunch, faced unforeseen setbacks as a result of the pandemic. Daily Crunch primarily sold sprouted nuts and was originally set to launch on Snack Day (March 4th, 2020). However, the go-to-market strategy, which involved in-person sampling and demonstrations at popular food expos, proved no longer to be viable given the shutdown in the United States. The case is particularly useful for teaching about distribution, omni-channel retailing, e-commerce, and marketing for entrepreneurs.

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