Case Discussion

Objective

This case discussion provides students an opportunity to examine real-world marketing management scenarios and apply their knowledge learnt in the first few lectures of the course through critical analysis and discussion-based learning.

The Case

The global COVID-19 pandemic has not only created a surge of demand on ready-made food delivery services, but also generated a spike of companies that offer customizable, pre-made meal (some called it meal-kit) delivery. In contrast to the ready-made food delivery services, pre-made meal companies operate independently and their websites do not aggregate multiple providers on a single platform. Once signing up as a member on the company websites (or App), varieties of menu options and price lists would come up for potential customers to choose. They would then pick their choice of menus through navigating the selection options on the website, pay online with just a few clicks, and wait for the company to deliver a box of fresh ingredients to their designated address, usually a home address. Some companies also provide add-on or upgrade choices of food, recipes, kitchen tools and tutorial videos so that their customers have everything they need to prepare a meal.

Gobble, based in the United States of America (USA), is a pre-made meal delivery company founded by their CEO Ooshma Garg, who was selected as Forbes Top 30 Innovators Under 30 in 2011. Once a customer ordered online, a Gobble box that contain packets of fresh ingredients that have already been chopped, portioned, and simmered, as well as simple recipe cards of the dishes will be delivered to customers designated addresses on weekly basis.

Gobble offer three menus currently classic, vegetarian only, and lean & clean. But the company kept a lot of information secret before customers complete the whole selection and payment process. For example, Gobble only shows a few available choices of dishes on the upcoming menus page of their website, meaning that customers will not be able to view full menu choices before they paid. The availability of portion and frequency are also hidden from the main page of the site. Not until entering the checkout process, customers would not be able to choose the portion of ingredients for 2 people or for 4 people, as well as the delivery for 3 nights per week or 4 nights per week.

The secretive menus, perhaps, is a marketing strategy of Gobble. But marketers job is more than making decisions. In-depth research and critical analysis are fundamentally important for marketers to examine the market situation and identify potential customers before they move onto the strategic planning stage. Utilize your knowledge about the core concepts of marketing management and write a short report to respond to the following questions: (point = mark)

Which factors in the current market environment support, and which factors in the current market environment threaten Gobbles business development in your home place/country? Explain. (4 points)