Business Case Studies & Business Publications

Sticks Kebob Shop (SmartCase)

Venkatesan, Rajkum...

SmartCase

Sticks Kebob Shop (SmartCase)

Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Gibbs, Shea

M-0990 | Published October 16, 2020 SmartCase

Collection: Darden School of Business

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Product Details

Sticks Kebob Shop (Sticks), a small restaurant chain headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia, is interested in opening its fifth quick-service restaurant, and the executives have narrowed their search to four targets. But before selecting the site, they want to get a better sense of who Sticks’ customers are, which location will attract the best customers, and how best to connect with customers. Although they have a rough idea of their customer base from anecdotal evidence, they decide to collect survey data to confirm their hypotheses. Will the demographic and psychographic assumptions they gathered from talking to people in stores align with the survey answers? And what will the data tell them about where to locate their next store, and about which marketing channels and messages would be most effective in promoting it?

This all-in-one SmartCase presents a case study about the Sticks expansion, including the survey Sticks used, an actual Sticks menu, and data about the restaurant industry. The field-based case comes to life with eight short videos embedded in the case narrative. Filmed inside an active Sticks restaurant, these videos focus on interviews with Sticks’ CEO and cofounder, in which he discusses some key issues in the case and shares insights. The SmartCase also includes links to data files with sample individual responses and collected survey data, which enable students to perform cluster analysis on real data. In this process, they learn to think critically about how to relate a business’s value proposition to demographics, question assumptions about segmentation, and hone their managerial intuition as they apply insights from marketing analytics and recommend specific strategies. Finally, the microsite includes resources for instructors, including a teaching note and an instructor spreadsheet.

Because this is a new product type, we currently only provide a live online demo. Contact us at sales@dardenbusinesspublishing.com to schedule a 10-minute consultation to see if this online case would fit well in your course.