Suntan Lotions

Case Prompt

Your client is a start-up venture in Southern California. They market a single tanning lotion product to beach-goers from San Diego to Los Angeles.

They have conducted extensive market research and have found that their product should do quite well. There are currently no other products targeting the Hawaiian Cocoa butter segment. The product did quite well with consumers in focus groups that were conducted prior to launch. These focus groups are representative of the target market, and indicate a real market need for this product. The goal was to attain a 5 percent market share – sales at this level would result in profitability.

Although sales volume is large, it has not reached anticipated levels. You have been hired to find out why, and what can they do about this problem. This is the company’s second summer in business.

Case Overview

This case from our consulting case library involves a start-up business that sells tanning lotion products. The company is not hitting its sales targets that it set prior to launching. Your job is to find out why, and what the client can do to remedy the problem.

We recommend that you use the Profitability Framework to help build out a structure for the case, but don’t rely on the basic case frameworks. Incorporate your own business experience and knowledge of the frameworks to create the best possible structure for the case.

This is a beginner level case from our consulting case library – it will help you prep for a first round case interview at Strategy&.

Strategy& Interview Tips

Strategy& looks for creativity and innovative approaches to problem solving in its case interview candidates.

Make sure you are comfortable working outside the basic frameworks and finding out-of-the-box solutions to problems you may face.

In this case, focus on coming away with 1 area you can improve upon inside the case.

Looking for expert prep help? Schedule a session with an ex-MBB coach today. Find more cases from the consulting case library at the link below.