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Project Report and Thesis contact
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Business Marketing Management
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CASE: I Trap-Ease: The Big Cheese of Mousetraps
One April morning, Martha House, president of Trap-Ease, entered her office in Moncton, New
Brunswick. She paused for a moment to contemplate the Ralph Waldo Emerson quotation that she
had framed and hung near her desk: “If a man [can] make a better mousetrap than his neighbor …
the world will make a beaten path to his door.” Perhaps, she mused, Emerson knew something that
she didn’t. She had the better mousetrap—Trap-Ease—but the world didn’t seem all that excited
about it. Martha had just returned from the National Hardware Show in Toronto. Standing in the
trade show display booth for long hours and answering the same questions hundreds of times had
been tiring. Yet, this show had excited her. Each year, National Hardware Show officials hold a
contest to select the best new product introduced at the show. Of the more than 300 new products
introduced at that year’s show, her mousetrap had won first place. Such notoriety was not new for
the Trap-Ease mousetrap. Canadian Business magazine had written an article about the
mousetrap, and the television show MarketPlace and trade publications had featured it. Despite all
this attention, however, the expected demand for the trap had not materialized. Martha hoped that
this award might stimulate increased interest and sales. A group of investors who had obtained
worldwide rights to market the innovative mousetrap had formed Trap-Ease in January. In return
for marketing rights, the group agreed to pay the inventor and patent holder, a retired rancher, a
royalty fee for each trap sold. The group then hired Martha to serve as president and to develop and
manage the Trap-Ease organization. The Trap-Ease, a simple yet clever device, is manufactured by
a plastics firm under contract with Trap-Ease. The trap consists of a square, plastic tube measuring
about 15 cm long and 4 cm square. The tube bends in the middle at a 30- degree angle, so that
when the front part of the tube rests on a flat surface, the other end is elevated. The elevated end
holds a removable cap into which the user places bait (cheese, dog food, or some other tidbit). A

2. hinged door is attached to the front end of the tube. When the trap is “open,” this door rests on two
narrow “stilts” attached to the two bottom corners of the door. The trap works with simple
efficiency. A mouse, smelling the bait, enters the tube through the open end. As it walks up the
angled bottom toward the bait, its weight makes the elevated end of the trap drop downward. This
elevates the open end, allowing the hinged door to swing closed, trapping the mouse. Small teeth
on the ends of the stilts catch in a groove on the bottom of the trap, locking the door closed. The
mouse can be disposed of live, or it can be left alone for a few hours to suffocate in the trap. Martha
believed that the trap had many advantages for the consumer when compared with traditional
spring-loaded traps or poisons. It appeals to consumers who want a humane alternative to spring
traps. Furthermore, with TrapEase, consumers can avoid the unpleasant mess they encounter with
the violent spring-loaded traps—there are no clean-up problems. Finally, the consumer can reuse
the trap or simply throw it away. Martha’s early research suggested that women were the best
target market for the Trap-Ease. Men, it seems, were more willing to buy and use the traditional
spring-loaded trap. The targeted women, however, did not like the traditional trap. They often stay
at home and take care of their children. Thus, they want a means of dealing with the mouse
problem that avoids the unpleasantness and risks that the standard trap creates in the home. To
reach this target market, Martha decided to distribute Trap-Ease through national grocery,
hardware, and drug chains such as Safeway, Zellers, Canadian Tire, and Shoppers Drug Mart. She
sold the trap directly to these large retailers, avoiding any wholesalers or other intermediaries. The
traps sold in packages of two, with a suggested retail price of $2.99. Although this price made the
Trap-Ease about five times more expensive than smaller, standard traps, consumers appeared to
offer little initial price resistance. The manufacturing cost for the Trap-Ease, including freight and
packaging costs, was about 31 cents per unit. The company paid an additional 8.2 cents per unit in
royalty fees. Martha priced the traps to retailers at $1.49 per unit and estimated that, after sales
and volume discounts, Trap-Ease would realize net revenues from retailers of $1.29 per unit. To
promote the product, Martha had budgeted approximately $60,000 for the first year. She planned
to use $50,000 of this amount for travel costs to visit trade shows and to make sales calls on
retailers. She would use the remaining $10,000 for advertising. Because the mousetrap had
generated so much publicity, however, she had not felt the need to do much advertising. Still, she
had placed advertising in Chatelaine and in other home magazines. Martha was the company’s only
salesperson, but she intended to hire more salespeople soon. Martha had initially forecast Trap-
Ease’s first-year sales at 500,000 units. By the end of April, however, the company had sold only a
few thousand units. Martha wondered whether most new products got off to such a slow start, or
whether she was doing something wrong. She had detected some problems, although none seemed

3. overly serious. For one, there had not been enough repeat buying. For another, she had noted that
many of the retailers kept their sample mousetraps on their desks as conversation pieces—she
wanted to traps to be used and demonstrated. Martha wondered whether consumers were buying
the traps as novelties rather than as a solution to their mouse problems. Martha knew that the
investor group believed that Trap-Ease had a once-in-a-lifetime chance with its innovative
mousetrap. She sensed the group’s impatience. She had budgeted approximately $150,000 in
administrative and fixed costs fore the first year (not including marketing costs). To keep the
investors happy, the company needed to sell enough traps to cover those costs and make a
reasonable profit. In the first few months, Martha had learned that marketing a new product is not
an easy task. For example, one national retailer had placed a large order with instructions that he
order was to be delivered to the loading dock at one of its warehouses between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.
on a specified day. When the truck delivering the order had arrived late, the retailer had refused to
accept the shipment. The retailer had told Martha it would be a year before she got another chance.
Perhaps, Martha thought, she should send the retailer and other customers a copy of Emerson’s
famous quotation.
Questions: 1. Martha and the Trap-Ease investors believe they face a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity. What information do they need to evaluate this opportunity? How do you think the
group would write its mission statement? How would you write it?
2. Has Martha identified the best target market for Trap-Ease? What other market segments might
the firm target?
3. How has the company positioned the Trap-Ease relative to the chosen target market? Could it
position the product in other ways?
4. Describe the current marketing mix for Trap-Ease. Do you see any problems with this mix?
5. Who is Trap-Ease’s direct competition? Who are indirect competitors?
6. How would you change Trap-Ease’s marketing strategy? What kinds of control procedures would
you establish for this strategy?

4. CASE: II GATORADE: THIRSTING FOR COMPETITIVE POSITIONING
According to Larry Dykstra, manager of marketing research for Quaker Oats, the development of a
focused positioning for Gatorade has allowed the company to target core users and identify
secondary markets. Before Quaker acquired the beverage in 1983, Gatorade’s previous owner had
promoted it by portraying users as competitive athletes, adult men, teens, and caricatures of
athletes. “When we acquired Gatorade,” recalls Dykstra, “it was a poorly positioned brand, with a
lack of consistent focus.” This position stood in contrast with the way current users were defined.
“There was no message on the uses of this product or under which circumstances and occasions it
was supposed to be used.” When Quaker looked at marketing research, Dykstra says the company
found that Gatorade’s main users were men aged 19 – 44, that they understood the product, had a
good perception of what it did, and knew when to drink it and how to use it. Since Gatorade had
been developed and marketed primarily in the South, Quaker wanted to find out if there was an
opportunity to market the drink in other areas. A study of attitudes determined that the target
could be expanded geographically. “We felt, based on research, that could take a narrow, solid
positioning of the product that is consistent with southern users and market the product in the
North,” Dykstra says. Gatorade was positioned for physical activity enthusiasts as a drink to
quench their thirst and replenish minerals lost during exercise better than other beverages did.
Subsequent advertising in 1984 centered on these attributes. In 1985, the company moved away
from this core positioning by trying to joke about the product’s competitive heritage – a strategy
that failed. [TV ads showed people in different activity situations trying to make sports jokes.] A
decision was made to go back to narrow positioning in 1986. “In 1987, we focused in our primary
target, but there have been refinements,” Dykstra explains. “We’ve tried to portray users as
accomplished but not professional athletes.” Although the drink is perceived as a “serious beverage,
the ads have added a fun component by showing people enjoying it together. We tried to show
people who didn’t alienate customers, but also people they could aspire to be like.” 2 An effort also
was made to portray people’s motivations for using the product. A computer graphic that portrays
thirst quenching was introduced—one which, according to Dykstra, came “across so strong we’ve
started to change the language.” But being well-focused and consistent in developing the product
over time can create other problems. “Because Gatorade is narrowly positioned in terms of users
and user occasions,” explains Dykstra, growth opportunities are probably limited. So how can we
go about identifying new opportunities?” The answer was to look for opportunities consistent with
the product’s imagery: “About two years ago,” says Dykstra, “we conducted a large study that
included a sample of current users and other possible targets, such as older men and mothers with

5. young children.” Quaker also looked in terms of vertical target: Should it target Gatorade toward
runners or basketball players? “We built a large enough attitudinal study so we could look at people
who considered themselves basketball players separate from those who considered themselves to
be aerobic athletes. In the user section, we asked people, “The next 10 times you’re in this specific
situation, are you going to use Gatorade?” Dykstra also felt Quaker could target mothers with active
children and found this group a large market that could be targeted separately. Additionally, the
company is attempting to market the product year-round. We found we were promoting our own
seasonality, so we wanted to develop some continuity,” says Dykstra. Quaker has most recently
started marketing the product to Hispanics. “We felt we could position Gatorade to them,” explains
Dykstra, “because they are a large growing segment, sports is important to them, and their
populations are centered in areas where its presence is already well developed.” An ad has been
developed for this purpose and is currently being tested. “We made an effort to do it right and not
offend this group,” Dykstra adds. Based on qualitative findings, the TV spot’s approach is
conservative and narrow, focuses on sports, and includes family members. “We showed it to several
focus groups and made sure the benefits translated.” At the same time, efforts were made to ensure
that the changes and refinements would not alienate the core users and secondary targets.
QUESTIONS
1) What are the major variables that might be used to segment Gatorade’s consumer market?
2) Define the core and secondary targets for Gatorade.
3) Propose a marketing strategy for penetrating the pre-teen market.
Case III. Current Legal Issues for eBusiness
Legislation to support the development and implementation of new Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) and reduce barriers to the adoption of eBusiness is an
important indicator for economic success. While the EU’s legal and regulatory framework in
this regard has only been gradually developed over the last years, there are valuable lessons
learnt which can be leveraged in the implementation of a legislative environment to support
the adoption of eBusiness in African States.
Reflecting research carried out under the Legal-IST project, which was funded under the
European Commission IST Programme, this case study addresses four recently studied issues
determined to be of high importance for eBusiness adoption in Europe. The objectives was

6. to identify, address and study legal research areas to define research and development needs
for short, medium and long-term focus (with regard to technology, methods, organisational
and human issues, business relationship and working groups, national legal entities and
codes) as well as to initiate and co-ordinate the analysis of specific issues of relevance
for ICT- businesses and to provide recommendations on each research area studied, suitable for
being used and adopted by policy-makers at EC level in order to evolve current legal
framework. This r e s e a r c h was b a s e d on questionnaire-based feedback received from
legal experts, SMEs, policy makers and NGOs across Europe.
The four key legal issues for eBusiness in Europe identified are:
• Legal issues related to RFID
• Liability of information society service provider
• Self regulation on B2B internet trading platforms
• Business registry.
1.1.1 RFID
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology uses radio waves to identify
objects or people wearing RFID tags automatically and wirelessly. RFID has two parts: a tag
containing an identification number and reader that triggers the tag to broadcast its
identification number. RFID is of considerable interest in retail, consumer packaged goods
and manufacturing supply chains in terms of potential efficiency.
Hospitals also plan to deploy RFID to identify patients, call up records, reduce
medical errors and improve overall productivity. For instance, a pilot project has started in
July 2005 in the clinical centre of Saarbrücken in cooperation with companies such as
Intel, Siemens Business Services and Fujitsu-Siemens. The study also points out other fields
of application including the use of RFID in passports (in November 2005 Germany introduced
the first European e-passport, equipped with biometric data stored on a RFID tag) and
banknotes, use in libraries and even in the tracking of people (like for example in prisons).
The key legal implications are related to RFID tags that directly store personal data such

7. as name, age, nationality etc. The most prominent current legal issue is the one related with the
protection of privacy and data protection. The study examines which European directives apply
in relation to different categories of RFID tags, some of which only include product reference
numbers, while others can provide access to personal data only in conjunction with a
backend database. Issues related to obligations of the data controller are also considered.
1.1.2 Liability of Information Society Service Providers
The background to this issue goes back to the adoption of the EU E-Commerce Directive,
and whether there should be stronger protection for the fundamental rights and freedoms of all
internet users, or whether the directive should facilitate hunting down individual internet
users who broke the law by for example, sharing files and breaching copyright in music. The
original intention was facilitate the establishment of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) as a
business model and not hamper its establishment through liability risks.
The study aims to provide a diagnosis of current liability problems as there is a
general lack of regulation at the European Community level of a specific system of liability.
The study points out four fields of interest: The question of the liability of providers of
Hyperlinks and Location Tools (where there is a general lack of European case law);
liability for the provision of AdWords; claims for information; and problems concerning
injunctions.
The main problems detected to date in relation to Hyperlinks and Location Tools are that
linking may give rise to a range of unlawful acts such as libel, intrusion of privacy, IPR
infringements, trademark infringements, misleading advertising, unfair competition and
breach of contract. A large number of the complaints are brought for practical reasons:
economic precariousness or lack of knowledge of the identity of the infringing party.
In light of applicable legislation and available case law, the potential problems
concerning Adwords (where suppliers pay a premium for their goods or services to be
highlighted if certain words are used in a search engine for example) are related to the legal
definition of the concepts “keyword” and “metatag” and the legal nature of the “Adwords

8. System”.
The potential problems in relation to issue of claims for information are the lack of
harmonised legislation on the obligation for the ISP to retain traffic data and the lack of
harmonised legislation related to claims for information.
With regard to injunctions the study considers problems related to intellectual property
infringements, and specifically some specific responsibilities of the intermediary.
1.1.3 Self Regulation on B2B Internet Trading Platforms
While across Europe there is eCommerce related legislation at both a national and European
Directive level, self-regulation is still an important facet of Internet regulation. The
development of codes of conduct is actually encouraged by the Directive on Electronic
Commerce (2000/31/EC - Article 16). Legal issues related to self-regulation are analyzed from
the perspective of legal validity and enforcement, including different types of self-regulation
such as codes of practice / codes of conduct, the use of trust marks and labelling, and best
practice guidelines and their legal implications. There are valuable lessons to be learnt that can
be considered for adoption in other jurisdictions outside Europe.
Because of rapid technical developments and the trans-national nature of Internet
trading platforms, self-regulation was proposed as a solution to increase the willingness
of businesses to join a B2B trading platform. Part of the focus of this study is to develop a
template for such a voluntary code of conduct, identifying the main features of self-regulatory
mechanisms and discussing the opportunity to address the identified barriers of entry on the
B2B Internet trading platforms through self-regulation rather than state intervention. It also
outlines future research required into how efficient a tool self-regulation can be for those
considering joining a B2B trading platform.
1.1.4 Business Registry

9. An electronic business registry (eBusiness registry) is a software system and
infrastructure that enhances information channeling and interactions, required by eBusiness.
It enables organizations to store information, select business partners and provide content for
customers. However, information supplied by such a registry may raise issues related to data
protection and liability issues, depending on the quality and standards of its service.
Using data warehousing techniques, allows analysis of data in a registry easy.
However, depending on the methods used, information of varying quality can be produced.
The study on business registry gives a clear overview over what business registries are as well as
of legal issues regarding this sector. It ends with a summary of legislative recommendations.
Barriers to eBusiness
The B2B Expert Group identified a series of factors that might explain the reluctance of
businesses (and especially SMEs) to fully engage in electronic trade. These include:
o lack of awareness regarding the risks and benefits of joining a trading platform,
o difficulties in identifying the most suitable platforms for them to join,
o incompatibilities between technical standards,
o insufficient information about the rules applicable to the marketplace
Transactions,
o financial barriers (costs of implementing a secured transaction protocol and
maintaining IT systems and websites).
The study recommends:
a. The formulation of Guidelines on the procedures to be followed in drafting a code of conduct
and in the involvement of relevant stakeholders
b. Studying the true effectiveness of the codes of conduct in modifying the behaviour of
market players, or marketplace operators. Such a research should include concrete
examples of market changes brought by the implementation of self regulatory measures
c. Carrying out legal research on the enforceability of the provisions of codes of conduct by
business partners or by third parties and available dispute resolution mechanisms.

10. d. Carrying out legal research regarding trust marks, what rules govern their activity and the
extent of their certification obligations
Key Conclusions
For RFID, it is essential there is good coordination between technologists, regulators, legislators,
and consumers to ensure that RFID can realize benefits to businesses and the wider society.
Use of RFID requires serious consideration of data protection and data security implications,
which in turn requires re-examination of the traditional legal principles and instruments.
For Liability of ISPs, it is essential to review the liability regime, taking into account the
special role of ISPs in the Information Society. Greater legal certainty can be achieved by
providing a legal definition of the appropriate court and out-of-court action and procedures.
Technical rules for business registries should be standardized in order to protect privacy of
communication and to assure integrity and security of communications.
Self-regulation including use of codes of conduct is essential for B2B Trading Platforms.
The creation of guidelines to help in the drafting of codes of conducts would be very
beneficial. However, research into the enforceability of codes of conduct is recommended.
Questions:
1. Are similar legal issues currently being faced in your country or region?
2. What relevance do you believe such legal related issues have for your region
or country?
3. What cultural, legislative or other barriers exist to successful adoption of
eBusiness in your country?

11. Assignment Solutions, Case study Answer sheets
Project Report and Thesis contact
aravind.banakar@gmail.com
www.mbacasestudyanswers.com
ARAVIND – 09901366442 – 09902787224