Author Profile
Venkatesan, Rajkumar
The Chronicles of Caspari: Should Caspari Expand Its Online Marketplace?
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Levy, Samuel; Nunner, Katherine; Guneja, Saru; Maiden, Stephen E.
M-1072 | Published July 22, 2025 | 14 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
In late 2024, Lisa Milbank, CEO and editor in chief of Caspari, Inc. (Caspari), a publisher of premium designed and printed paper products such as napkins, plates, gift wrap, and invitations, contempl... Read More
Building AI Capabilities: CFA Institute
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Klopfenstein, Amy
M-1070 | Published June 11, 2025 | 3 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This is the third of three short cases that profile how companies built their AI capabilities ("Building AI Capabilities: Yum! Brands," UVA-M-1068; "Building AI Capabilities: Flipkart," UVA-M-1069; an... Read More
Building AI Capabilities: Flipkart
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Kemp, Bianca; Klopfenstein, Amy
M-1069 | Published June 11, 2025 | 5 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This is the second in a series of three short cases that profile how companies built their AI capabilities ("Building AI Capabilities: Yum! Brands," UVA-M-1068; "Building AI Capabilities: Flipkart," U... Read More
Building AI Capabilities: Yum! Brands
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Klopfenstein, Amy
M-1068 | Published June 11, 2025 | 3 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This is the first in a series of three short cases that profile how companies built their AI capabilities ("Building AI Capabilities: Yum! Brands," UVA-M-1068; "Building AI Capabilities: Flipkart," UV... Read More
Digital Marketing Metrics: Measuring What Matters
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Klopfenstein, Amy
M-1049 | Published September 10, 2024 | 8 pages. Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
This technical note provides an overview of common digital marketing metrics. It includes formulas for calculating the metrics and an explanation of what each metric represents. It also describes the ... Read More
YouTube Advertising with Roger Federer: Switzerland’s Tourism 2024 Campaign
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Klopfenstein, Amy
M-1057 | Published August 29, 2024 | 23 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Set in December 2023, this case explores Switzerland Tourism’s (ST’s) multi-year advertising campaign with tennis star Roger Federer. ST and Federer initially collaborated in 2021 with a YouTube video... Read More
Three Empirical Methods for Calculating Customer Lifetime Value
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Whitler, Kimberly; Zhang, Zhihao
M-1056 | Published August 01, 2024 | 11 pages. Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
A useful method in the marketer’s toolkit for determining the value of a representative customer from a certain segment is customer lifetime value (CLV). A CLV analysis essentially summarizes the prof... Read More
Flipkart: Reimagining the Digital Customer Experience
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Kemp, Bianca
M-1047 | Published March 13, 2024 | 23 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This field-based case recounts the story of two executives facing a critical decision at Walmart-backed, India-based Flipkart Online Services Private Limited (Flipkart), an expanding e-commerce compan... Read More
Wahoo Fitness: Segmentation and Data Insights
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Yemen, Gerry; Lopes, Henrique
M-1025 | Published February 02, 2022 | 16 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This field-based case describes Wahoo Fitness’s (Wahoo’s) data-collection process, focusing especially on the customer survey it used to gain insights into its current and potential customers. One mon... Read More
Sustainable Competitive Advantage
M-1015 | Published January 12, 2022 | 6 pages. Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
This note discusses the sources of competitive advantage for firms, including scale economies, network economies, counter positioning, switching costs, branding, cornered resources, and process power.... Read More
Customer Insights
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Kim, Tami
M-1013 | Published July 26, 2021 | 4 pages. Exercise
Collection: Darden School of Business
In this set of three exercises, students are cast in the role of marketing manager of one of three product categories. They must choose a specific brand in their category and use research trend tools ... Read More
Customer Journey Map
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Kim, Tami
M-1012 | Published July 26, 2021 | 6 pages. Exercise
Collection: Darden School of Business
This digital marketing exercise guides student groups through “customer journeys” in five different categories: home goods, clothing, office equipment, car insurance, and groceries. Students assume th... Read More
Marketing Analytics Instructor Manual
M-1014 | Published June 14, 2021 | 173 pages. Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
This instructor manual is designed for use with Marketing Analytics: Essential Tools for Data-Driven Decisions, by Rajkumar Venkatesan, Paul W. Farris, and Ronald T. Wilcox (2021), available at https:... Read More
Sticks Kebob Shop: Use of survey to identify store location
M-0992 | Published October 16, 2020 | Duration 00:00:31 Video
Collection: Darden School of Business
Video for inclusion in M-0990. Read More
Sticks Kebob Shop: Insights from the survey
M-0995 | Published October 16, 2020 | Duration 00:00:49 Video
Collection: Darden School of Business
Video for inclusion in M-0990. Read More
Sticks Kebob Shop: How did you build a brand in Richmond?
M-0998 | Published October 16, 2020 | Duration 00:01:31 Video
Collection: Darden School of Business
Video for inclusion in M-0990. Read More
Sticks Kebob Shop: How is the Richmond location doing?
M-0994 | Published October 16, 2020 | Duration 00:00:43 Video
Collection: Darden School of Business
Video for inclusion in M-0990. Read More
Sticks Kebob Shop: How are you doing with regard to in line competition?
M-0997 | Published October 16, 2020 | Duration 00:01:27 Video
Collection: Darden School of Business
Video for inclusion in M-0990. Read More
Sticks Kebob Shop: Introduction to Sticks Kebob Shop
M-0991 | Published October 16, 2020 | Duration 00:01:31 Video
Collection: Darden School of Business
Video for inclusion in M-0990. Read More
Sticks Kebob Shop: How do you build awareness for Sticks?
M-0993 | Published October 16, 2020 | Duration 00:00:46 Video
Collection: Darden School of Business
Video for inclusion in M-0990. Read More
Sticks Kebob Shop: How do Charlottesville and Richmond differ?
M-0996 | Published April 20, 2020 | Duration 0:49 Video
Collection: Darden School of Business
video for microsite Read More
Digital Marketing Simulation: Media Attribution at ExerciseMinder (SIMULATION)
M-0988 | Published February 05, 2020 | 1 pages. Simulation
Collection: Darden School of Business
Media attribution is a critical issue for marketers. Digital media provides marketers access to fine-grained data about consumer interactions with brands, but identifying the contribution of different... Read More
Text Analytics: Turning Words into Data
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Gibbs, Shea
M-0986 | Published December 06, 2019 | 12 pages. Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
The searchable internet contains almost 2 billion websites. And new, text-rich sites are being added at a rapid pace: more than 700 million popped up from 2016 to 2017, according to the International ... Read More
Cutting-Edge Marketing Analytics: Cases and Technical Notes Bundle
Farris, Paul W.; Wilcox, Ronald T.; Venkatesan, Rajkumar
M-0981 | Published October 08, 2019 | 220 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Cutting-Edge Marketing Analytics: Cases and Technical Notes Bundle is a collection of the original cases and technical notes that inspired the successful first-edition book. Covering an array of pract... Read More
Highly Recommended: Collaborative Filtering Gives Customers What They Want
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Gibbs, Shea
M-0974 | Published August 23, 2019 | 11 pages. Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
Netflix Top Picks, Amazon recommendations, the iTunes Genius button. They all have one thing in common: they are driven by clever algorithms that use a technique known as collaborative filtering. Ofte... Read More
Netflix, Inc.: The Mouse Strikes Back
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Shively, Daniel; Gibbs, Shea
M-0975 | Published August 23, 2019 | 7 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
In 2017, Disney announced that in 2019 it would launch Disney Plus, a subscription-based streaming video service that promised to rival Netflix, the dominant player in the market. This was the latest ... Read More
Driverless Trucks at Ford: Cruising into a Compromised Brand Identity?
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Craddock, Jenny
M-0967 | Published January 31, 2019 | 24 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Ford's F-Series of trucks were first introduced in 1948, and ever since they have represented American identity for their consumers. Both earned media, in movies like Urban Cowboy, and Ford's paid med... Read More
Automation of Marketing Models
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Craddock, Jenny; Nagji, Noreen
M-0965 | Published November 06, 2018 | 9 pages. Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
This technical note gives students an overview of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in order to help them understand how these fields can contribute to the future of marketing. To... Read More
Tackling Low Completion Rates—A Compare.com Conundrum (A)
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Craddock, Jenny; Brodie, Kyle
M-0947 | Published September 08, 2017 | 17 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This is the first of a three-part case series. These three cases were designed to be taught in sequence. In 2016 Andrew Rose, CEO of Compare.com, an online price comparison website for car insurance s... Read More
Tackling Low Completion Rates—A Compare.com Conundrum (B)
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Craddock, Jenny; Brodie, Kyle
M-0948 | Published September 08, 2017 | 1 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This is the second of a three-part case series. These three cases were designed to be taught in sequence. In 2016 Andrew Rose, CEO of Compare.com, an online price comparison website for car insurance ... Read More
Tackling Low Completion Rates—A Compare.com Conundrum (C)
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Craddock, Jenny; Brodie, Kyle
M-0949 | Published September 08, 2017 | 3 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This is the third of a three-part case series. These three cases were designed to be taught in sequence. In 2016 Andrew Rose, CEO of Compare.com, an online price comparison website for car insurance s... Read More
Marketing Analytics Resource Allocation (VIDEO PLAYLIST)
M-0946 | Published June 14, 2017 | Duration 61:59 Video Playlist
Collection: Darden School of Business
"Marketing Analytics Resource Allocation" is an introduction to and overview of how marketing analytics can be used to measure the impact of marketing. In this series on optimizing marketing resources... Read More
Using Resource Allocation to Build Success (VIDEO)
M-0925 | Published January 25, 2017 | Duration 4:03 Video
Collection: Darden School of Business
One potential use of marketing analytics is resource allocation. This four-minute video by Raj Venkatesan addresses how predictive marketing analytics was used at Samsung to optimize its marketing bud... Read More
Why Marketing Analytics (VIDEO)
M-0924 | Published January 25, 2017 | Duration 6:05 Video
Collection: Darden School of Business
First in a series on marketing analytics, this six-minute video by Raj Venkatesan introduces the concept of marketing analytics and answers some basic questions: What is marketing analytics? How is ma... Read More
The Power of Analytics (VIDEO)
M-0928 | Published January 25, 2017 | Duration 2:22 Video
Collection: Darden School of Business
This two-minute video shows how analytics contributed to a growth in profits at IBM. IBM used analytics to answer the question: How do you optimally allocate the salesforce across six customer segment... Read More
The Resource Allocation Process (VIDEO)
M-0926 | Published January 25, 2017 | Duration 6:23 Video
Collection: Darden School of Business
This six-minute video introduces the steps involved in a company's optimal allocation of marketing inputs. Using the DuPont model as an example, Raj Venkatesan explains how a company might use data to... Read More
Understanding the Resource Allocation Process (VIDEO)
M-0927 | Published January 25, 2017 | Duration 8:31 Video
Collection: Darden School of Business
This eight-minute video is part of a series on marketing analytics. Using the hypothetical example of Pfizer, Raj Venkatesan applies a system-of-metrics framework to determine the resource allocation ... Read More
Marketing Analytics Resource Allocation (Part 1) (VIDEO PLAYLIST)
M-0935 | Published January 25, 2017 | Duration 27:24 Video Playlist
Collection: Darden School of Business
"Marketing Analytics Resource Allocation (Part 1)" is an introduction to and overview of how marketing analytics can be used to measure the impact of marketing. In this first part of a two-part series... Read More
Leonardo: Indianizing Olive Oil
Farris, Paul W.; Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Yemen, Gerry
M-0904 | Published March 09, 2016 | 12 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This field-based case works as a solid introduction to new product positioning in a nascent market with an opportunity to define the product category. At the start, the brand creates a new category pr... Read More
Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad: It's A Women-Only Business
Isabella, Lynn A.; Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Wicks, Andrew C.; Yemen, Gerry; Mattoo, Nirja
OB-1091 | Published December 07, 2015 | 11 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
The story of Lijjat offers an opportunity to challenge students to think about what a business is for. It can be used to explore students' cultural intelligence starting point and discover what they n... Read More
Have Text, Will Travel: Can Airbnb Use Review Text Data to Optimize Profits?
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Gibbs, Shea
M-0897 | Published November 13, 2015 | 6 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Hundreds of thousands of would-be hoteliers have been popping up all around the world, hoping to rent their own homes and apartments to complete strangers through a service called Airbnb. The goal of ... Read More
The Times of India: Start the Presses
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Yemen, Gerry; Sriram, S.
M-0877 | Published June 08, 2015 | 22 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Perhaps among the most popular newspapers in the world, the Times of India (TOI) was faced with developing a national strategy in a very diverse country. The paper's strategy included lowering the pri... Read More
Picante Mexican Grill: A New Delhi Experience
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Weiss, Elliott N.; Bodily, Samuel E.; Yemen, Gerry; Raz, Gal
OM-1520 | Published August 15, 2014 | 14 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Modeled loosely after the American restaurant chain Chipotle, Picante Mexican Grill seeks to offer fresh and healthy vegetarian fast-food options. The owners of this start-up chain in Gurgaon, India, ... Read More
Retail Relay (C)
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Wilcox, Ron
M-0868 | Published April 30, 2014 | 2 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This short case serves as an epilogue to the A and B cases. Specializing in local organic meat and produce, Retail Relay has developed a new business model for online grocery shopping and delivery. Re... Read More
Implementing Marketing Analytics
Farris, Paul W.; Venkatesan, Rajkumar
M-0869 | Published April 30, 2014 | 8 pages. Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
This note supports cases used in Darden's "Marketing Analytics" course elective. Marketing analytics powered by "big data" holds the promise to transform marketing strategy from a discipline based mos... Read More
Segmentation at Sticks Kebob Shop
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Gibbs, Shea
M-0866 | Published March 07, 2014 | 10 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This case is used in the Marketing Analytics elective at Darden. A Sticks executive team is interested in opening a second quick-service restaurant in Richmond, Virginia. But before doing so, the team... Read More
VinConnect, Inc.: Digital Marketing Strategy
M-0864 | Published February 24, 2014 | 16 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This case is used in the course elective "Big Data in Marketing." The VinConnect company helped European wineries sell their products directly by using it to facilitate the direct-to-consumer (DTC) sa... Read More
A Resource-Allocation Perspective for Marketing Analytics
Farris, Paul W.; Venkatesan, Rajkumar
M-0861 | Published January 21, 2014 | 9 pages. Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
Managers must understand their marketing efforts as precisely as possible in order to determine how much to spend on each marketing channel. This technical note explores marketing analytics—the proces... Read More
Paid Search Advertising
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Gibbs, Shea
M-0860 | Published November 25, 2013 | 12 pages. Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
This note provides a primer on paid search advertising, which is an important component of digital marketing. The mechanics of paid search is explained using the Google search engine platform. The not... Read More
Logistic Regression
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Gibbs, Shea
M-0859 | Published November 20, 2013 | 10 pages. Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
This technical note presents the reason for using a binomial logic regression in marketing applications. It is used in Darden's "Big Data in Marketing" course elective. The issues surrounding the use ... Read More
Multiple Regression and Marketing-Mix Models
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Gibbs, Shea
M-0855 | Published October 07, 2013 | 10 pages. Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
In this technical note, the concept of regression using a single independent variable is first introduced and then some of the practical challenges associated with it, including multiple independent v... Read More
The Tata Nano: The People's Car (Abridged)
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Gibbs, Shea
M-0850 | Published July 05, 2013 | 6 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This case is an abridged version of UVA-M-0768, "The Tata Nano: The People's Car (A)," and UVA-M-0804, "The Tata Nano: The People's Car (B)." Read More
Designing Marketing Experiments
M-0839 | Published August 29, 2012 | 7 pages. Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
This technical note is used in Darden's first-year core marketing course as well as in the marketing analytics elective. It could also be used effectively in modules covering the topics of market rese... Read More
Transformation of Marketing at the Ohio Art Company (A)
Farris, Paul W.; Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Moon, Dustin
M-0833 | Published July 31, 2012 | 6 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This case is intended to be part of a first-year MBA marketing course or a second-year elective in advertising, integrated marketing communications, market research, or marketing analytics. It provide... Read More
Transformation of Marketing at the Ohio Art Company (B)
Farris, Paul W.; Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Moon, Dustin; Murray, Meghan
M-0838 | Published July 31, 2012 | 9 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Ohio Art shifts its advertising and distribution strategy for a new line of construction toys aimed at adults called nanoblock. Distribution focuses on toy and hobby outlets, avoiding mass merchandise... Read More
Netflix, Inc.: The Customer Strikes Back
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Shively, Daniel
M-0834 | Published July 30, 2012 | 7 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This case is an updated version of "Netflix Inc.: DVD Wars" (UVA-M-0763), and was written as a replacement for it. A financial analyst is asked to appraise the value of Netflix's stock at a time of u... Read More
Absolut Vodka: The Spirit of a Brand
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Raggio, Randle D.; Noel, Katherine
M-0832 | Published June 27, 2012 | 15 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This case is used in Darden's core Marketing course and in the Pricing elective. It would work well in course modules covering the topics of branding or product line management. A teaching note is ava... Read More
Cardagin: Local Mobile Rewards
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Ateya, Kelly; Harr, Adam
M-0825 | Published December 15, 2011 | 14 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Cardagin, a new start-up in the increasingly competitive space of consumer/merchant apps for smartphones, is reaching an inflection point: decisions it makes at this stage can determine whether it bec... Read More
SVEDKA Vodka (C): Marketing Mix in the Vodka Industry
Farris, Paul W.; Venkatesan, Rajkumar
M-0803 | Published September 09, 2011 | 2 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Suitable for both MBA and undergraduate-level courses such as "Integrated Marketing Communications," this is the third case in the series that traces a product from idea to established, successful bra... Read More
Design of Price and Advertising Elasticity Models
Farris, Paul W.; Venkatesan, Rajkumar
M-0805 | Published July 12, 2011 | 12 pages. Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
The marketing mix that a manager may deploy can affect the sales of a product and can be categorized under the traditional four Ps of marketing (product, price, promotion, and placement). But the pere... Read More
The Tata Nano: The People's Car (B)
Farris, Paul W.; Venkatesan, Rajkumar
M-0804 | Published May 20, 2011 | 2 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
In the follow-up to the A case of the same name, this case reveals post-launch results for Tata's $2,500 car. Students learn about Tata's promotion, price, place, segment, targeting, and positioning f... Read More
The Seven Questions of Marketing Strategy
Farris, Paul W.; Borden, Neil H. Jr.; Parry, Mark E.; Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Sharpe, Kathryn M.
M-0779 | Published July 08, 2009 | 4 pages. Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
This simple model of marketing strategy can provide keys to creating a sustainable competitive advantage. Suitable for MBA and executive formats, this technical note demonstrates that individual marke... Read More
Catalina Marketing Corporation: Developing a Retailer Value Proposition (MEDIA)
M-0764M | Published July 08, 2009 Multimedia Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This multimedia learning tool tracks the relationship between Catalina, a provider of customized coupons for consumer packaged goods manufacturers, and the Meijer Stores supermarket chain; an optional... Read More
The Tata Nano: The People's Car (A)
Farris, Paul W.; Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Kishore, N. Raghu; Lemley, Amy
M-0768 | Published April 28, 2009 | 9 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Students identify promotion, price, place, segment, targeting, and positioning for marketing “the world’s cheapest car.” This case is effective for MBA, undergraduate, and executive learners studying ... Read More
SVEDKA Vodka (A)
Farris, Paul W.; Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Zuckerman, Ivy
M-0774 | Published January 27, 2009 | 16 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Suitable for both MBA- and undergraduate-level courses such as "Integrated Marketing Communications," this case series traces a product from idea to established, successful brand. In this A case, a sp... Read More
SVEDKA Vodka (B)
Farris, Paul W.; Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Zuckerman, Ivy
M-0775 | Published January 27, 2009 | 9 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
In the second case of a three-part series, the SVEDKA founder assesses which initial decisions were most critical in the launch of his now-successful product. He also explores the new choices he faces... Read More
Catalina Marketing Corporation: Developing a Retailer Value Proposition
Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Leliveld, Ingmar
M-0764 | Published August 21, 2008 | 15 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This case tracks the relationship between Catalina, a provider of customized coupons for consumer packaged goods manufacturers, and the Meijer Stores supermarket chain. An optional instructor-only mul... Read More
Advertising Experiments at the Ohio Art Company
Farris, Paul W.; Venkatesan, Rajkumar
M-0752 | Published February 13, 2008 | 12 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This case is intended to be part of a first-year MBA marketing course, or a second-year elective in advertising, integrated marketing communications, market research, or marketing analytics. The case ... Read More
Ukrop's Savings Spot
Farris, Paul W.; Venkatesan, Rajkumar
M-0753 | Published August 18, 2007 | 15 pages. Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Ukrop's has developed a unique coupon dispenser that is placed in front of the store. Customers with Ukrop's loyalty card can use this system to obtain coupons that are customized for them. The case e... Read More
Cluster Analysis for Segmentation
M-0748 | Published March 22, 2007 | 7 pages. Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
This note is designed for use in an MBA marketing research course. It provides an overview of segmentation using K-means clustering. A simple algorithm for K-means clustering and the process of profil... Read More