Roly International - Case Recommendations

Case Analysis: Roly International

Recommendation 1: Roly International should open a Toonsland theme park. The first step would be to reduce the total number of operating stores to 16, as one of the proposed recommendations stated in the last paragraph of the case. The concentration of the stores would be within the Beijing and Shanghai regions, which were the two largest markets. In addition, the locations of the stores, especially those with proximity to the theme park, will be considered when determining which stores to close.

Once the theme park is open, Roly International can use it as a benchmark to examine if current retail stores performance increases because of the popularity of the new park. If the theme park is successful, then they should expand and reopen additional Toonsland outlets. The theme park will host all Toonsland brands, i.e. Sesame Street, Snoopy, Disney characters, and Elle. Each brand will have its own section of the theme park with rides and attractions that specifically relate to that particular brand. For example, the Sesame Street section would be designed after the Sesame Street set. The park will popularize Roly’s brands, which will in turn influence sales, creating a positive reciprocal relationship between Toonsland stores and the Toonsland theme park.

Recommendation 2: Roly International should use the Cyrus McCormick approach of standardized pricing to penetrate the market. Standardizing pricing will create an atmosphere where Roly International is not prone to other licensee competition. While the competitors are trying to charge higher prices to make a larger initial profit, Roly should take the standardized pricing approach as it had proved successful for McCormick. This will also differentiate them from the competition, successfully catering to all markets including both urban and rural middle-income consumers.

Recommendation 3: Roly International should focus on the wholesale and product-based approach,...