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Product cover image for CRED: Sustaining Competitive Advantage Through Customer Prioritization

CRED: Sustaining Competitive Advantage Through Customer Prioritization

Shiwangi Singh, Shilpee A. Dasgupta, Shubh Majumdar

Product #:W44487
Supplier:Ivey
Discipline:Marketing, Strategy
Setting:India, 2023
Details:Case (PDF) • 14 pages • 2025-08-06

Subjects:

Competitive advantageCustomer lifetime valueSWOT analysisSales and marketingMarketingStrategy

Industries:

Financial service sector

Geography:

IndiaAsia
Your Price:$10.54

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Dreamplug Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (CRED), a unicorn in India’s financial technology (fintech) ecosystem, revolutionized the credit card payment landscape through innovative services and celebrity-driven marketing campaigns. However, with increasing competition in the Indian fintech market, low entry barriers, and a decline in funding, chief executive officer Kunal Shah faces a critical juncture. In financial year 2022, despite rapid growth, CRED’s profitability remained in question, and the diversity of its growing user base complicated strategic decision-making. In light of mounting pressure from competitors, Shah needed to assess how to maintain CRED’s sustainable competitive advantage, navigate the funding winter, and prioritize high-value customer segments to drive long-term growth.

Learning Objectives

The case is positioned for undergraduate- or graduate-level courses (BBA/MBA) in marketing management, customer relationship management, and strategic management. It introduces students to the value, rarity, imitability, and organization (VRIO) framework for understanding a firm’s sustainable competitive advantage, and Porter’s five forces framework for industry assessment. Additionally, the case will help students equip themselves with the knowledge and skills to understand, calculate, and leverage CLV to enhance business performance. By working through the case and assignment questions, students will have the opportunity to do the following:
  • Analyze and interpret the external business environment and competitive landscape to identify key opportunities and challenges for fintech firms.
  • Examine how businesses can create and sustain competitive advantage through differentiation and unique value propositions.
  • Apply customer-centric metrics, such as customer lifetime value (CLV), to evaluate and compare the profitability of different user segments and support strategic decisions related to resource allocation and growth focus.
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Case Study: CRED: Sustaining Competitive Advantage Through Customer Prioritization (English version) | Ivey Publishing