DEI and Brand Marketing of a Women's Off-Road Rally in Morocco's Sahara Desert

The sports events agency Ma enga, owned by two French women, operates off-road motor rallies in the Sahara Desert of Morocco. Its flagship event, the annual Rallye A cha des Gazelles du Maroc, is the foundation on which Ma enga has, over 30 years, built a reputation for being a socially and environmentally responsible company operating in a fragile desert ecosystem. Ma enga's unique brand image centers around the Rallye A cha participants, who become known as Gazelles, "a tribe of modern women", willing to push themselves to the limit in a challenging physical environment. Students are asked to examine the intersection of key marketing decisions (segmentation, targeting, positioning, company reputation, brand management, and promotion) with considerations about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), corporate charitable operations, and the critical need for environmental protection and responsibility in the locations of Ma enga's rallies. National DEI policies and laws in the agency's home country, France, differ from those in the United States and the United Kingdom, which are large parts of Ma enga's target market for recruiting participants. A key issue is whether segmentation based on gender (women) is exclusionary or justified by Ma enga's celebrated Gazelle brand image and its operation as a French company. Students must determine how this positioning might affect the agency's corporate image and options for growth.