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Miss America: Revitalizing the American Beauty Queen

Savannah Cavanaugh, Kelly Goldsmith

Product #:W44457
Supplier:Ivey
Discipline:Marketing, Strategy
Setting:United States, 2018
Details:Case (PDF) • 11 pages • 2025-08-01

Subjects:

BrandingCrisis managementMarketing strategyGenderSales and marketingMarketingStrategy

Industries:

Media, entertainment, and professional sports

Geography:

United StatesNorth America
Your Price:$9.71

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In December of 2017, the Miss America Organization was in crisis. The organization’s popularity had been declining for years, both in the number of women vying to compete for the crown and the number of viewers of the annual Miss America pageant. Then, at the height of the #MeToo movement, a scandal erupted that caused many observers to question if the organization had a future at all. After the chief executive officer of the Miss America Organization sent inappropriate emails discussing and degrading the personal lives and physical appearance of previous Miss America titleholders, a strategic group of 49 former titleholders was assembled to provide guidance to the organization and help craft a strategy for the future of the organization. The group was asked to deliberate on four potential options for the future of the organization: modernize, harvest, maintain, or discontinue. A thoughtful and careful business decision was needed to balance the overall company strategy and financial performance with changes in the sociopolitical context.

Learning Objectives

This case is suitable for courses on marketing fundamentals or marketing principles (i.e., introductory marketing courses), marketing strategy, and brand strategy at the undergraduate and graduate levels. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:

  • Evaluate brand objectives and align them with a company’s overall strategic imperatives.
  • Assess how changing the brand strategy can affect current viewers, potential future viewers, advertisers, sponsors, and society at large.
  • Analyze current market trends, consumer segments, and future growth opportunities to determine a brand’s future strategy.
  • Determine the best strategy for steering a mature brand through social movements such as the #MeToo movement and body positivity, as well as and social changes such as diversity, equity, and inclusion, all of which could cast a negative light on the current brand.
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Case Study: Miss America: Revitalizing the American Beauty Queen (English version) | Ivey Publishing