<iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-PHTV9K7" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden">
Loading
Skip to Main Content
Product cover image for TELUS: The Public Mobile Brand Acquisition Decision

TELUS: The Public Mobile Brand Acquisition Decision

Michael Taylor; Brooke Cooper;Sarah Dickson

Product #:9B17A049_P
Supplier:Ivey
Discipline:Marketing
Setting:Canada, 2014
Details:Case (PDF) • 18 pages • 2017-09-18 (Rev: 2018-01-12)

Subjects:

Sales and marketingMarketing

Industries:

Information technology and telecom sector

Geography:

CanadaNorth America
Your Price:$10.54

Purchase this material with a free Educator Account and enjoy more benefits:

  • Free Educator Copy
  • Free Teaching Notes
  • Build your coursepack
  • Discounted academic price

In 2014, TELUS Communications (TELUS) acquired Public Mobile Holdings Inc., a small, money-losing, wireless carrier that operated in the lower, price-sensitive tier of the market. TELUS had not previously competed in the lower tier of the market, which had a history of low revenues per customer and low customer retention. The director of Mobility Marketing at TELUS faced the decision of what to do with this newly acquired brand. He was considering the market positioning options, brand portfolio implications, and financial impact of his decision. The options included migrating the new customers to one of the company’s existing brands, continuing to operate the firm as an independent brand, or repositioning the brand to improve profitability.

Learning Objectives

This case is suitable for both undergraduate and MBA programs in a core marketing course. It also fits well in a competitive strategy course, and a brand management course. It provides a good opportunity to teach complex decision making, positioning, market dynamics, and competitive strategy. After completion of this case, students will be able to
  • analyze the strategic options to integrate an acquired brand within a broader strategic positioning and profitability framework;
  • conduct a systematic value map and evaluation of the acquired firm’s competitive advantage, relative to different segment needs/priorities, as well as the relative advantage (or parity) with competitors;
  • evaluate a multi-tier, multi-brand portfolio in a complex competitive environment;
  • analyze and understand a capital intensive, hyper-competitive, subscription business; and
  • evaluate differentiated brand positioning in a market with few tangible points of differentiation.
    Loading
    Case Study: TELUS: The Public Mobile Brand Acquisition Decision | Ivey Publishing