**These materials are original teaching aids; no copyrighted or trademarked content is included.**

Here are a few suggestions that the Professor provided to help students find the best pitch possible. Obviously, they are unlikely to find an idea that perfectly meets all these criteria simultaneously, but it is important to keep them in mind while you provide feedback.

- **Where is the tension?** Without tension, there is no case study. A tension arises when there is a gap between where a firm is and where it wants to be (“Firm XYZ wants to appeal to younger consumers, but its customer base is aging instead”). Or when there is uncertainty about the future (e.g., new product introduction). If you select a company that is doing great already or is not facing any significant threat, there will be no tension. You don’t need to find a solution when there is no problem in the first place.

- **Do not try to save the world.** Select a specific problem that can be solved, not a problem that is too big, too vague, or too generic. Identifying a niche market for a company or an optimal price point for a product is feasible, but you will not be able to rebuild a multinational company or solve world hunger.

- **But be ambitious.** This piece of advice may appear in direct contradiction with the previous one, and that’s why you need to find a good balance. In theory, you could run a positioning study of the various fastfood options around your business school, or do a conjoint study to determine the assortment of sandwiches the cafeteria should offer and at what price, but this is not very exciting, and it will become extremely boring for everyone. When you brainstorm ideas, try to go beyond your immediate personal experience (e.g., food, restaurants, school, public transportation, cell phones, school services) and try to find a topic that is of more general interest. Do not hesitate to read the business press, ask around, etc.

- **Do not plan to use multiple methodologies.** It is tempting to plan to use a conjoint analysis, and a segmentation analysis, and a positioning map, and... Don’t. In my experience, it is much better to focus on a simple approach (or two, at most) and do a superb job, than to try to do too much.
Use your experience, passions, and network. If you have work experience in a specific domain, are passionate about a topic, or know people who could help in an industry, use it. That can become a competitive advantage and could make your project far more interesting. However, do not rely on sensitive or confidential information that could not be shared publicly with other students.

- **Be useful to others (or to yourself).** If you have a personal project that could benefit from this assignment, or have friends who plan to launch a startup, or know a family member who could use this opportunity to conduct market research for their own company, do not hesitate to kill two birds with one stone. It is much more rewarding to have some skin in the game and work on a topic that could actually be useful outside the very limited scope of our class. And it could provide invaluable access to market insights and insider knowledge.

- **Keep in mind you need respondents.** Whatever topic you choose, remember you will need respondents to fill out your surveys in a short period of time. If you want to study agricultural tractors, you’d better make sure you have access to a sample of respondents outside your peers. Some groups in the past studied niche topics (e.g., horse transportation, professional sports equipment) and managed to collect data through online forums and personal networks. But be mindful that this could be a challenge.

- **Stay professional.** It is perfectly OK (even encouraged) to be creative and original, but whatever you decide to do, stay professional.