Shanghai Goldpartner Biotech Company Ltd. (C)

The outbreak of SARS in 2003 panicked many Chinese people. As an unexpected result, health supplement products suddenly received much more interest than before. Among a variety of health supplements, multi-vitamins became especially popular, as they were said to be critical in enhancing people’s immunity, effectively preventing one from catching SARS. Goldpartner, a late comer to the multi-vitamin market, became the market’s sales leader after two years’ effort. Goldpartner had achieved great success since entering the market but also faced a number of problems and challenges. Case A of this case series aims to discuss the positioning problems facing Goldpartner when it first entered the market at the end of 2001. Case B explores how, after its second round of market testing, Goldpartner targeted three market segments and invested a lot into advertising — yet sales dropped sharply after peaking during Chinese New Year in 2003. Case C discusses Goldpartner’s strategy to create a point of differentiation that riled up its competitors, and the hard decision of how to balance the three segments. Case D describes how Goldpartner was aware of some insufficiencies in the marketing, and aims to figure out how Goldpartner should adjust its marketing strategy to fit in the new environment and maintain its market position.