Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children Net Present Value (NPV) / MBA Resources

Introduction to Net Present Value (NPV) - What is Net Present Value (NPV) ? How it impacts financial decisions regarding project management?

NPV solution for Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Dennis Yao, Britta Kelley, Lizzie Gomez. The Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children (referred as “Cbbb Obesity” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Sales & Marketing. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Marketing, Regulation, Strategy.

The net present value (NPV) of an investment proposal is the present value of the proposal’s net cash flows less the proposal’s initial cash outflow. If a project’s NPV is greater than or equal to zero, the project should be accepted.

NPV = Present Value of Future Cash Flows LESS Project’s Initial Investment

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Case Description of Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children Case Study

In response to growing concern about childhood obesity, in February 2006 the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) announced an initiative to examine its self-regulatory program on children's advertising. The existing program was a voluntary cross-industry program that monitored advertisements directed to children. However, the program did not stipulate which products companies could or could not advertise to children. In response to calls for action on childhood obesity, the CBBB was considering a number of approaches, including revising children's advertising guidelines, but staying within the basic parameters of the current program. Alternatively, the CBBB was considering launching a new self-regulatory program in which participating firms would constrain the amount of their children-targeted advertising of less-nutritious products. It was widely believed that children's food advertising was a major contributor to childhood obesity, and within the food-advertising category, considerable attention was directed to advertisements of children's presweetened cereals. The major ready-to-eat (RTE) cereal manufacturers, such as Kellogg's and General Mills, were supporters of the CBBB self-regulation programs and were invited to participate in the CBBB initiative. Each manufacturer had been taking different individual approaches to address the concerns of childhood obesity. The case discussion focuses on what actions General Mills should take with respect to the CBBB initiative and on its own.

Case Authors : Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Dennis Yao, Britta Kelley, Lizzie Gomez

Topic : Sales & Marketing

Related Areas : Marketing, Regulation, Strategy

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10025525)	-10025525	-	-
Year 1	3444530	-6580995	3444530	0.9434	3249557
Year 2	3979941	-2601054	7424471	0.89	3542133
Year 3	3975762	1374708	11400233	0.8396	3338126
Year 4	3251868	4626576	14652101	0.7921	2575784
TOTAL			14652101		12705600

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2680075

In isolation the NPV number doesn't mean much but put in right context then it is one of the best method to evaluate project returns. In this article we will cover -

Different methods of capital budgeting

What is NPV & Formula of NPV,
How it is calculated,
How to use NPV number for project evaluation, and
Scenario Planning given risks and management priorities.

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Capital Budgeting Approaches

Methods of Capital Budgeting

There are four types of capital budgeting techniques that are widely used in the corporate world –

1. Internal Rate of Return
2. Net Present Value
3. Profitability Index
4. Payback Period

Apart from the Payback period method which is an additive method, rest of the methods are based on Discounted Cash Flow technique. Even though cash flow can be calculated based on the nature of the project, for the simplicity of the article we are assuming that all the expected cash flows are realized at the end of the year.

Discounted Cash Flow approaches provide a more objective basis for evaluating and selecting investment projects. They take into consideration both –

1. Timing of the expected cash flows – stockholders of Cbbb Obesity have higher preference for cash returns over 4-5 years rather than 10-15 years given the nature of the volatility in the industry.
2. Magnitude of both incoming and outgoing cash flows – Projects can be capital intensive, time intensive, or both. Cbbb Obesity shareholders have preference for diversified projects investment rather than prospective high income from a single capital intensive project.

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Formula and Steps to Calculate Net Present Value (NPV) of Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children

NPV = Net Cash In Flowt1 / (1+r)t1 + Net Cash In Flowt2 / (1+r)t2 + … Net Cash In Flowtn / (1+r)tn
Less Net Cash Out Flowt0 / (1+r)t0

Where t = time period, in this case year 1, year 2 and so on.
r = discount rate or return that could be earned using other safe proposition such as fixed deposit or treasury bond rate. Net Cash In Flow – What the firm will get each year.
Net Cash Out Flow – What the firm needs to invest initially in the project.

Step 1 – Understand the nature of the project and calculate cash flow for each year.
Step 2 – Discount those cash flow based on the discount rate.
Step 3 – Add all the discounted cash flow.
Step 4 – Selection of the project

Why Sales & Marketing Managers need to know Financial Tools such as Net Present Value (NPV)?

In our daily workplace we often come across people and colleagues who are just focused on their core competency and targets they have to deliver. For example marketing managers at Cbbb Obesity often design programs whose objective is to drive brand awareness and customer reach. But how that 30 point increase in brand awareness or 10 point increase in customer touch points will result into shareholders’ value is not specified.

To overcome such scenarios managers at Cbbb Obesity needs to not only know the financial aspect of project management but also needs to have tools to integrate them into part of the project development and monitoring plan.

Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 15%

After working through various assumptions we reached a conclusion that risk is far higher than 6%. In a reasonably stable industry with weak competition - 15% discount rate can be a good benchmark.

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 15 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10025525)	-10025525	-	-
Year 1	3444530	-6580995	3444530	0.8696	2995243
Year 2	3979941	-2601054	7424471	0.7561	3009407
Year 3	3975762	1374708	11400233	0.6575	2614128
Year 4	3251868	4626576	14652101	0.5718	1859266
TOTAL					10478045

The Net NPV after 4 years is 452520

(10478045 - 10025525 )

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 20%

If the risk component is high in the industry then we should go for a higher hurdle rate / discount rate of 20%.

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 20 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10025525)	-10025525	-	-
Year 1	3444530	-6580995	3444530	0.8333	2870442
Year 2	3979941	-2601054	7424471	0.6944	2763848
Year 3	3975762	1374708	11400233	0.5787	2300788
Year 4	3251868	4626576	14652101	0.4823	1568223
TOTAL					9503301

The Net NPV after 4 years is -522224

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9503301 - 10025525 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Cbbb Obesity to discount cash flow at lower discount rates such as 15%.

Acceptance Criteria of a Project based on NPV

Simplest Approach – If the investment project of Cbbb Obesity has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Cbbb Obesity can ACCEPT the project, otherwise they can reject the project. This means that project will deliver higher returns over the period of time than any alternate investment strategy.

In theory if the required rate of return or discount rate is chosen correctly by finance managers at Cbbb Obesity, then the stock price of the Cbbb Obesity should change by same amount of the NPV. In real world we know that share price also reflects various other factors that can be related to both macro and micro environment.

In the same vein – accepting the project with zero NPV should result in stagnant share price. Finance managers use discount rates as a measure of risk components in the project execution process.

Sensitivity Analysis

Project selection is often a far more complex decision than just choosing it based on the NPV number. Finance managers at Cbbb Obesity should conduct a sensitivity analysis to better understand not only the inherent risk of the projects but also how those risks can be either factored in or mitigated during the project execution. Sensitivity analysis helps in –

Understanding of risks involved in the project.

What are the key aspects of the projects that need to be monitored, refined, and retuned for continuous delivery of projected cash flows.

What are the uncertainties surrounding the project Initial Cash Outlay (ICO’s). ICO’s often have several different components such as land, machinery, building, and other equipment.

What can impact the cash flow of the project.

What will be a multi year spillover effect of various taxation regulations.

Some of the assumptions while using the Discounted Cash Flow Methods –

Projects are assumed to be Mutually Exclusive – This is seldom the came in modern day giant organizations where projects are often inter-related and rejecting a project solely based on NPV can result in sunk cost from a related project.

Independent projects have independent cash flows – As explained in the marketing project – though the project may look independent but in reality it is not as the brand awareness project can be closely associated with the spending on sales promotions and product specific advertising.

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Negotiation Strategy of Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children

References & Further Readings

Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Dennis Yao, Britta Kelley, Lizzie Gomez (2018), "Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.