Choosing the Right Green Marketing Strategy 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 Choosing the Right Green Marketing Strategy case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Choosing the Right Green Marketing Strategy case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Jill Meredith Ginsberg, Paul N. Bloom. The Choosing the Right Green Marketing Strategy (referred as “Green Consumers” 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, Policy, Sustainability.

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 Choosing the Right Green Marketing Strategy Case Study

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. Green marketing has not lived up to the hopes and dreams of many managers and activists. Although public opinion polls consistently show that consumers would prefer to choose a green product over one that is less friendly to the environment when all other things are equal, those "other things" are rarely equal in the minds of consumers. For example, when consumers are forced to make trade-offs between product attributes or helping the environment, the environment almost never wins. And hopes for green products also have been hurt by the perception that such products are of lower quality or don't really deliver on their environmental promises. And, yet, the news isn't all bad, as the growing number of people willing to pay a premium for green products--from organic foods to energy-efficient appliances--attests. How, then, should companies handle these issues? They must always keep in mind that consumers are unlikely to compromise on traditional product attributes, such as convenience, availability, price, quality, and performance. It's even more important to realize, however, that there is no single green marketing strategy that is right for every company. The authors suggest that companies should follow one of four strategies, depending on market and competitive conditions, from the relatively passive and silent "lean green" approach to the more aggressive and visible "extreme green" approach--with "defensive green" and "shaded green" in between.

Case Authors : Jill Meredith Ginsberg, Paul N. Bloom

Topic : Sales & Marketing

Related Areas : Marketing, Policy, Sustainability

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Choosing the Right Green Marketing Strategy Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10013918)	-10013918	-	-
Year 1	3451651	-6562267	3451651	0.9434	3256275
Year 2	3964488	-2597779	7416139	0.89	3528380
Year 3	3973365	1375586	11389504	0.8396	3336114
Year 4	3222111	4597697	14611615	0.7921	2552214
TOTAL			14611615		12672982

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2659064

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. Profitability Index
2. Internal Rate of Return
3. Net Present Value
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 Green Consumers 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. Green Consumers 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 Choosing the Right Green Marketing Strategy

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 Green Consumers 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 Green Consumers 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	(10013918)	-10013918	-	-
Year 1	3451651	-6562267	3451651	0.8696	3001436
Year 2	3964488	-2597779	7416139	0.7561	2997722
Year 3	3973365	1375586	11389504	0.6575	2612552
Year 4	3222111	4597697	14611615	0.5718	1842252
TOTAL					10453963

The Net NPV after 4 years is 440045

(10453963 - 10013918 )

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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	(10013918)	-10013918	-	-
Year 1	3451651	-6562267	3451651	0.8333	2876376
Year 2	3964488	-2597779	7416139	0.6944	2753117
Year 3	3973365	1375586	11389504	0.5787	2299401
Year 4	3222111	4597697	14611615	0.4823	1553873
TOTAL					9482767

The Net NPV after 4 years is -531151

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9482767 - 10013918 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Green Consumers 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 Green Consumers has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Green Consumers 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 Green Consumers, then the stock price of the Green Consumers 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 Green Consumers 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 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.

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

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 Choosing the Right Green Marketing Strategy

References & Further Readings

Jill Meredith Ginsberg, Paul N. Bloom (2018), "Choosing the Right Green Marketing Strategy Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.