Nike and Liu Xiang: Crisis Management in Celebrity Endorsement 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 Nike and Liu Xiang: Crisis Management in Celebrity Endorsement case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Nike and Liu Xiang: Crisis Management in Celebrity Endorsement case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Kineta Hung, Isabella Chan, Penelope Chan. The Nike and Liu Xiang: Crisis Management in Celebrity Endorsement (referred as “Love Nike” 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.

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 Nike and Liu Xiang: Crisis Management in Celebrity Endorsement Case Study

On 18 August 2008, Liu Xiang, China's biggest celebrity sports icon, withdrew from the 110-meter hurdles event at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games due to an Achilles injury. Liu was China's first-ever Olympic gold medalist in men's track and field; his victory at the 2004 Athens Olympics had made him an instant national hero. Since then, he had become the most marketed individual in China. Liu's withdrawal from the Beijing Olympics not only caused disappointment among Chinese people who had high expectations for him defending his title on their home soil, but was also a blow to his sponsors, including Nike, who had invested millions of dollars in his celebrity. As soon as the news broke, Nike tweaked its advertising campaign and launched a new tagline: "Love competition. Love risking your pride. Love winning it back. Love giving it everything you've got. Love the glory. Love the pain. Love sport even when it breaks your heart." Would Nike be able to turn Liu's withdrawal from the Beijing Olympics into an opportunity to further boost its brand image? Against the backdrop of increasing nationalist sentiment in China, what were the implications of Liu's withdrawal? How could Nike avoid or minimize the losses that might result from Chinese consumers' disappointment?

Case Authors : Kineta Hung, Isabella Chan, Penelope Chan

Topic : Sales & Marketing

Related Areas : Marketing

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Nike and Liu Xiang: Crisis Management in Celebrity Endorsement Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10003831)	-10003831	-	-
Year 1	3445375	-6558456	3445375	0.9434	3250354
Year 2	3964542	-2593914	7409917	0.89	3528428
Year 3	3947482	1353568	11357399	0.8396	3314382
Year 4	3225549	4579117	14582948	0.7921	2554937
TOTAL			14582948		12648101

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2644270

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

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

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Formula and Steps to Calculate Net Present Value (NPV) of Nike and Liu Xiang: Crisis Management in Celebrity Endorsement

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 Love Nike 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 Love Nike 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	(10003831)	-10003831	-	-
Year 1	3445375	-6558456	3445375	0.8696	2995978
Year 2	3964542	-2593914	7409917	0.7561	2997763
Year 3	3947482	1353568	11357399	0.6575	2595533
Year 4	3225549	4579117	14582948	0.5718	1844218
TOTAL					10433493

The Net NPV after 4 years is 429662

(10433493 - 10003831 )

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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	(10003831)	-10003831	-	-
Year 1	3445375	-6558456	3445375	0.8333	2871146
Year 2	3964542	-2593914	7409917	0.6944	2753154
Year 3	3947482	1353568	11357399	0.5787	2284422
Year 4	3225549	4579117	14582948	0.4823	1555531
TOTAL					9464253

The Net NPV after 4 years is -539578

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9464253 - 10003831 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Love Nike 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 Love Nike has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Love Nike 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 Love Nike, then the stock price of the Love Nike 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 Love Nike 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 –

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

Understanding of risks involved in the project.

What can impact the cash flow of 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 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 Nike and Liu Xiang: Crisis Management in Celebrity Endorsement

References & Further Readings

Kineta Hung, Isabella Chan, Penelope Chan (2018), "Nike and Liu Xiang: Crisis Management in Celebrity Endorsement Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.