Who – the protagonist
Chris-Tia Donaldson, the CEO and founder of Thank God It’s Natural (tgin).
What?
tgin was a line of natural hair care products designed to address the specific needs of African American, Latinx, and other consumers with naturally wavy, curly, or kinky hair.
Chris-Tia turned tgin into a national brand widely available across the United States at major retailers such as Target, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, Rite-Aid, and Sally Beauty.
tgin also sold its products directly to consumers online via its website and Amazon storefront.
Why?
Chris-Tia received an offer to stock tgin for the first time with Ulta Beauty, a US chain of 1,196 brick-and-mortar beauty stores located predominantly in high-traffic shopping centres.
It could be a gamechanger for tgin, but Ulta was asking for tgin to develop a new product line that would be sold exclusively through the beauty retailer’s channels for one year. Ulta not only wanted roughly a dozen products to fill up to eight feet of shelf space, but also wanted at least six of those products to reflect a fresh new concept that would initially be available only at Ulta.
The creation of this new product line involved a huge investment of time, money, and resources.
When?
On a Monday in January 2019, Chris-Tia gathered key staff members together in the tgin conference room to take part in a roundtable lunchtime discussion on the Ulta proposal.
Chris-Tia had until the Friday of that week to give Ulta her answer.
Where?
tgin was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, but sold its products right across the US.
Key quote
What next?
Chris-Tia printed a copy of Ulta’s terms and handed them out to her team. There was much to deliberate.
Was this distribution agreement with Ulta really the best path forward for tgin? More broadly, what distribution channel decisions should Chris-Tia take to unlock the next stage of growth for her company?
On the reasons for writing the case…
Jim said: “Like many cases, the backstory here was a combination of both proactive and opportunistic factors.
“I was in need of a case to use in my Omnichannel Marketing Strategy course that examined the role of traditional retailers in a brand's route to market strategy, and I had been researching possible brands that could be good candidates for a case.
“During my research, serendipitously, one of my former students who was working at tgin, contacted me and suggested the brand might make an interesting case for my course. I spoke with her about tgin and it quickly became clear that the situation, issues and challenges they were facing at the time were right in line with my intended learning objectives for a retail distribution strategy case.”
On the case writing highlights…
Jim continued: “The highlight of developing this case was the opportunity to meet and work with the case protagonist, founder and CEO of tgin Chris-Tia Donaldson.
“Chris-Tia's personal story and experience were the impetus for starting this business, and it was in large part through her vision, tenacity and acumen that the brand gained a strong following among its target audience. She had a wealth of experience and information about how brands should be thinking about working with retailers in their route to market strategy, what works best, what are some common pitfalls, and what brands need to keep in mind when working with retailers.
“Unfortunately, shortly after we completed writing this case, Chris-Tia passed away, but we are fortunate to have known her and the enduring benefit of learning from her.”
On teaching the case…
He added: “I have been teaching this case regularly as part of my Omnichannel Marketing Strategy course.
“The case has consistently been well-received, and generates strong engagement, discussion and student takeaways. I find that students are typically split as to whether it makes sense for tgin to pursue the specific retail distribution deal that's at the centre of this case, and that makes for a robust discussion.
“Overall, I've been quite pleased with how it helps deepen students’ understanding of the important yet complex relationship between a brand and its retail partners - how they are independent yet interdependent.”
On how students react to the case…
He commented: “Students are quite interested in and engaged with this case. It's not a target audience or brand that all students are familiar with, so it's an opportunity for them to learn a different perspective, to step outside their own personal experience. They find Chris-Tia to be a compelling executive, and the learnings from the case relevant and applicable to a wide variety of brands and categories beyond just what's featured in this case.
“Students also appreciate that this case spotlights a diverse protagonist, brand and target that has not historically been featured in cases frequently.”
On case writing tips…
Jim explained: “It's critical to have a dynamic protagonist who is engaging and someone to whom the students can relate. In this case Chris-Tia was absolutely all of that. Her story makes a memorable and lasting impression on students, and it helps them remember the learning points of the case, and makes it ‘sticky’.”
Last word…
Jim concluded: “I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet such a dynamic executive. It was a wonderful experience for me - I learned a lot from our many conversations. And this process reinforced for me the importance and joy of writing new, original cases.”
The case
Who – the protagonist
Chris-Tia Donaldson, the CEO and founder of Thank God It’s Natural (tgin).
What?
tgin was a line of natural hair care products designed to address the specific needs of African American, Latinx, and other consumers with naturally wavy, curly, or kinky hair.
Chris-Tia turned tgin into a national brand widely available across the United States at major retailers such as Target, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, Rite-Aid, and Sally Beauty.
tgin also sold its products directly to consumers online via its website and Amazon storefront.
Why?
Chris-Tia received an offer to stock tgin for the first time with Ulta Beauty, a US chain of 1,196 brick-and-mortar beauty stores located predominantly in high-traffic shopping centres.
It could be a gamechanger for tgin, but Ulta was asking for tgin to develop a new product line that would be sold exclusively through the beauty retailer’s channels for one year. Ulta not only wanted roughly a dozen products to fill up to eight feet of shelf space, but also wanted at least six of those products to reflect a fresh new concept that would initially be available only at Ulta.
The creation of this new product line involved a huge investment of time, money, and resources.
When?
On a Monday in January 2019, Chris-Tia gathered key staff members together in the tgin conference room to take part in a roundtable lunchtime discussion on the Ulta proposal.
Chris-Tia had until the Friday of that week to give Ulta her answer.
Where?
tgin was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, but sold its products right across the US.
Key quote
What next?
Chris-Tia printed a copy of Ulta’s terms and handed them out to her team. There was much to deliberate.
Was this distribution agreement with Ulta really the best path forward for tgin? More broadly, what distribution channel decisions should Chris-Tia take to unlock the next stage of growth for her company?
Author perspective
On the reasons for writing the case…
Jim said: “Like many cases, the backstory here was a combination of both proactive and opportunistic factors.
“I was in need of a case to use in my Omnichannel Marketing Strategy course that examined the role of traditional retailers in a brand's route to market strategy, and I had been researching possible brands that could be good candidates for a case.
“During my research, serendipitously, one of my former students who was working at tgin, contacted me and suggested the brand might make an interesting case for my course. I spoke with her about tgin and it quickly became clear that the situation, issues and challenges they were facing at the time were right in line with my intended learning objectives for a retail distribution strategy case.”
On the case writing highlights…
Jim continued: “The highlight of developing this case was the opportunity to meet and work with the case protagonist, founder and CEO of tgin Chris-Tia Donaldson.
“Chris-Tia's personal story and experience were the impetus for starting this business, and it was in large part through her vision, tenacity and acumen that the brand gained a strong following among its target audience. She had a wealth of experience and information about how brands should be thinking about working with retailers in their route to market strategy, what works best, what are some common pitfalls, and what brands need to keep in mind when working with retailers.
“Unfortunately, shortly after we completed writing this case, Chris-Tia passed away, but we are fortunate to have known her and the enduring benefit of learning from her.”
On teaching the case…
He added: “I have been teaching this case regularly as part of my Omnichannel Marketing Strategy course.
“The case has consistently been well-received, and generates strong engagement, discussion and student takeaways. I find that students are typically split as to whether it makes sense for tgin to pursue the specific retail distribution deal that's at the centre of this case, and that makes for a robust discussion.
“Overall, I've been quite pleased with how it helps deepen students’ understanding of the important yet complex relationship between a brand and its retail partners - how they are independent yet interdependent.”
On how students react to the case…
He commented: “Students are quite interested in and engaged with this case. It's not a target audience or brand that all students are familiar with, so it's an opportunity for them to learn a different perspective, to step outside their own personal experience. They find Chris-Tia to be a compelling executive, and the learnings from the case relevant and applicable to a wide variety of brands and categories beyond just what's featured in this case.
“Students also appreciate that this case spotlights a diverse protagonist, brand and target that has not historically been featured in cases frequently.”
On case writing tips…
Jim explained: “It's critical to have a dynamic protagonist who is engaging and someone to whom the students can relate. In this case Chris-Tia was absolutely all of that. Her story makes a memorable and lasting impression on students, and it helps them remember the learning points of the case, and makes it ‘sticky’.”
Last word…
Jim concluded: “I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet such a dynamic executive. It was a wonderful experience for me - I learned a lot from our many conversations. And this process reinforced for me the importance and joy of writing new, original cases.”
