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Category winner: The Roy René Confectionery is 100 years:
celebrating brand heritage to sustain a new strategy

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This case won the Outstanding New Case Writer Competition category at The Case Centre Awards and Competitions 2021. #CaseAwards2021

 
The case

Laurence ClavierWho – the protagonist

Recently appointed Marketing Manager Laurence Clavier has been tasked with presenting a communication strategy to celebrate the centenary of Le Roy René.

What?

Le Roy René is a family business specialising in Provençal confectionery. Its leading product is a confection made with almonds, sugar and candied fruits called a calisson which has deep historical routes in the Provence region.

CalissonsWhy?

The company was founded as the Roy René nougat manufacture in 1920 in central Aix-en-Provence. It was a family concern until 2014 when Olivier Baussan, the entrepreneur behind L’Occitane en Provence, acquired the business and was keen for it to be viewed as a living heritage company. The company’s close ties with the Provençal region and its traditions have been incorporated into the brand and the centenary provides a unique opportunity to celebrate this and gain worldwide visibility.

Where?

Le Roy René was founded in Aix-en-Provence and has always had close ties to the Provençal region. It’s current headquarters and company museum are located 10 minutes outside of Aix-en-Provence.

When?

The case takes place in April 2019. Laurence Clavier has only a few months to prepare for the brand’s centenary.

Laure PierrisnardKey quote

“The story of Roy René is fully set in Provençal art de vivre. Products are made with due respect for traditions. Know-how has survived and has been passed on from generation to generation.” - Laure Pierrisnard, General Manager of Le Roy René.

What next?

Laurence Clavier must present a communication strategy for 2020 which celebrates the company’s heritage but also incorporates the company’s overall strategy in recent years of diversifying their products and expansion into international markets, all within a modest budget.
 
Judges viewpoint

This competition was judged by Eugenio Gomez Alatorre, IPADE Business School; Jeroen van den Berg, University of Hong Kong; Marika Taishoff, International University of Monaco; and Richard McCracken, The Case Centre.

Competition judges

“I celebrate having a female protagonist and it's nice to see a case discuss brand heritage. The case is well written and engaging.”

“This is a very nicely written case with specific teaching objectives, target audience, teaching and grading approaches, and supplementary and theoretical material. The way it is presented should make it very easy for an instructor to teach. Although it is targeted at undergraduate and masters students, this case also has potential in executive education seminars dedicated to brands, brand heritage and brand positioning.”
The authors

authors

Fabien Pecot and Virginie de Barnier

This award is the first win for both authors and their schools, the York Management School and IAE Aix-Marseille Graduate School of Management.

Fabien and Virginie were awarded a case writing scholarship by The Case Centre to assist with writing this case. 

Important milestone

Fabien said: “I am honoured to receive this recognition from The Case Centre. It is an important milestone in a long process that started with a collaboration with Laure Pierrisnard, Roy René CEO.”

Virginie added: “It is a great honour because it is true international academic recognition. I am happy and proud to contribute to the academic world with a case study that enables students to link theory and practice.”

Focus on brand heritage

Virginie explained: “The case deals with a very original topic: brand heritage. It focusses on a quite small French company that built on its heritage to create strong brand awareness, while preserving the traditional know-how and processes of their fine food. The story telling is very appealing: how can a small French company resist international competition thanks to its brand heritage and a traditional positioning?”

Fabien continued: “As a researcher on brand heritage, I developed a specialised course on this topic. I was surprised to see so few cases that I could use, so I guess it makes this case original. I think the case also engages with a widespread managerial problem: how should a company celebrate its anniversary?” 

Writing the case

Page of text with correctionsFabien commented: “We had a lot of data because of our close relationship with the company. The challenge was to put it in a ‘story’ that would meet our pedagogical need for the brand heritage management course.”

Virginie adds: “Writing the case was a pleasure because the CEO was one of my former students! Moreover, I wrote the case study with one of my former brilliant PhD students… so the construction of the case with excellent former students was a real satisfaction.”

Scholarship support

Virginie said: “I would like to thank The Case Centre for their help during the whole process. They are very responsive and helpful with any query and give excellent advice.”

Fabien added: “The Case Centre writing workshop with Urs Mueller was incredibly useful and challenged me a lot. I have had a great time teaching this case in numerous universities where I have seen first-hand how it engages students. I hope other colleagues and students will like it too.”

Top tip

Virginie concluded: “Focus on concepts that are difficult to understand for students, new concepts that are not very much developed and bring original and real examples.”

About the authors

Fabien Pecot is Associate Professor at TBS Barcelona. He was at the York Management School when he wrote the case.
e f.pecot@tbs-education.es

Virginie de Barnier is Professor at IAE Aix-Marseille Graduate School of Management.
e virginie.de-barnier@iae-aix.com
tw @VdeBarnier
 
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The Roy René Confectionery is 100 years: celebrating brand heritage to sustain a new strategy
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Teaching note
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View all the 2021 winners