哈佛案例分析Virgin-Mobile-USA--Pricing-for-the-Very-First-Time--2007.pdf

9 - 5 04 -028 R E V: J U N E 11 , 2007 GAIL MCG O VERN Virgin Mobile USA: Pricing for the Very First Time When Richard Branson called me to discuss the CEO position at Virgin Mobile USA, I quickly considered the opportunity: a chance to be the chief executive of a newly formed start-up in an overcrowded, increasingly mature, capital-intensive, highly competitive industry. Oh yeah, I should also mention that this is not an industry known for its customer service and we’d be entering with a brand that had little U.S. name recognition except for possibly as an airline. But then I thought, “It’s these kinds of opportunities where a team can define itself, and if this could be pulled off, it would be unbelievable.” — Dan Schulman, CEO, Virgin Mobile USA Schulman accepted the challenge in the summer of 2001 and began to assemble a team to develop the new Virgin-branded service with a launch date of July 2002. Schulman had 18 years of telecommunications experience with ATT and had most recently been CEO of P. He would need to draw on his experiences from both firms to create an appealing offer that would take off in a saturated market. His goal was to achieve a run rate in which Virgin Mobile would have 1 1 million total subscribers by the end of the first year, and 3 million by year four. One of the key decisions for Virgin Mobile USA was the selection of a pricing strategy that would attract and retain subscribers. Compan