Publications

December 2001 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Nestle S.A.

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Hal Hogan

Peter Brabeck wants to focus Nestle as a wellness company in the global food system and do so in a way that provides both growth in sales and margins in both developed and developing countries. View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Product Development; Supply Chain Management; Food; Multinational Firms and Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Sales; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Switzerland

September 1992 (Revised July 1994)
Case

MEM Company, Inc.: English Leather

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Laura Goode

In 1992, the president of MEM (a producer of personal care products, including men's fragrances) considered a redeployment of field sales efforts and changes in sales compensation policies. Any changes, moreover, must consider the context of strategic decisions... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Consumer Behavior; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

28 Feb 2020
News

Kelly Campbell Named President of Hulu

a driving force in defining Hulu’s brand vision and strategy. She has built a tremendous multitalented team and developed strategic campaigns that helped double Hulu’s subscriber base.” READ MORE View Details

Keywords: Arts, Entertainment

01 Sep 2009
News

A Book by Its Cover

Courtesy Harlequin Packaging and branding fantasy as though it were detergent, one-time self-described Procter & Gamble “soap salesman” Larry Heisey (MBA ’54) “turned Harlequin from a niche purveyor of romance novels into a global giant,... View Details

10 Jan 2020
Blog Post

Know Your Audience - Recruiting HBS Students for Retail

breaks allow for opportunities for students to visit retail companies in person and see what makes the company unique first-hand. Students are passionate about the brands they are considering for potential employment and love the... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

Jon Staff

Consumer brand building - Mission/vision/values development and adherence - Co-founder and early stage team building - DTC marketing - Go-to-market strategies - Hospitality startups - Real estate businesses - Investor management -... View Details

Harsh Mariwala

Keywords: Consumer Goods; Health; Beauty; Wellness

Susana Balbo

Keywords: Wine

22 Jul 2024
News

Viral Marketing’s Early Muse

managers and ‘creators’ now do professionally and at scale what Dave did as an amateur. Campaigns for major brands recruit influencers with followers on social media, often getting better results than from traditional ad campaigns.” "I... View Details

19 Jan 2017
News

Finding Purpose in Profit

summit of every challenge they took on, a small market share was not in their plans, and they continued to push hard. In 2006, outdoor giant Timberland came knocking on their door, offering to buy and support the brand while letting... View Details

Keywords: Robert S. Benchley; B corporations

01 Mar 2007
News

Daniel Vasella

question was, do we get out of it or increase our stake? In view of the long-term trends that we are seeing, generics is a field that is here to stay. And if we want to be in that field, we need to be able to compete with the best. The generics business is less... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; multinational pharmaceutical company; prescription drugs; vaccines; Medicare; generics business; Health, Social Assistance

March 2010
Case

Target: Responding to the Recession

By: Ranjay Gulati, Rajiv Lal and Cathy Ross

Within 10 months of Gregg Steinhafel's taking over as CEO at Target, the U.S. was mired in the most significant economic downturn in 50 years. Top competitor Wal-Mart had positioned itself well for the crisis, while Target's same store sales began to slide. While... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Strategy; Operations; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Competition; Retail Industry; United States

December 2006
Case

Vipp A/S

By: Robert D. Austin and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Rapidly growing Vipp sells highly differentiated (and expensive) "designer" versions of a product that most buyers think about in purely functional terms: Trash bins. Examines how the company successfully produces and positions a trash bin so that it is regarded as an... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Creativity; Product Design; Luxury; Brands and Branding

May 2002 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Marketing Antidepressants: Prozac and Paxil

By: Youngme E. Moon and Kerry Herman

Describes the marketing of Prozac and Paxil, two of the best-selling mental health drugs in history. Set in 2001, several months before the expiration of Prozac's patent, Eli Lilly (Prozac's manufacturer) and GlaxoSmithKline (Paxil's manufacturer) must decide how to... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Product Positioning; Competition; Ethics; Value; Health Care and Treatment; Brands and Branding; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

September 1996 (Revised March 1999)
Case

EMDICO (A)

By: John A. Quelch

The general manager of Fuji Film's Saudi distributorship must decide on a relaunch strategy for Fuji film and cameras in Saudi Arabia. View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Emerging Markets; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Saudi Arabia