Publications

18 Aug 2015
News

Harvard Business School Takes on Fashion and Beauty: Meet the Mogul Grads Who Are Changing the Game

Keywords: Apparel Manufacturing; Apparel Manufacturing; Apparel Manufacturing; Apparel Manufacturing

30 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 30, 2019

Sneakers Game “Our goal is to be the kind of start-up that would terrify Nike—if Nike didn’t already own us.” Ron Faris, general manager of S23NYC, a Manhattan-based digital studio owned by sports apparel giant Nike, is on the phone with... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

September 2020 (Revised June 2023)
Supplement

Spreadsheet Supplement to Artea Teaching Note

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli

Spreadsheet Supplement to Artea Teaching Note 521-041. This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing—implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on A/B testing analysis and... View Details

Keywords: Targeted Advertising; Algorithmic Data; Bias; Advertising; Race; Gender; Diversity; Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Prejudice and Bias; Analytics and Data Science; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

September 2020 (Revised July 2022)
Exercise

Artea (D): Discrimination through Algorithmic Bias in Targeting

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli

This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing—implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on A/B testing analysis and targeting. Parts (B),(C),(D) Introduce algorithmic bias. The... View Details

Keywords: Targeted Advertising; Discrimination; Algorithmic Data; Bias; Advertising; Race; Gender; Marketing; Diversity; Customer Relationship Management; Prejudice and Bias; Analytics and Data Science; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

March 2016
Case

IC Group A/S

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

IC Group owned several of Scandinavia's leading premium fashion brands. How should it respond to the decline of its primary wholesale distribution channels (independent fashion boutiques and department stores)? Should it open more physical stores or focus on... View Details

May 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Gap, Inc., 2012

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

Between 2000 and 2012, Gap, Inc. (Gap) ceded its world leadership position in specialty fashion retailing to Inditex of Spain and H&M of Sweden. These two companies, each less than a quarter of Gap's size in 2000, were now setting the pace in the global mass fashion... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Change; Fashion; Multinational; Brands; Competition; Multinational Firms and Management; Performance Improvement; Strategy; Brands and Branding; Change Management; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sweden; Spain; United States

02 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 2

contemporary apparel and home furnishings that STFC then helps to market and sell around the world. Organized as a producers' cooperative, STFC is owned by its artisan members. STFC is thinking of changing to for-profit status because it... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

28 Aug 2017
Research & Ideas

Should Industry Competitors Cooperate More to Solve World Problems?

leadership and create more win-win opportunities in the future" In another example, apparel production is associated with water pollution at many stages of the value chain. Agricultural crop production (particularly cotton) has been... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services; Manufacturing; Agriculture & Agribusiness; Mining

February 2024
Teaching Note

UGG Steps into the Metaverse

By: Shunyuan Zhang and Sunil Gupta

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 523-013. View Details

Keywords: Metaverse; Digital Marketing; Innovation and Invention; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Internet and the Web; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

2015
Book

Strong Brands, Strong Relationships

By: Susan Fournier, Michael Breazeale and Jill Avery

From the editorial team of the ground-breaking Consumer-Brand Relationships: Theory and Practice comes this new volume. Strong Brands, Strong Relationships is a collection of innovative research and management insights that build upon the foundations of... View Details

Keywords: Brand Building; Brand Management; CRM; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Advertising; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry

Find at Harvard

26 Feb 2009
News

Last Look - March 2009

Our thanks to HRPBA ’60-ers Sandy Krickovic Self and Nancy Needham Merrill, who recognized themselves as the second and third models in the photo. Self wrote: “In Malcolm McNair’s Marketing class, we were studying the women’s retail clothing market and how there was... View Details

Keywords: Keith Larson; Apparel Manufacturing; Apparel Manufacturing; Apparel Manufacturing; Apparel Manufacturing

August 2018 (Revised May 2019)
Case

Rev. Georgiette Morgan-Thomas & The American Hat Factory

By: Steven Rogers and Ariel Rogers

On a sunny Monday morning, Rev. Morgan-Thomas walked into her newly acquired hat factory thinking, “What have I gotten myself into? Things are worse than I imagined. Can I ever turn this company around given all of the known and unknown problems? Can I make it... View Details

12 Feb 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, February 12, 2019

more products. We test and confirm these predictions in a series of field experiments conducted with a dominant online fashion and apparel retailer. Furthermore, using information in historical transaction data about each consumer, we... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

12 Jul 2016
First Look

July 12, 2016

ASOS was large by online standards, traditional fashion retailers were building their own online sales capabilities, and Amazon was expanding its apparel offering. Meanwhile, new online competitors were emerging at a rapid rate. After... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 14

service level to be associated with a 12% increase in demand from retailers, where historical service level is the type 1 service level performance of the apparel manufacturer over the prior year. Further, we find that retailers that... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2010
Article

Capitalizing on the Underdog Effect

By: Anat Keinan, Neeru Paharia and Jill Avery

This article presents the results of a study that investigated the use of the underdog effect in marketing. The idea of triumphing over disadvantages by impassioned determination is said to be a powerfully positive image, which can lead consumers to choose a brand over... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Brand Management; Brands; Brand Positioning; Competitive Positioning; Competition; Brands and Branding; Advertising Campaigns; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry

Find at Harvard

February 2011
Article

The Underdog Effect: The Marketing of Disadvantage and Determination Through Brand Biography

By: Neeru Paharia, Anat Keinan, Jill Avery and Juliet B. Schor

We introduce the concept of an underdog brand biography (UBB) to describe an emerging trend in branding in which firms author an historical account of their humble origins, lack of resources, and determined struggle against the odds. We identify two essential... View Details