Publications

April 1990
Case

Nestle Alimentana S.A. -- Infant Formula (Abridged)

By: James E. Austin

The new vice president of infant and dietetic products of Nestle Alimentana S.A. has to make recommendations on the company's marketing programs for its infant formulas in developing countries. The U.S. subsidiary is currently the target of a consumer boycott because... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Emerging Markets; Developing Countries and Economies; Distribution Channels; Marketing Strategy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Food; Business Subsidiaries; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Switzerland

July 2003 (Revised August 2003)
Case

Meloche Monnex

Meloche Monnex is outperforming industry growth and profitability, thanks to its focus on affinity groups (mostly university alumni) and innovative telemarketing techniques. Should e-mail marketing play a greater role in the customer acquisition process, as suggested... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Marketing Communications; Marketing Channels

Find at Harvard

2008
Case

Cycleon (A): Postal Networks for Reverse Logistics.

By: David F. Drake, Atalay Atasu and Luk N. Van Wassenhove

Keywords: Logistics; Distribution Channels; Entrepreneurship

October 2003
Supplement

Strategic Inflection: TiVo in 2003 (B)

By: Christina Darwall, Pai-Ling Yin and David B. Yoffie

Spreadsheet for use with case (9-704-429). Download Only. (Examines the possibility of TIVo being a content distributor). View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Distribution Channels; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

01 May 2006
What Do You Think?

Who Will Cast a Longer Shadow on the 21st Century: Friedman or Galbraith?

insure that the wealthy provided their proportionate share of funding to enable government to channel funds to such endeavors as the environment, support for the poor, and the development of the arts. The objective was to create a society... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

14 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: February 14

key channel driving our findings: in states with an already established VC presence, the passage of anti-troll laws leads to a 19% increase in the number of firms receiving VC funding. Our findings suggest that measures aimed at curbing... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Where Did My Shopping Mall Go?

formats now fit only a narrow segment of the population. Finally, much of retail growth over the last three decades has relied on aggregating volume to support a large store infrastructure. However, this volume may not materialize in any View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

August 2020 (Revised January 2021)
Supplement

Facelift at Olay (B)

By: Sunil Gupta, Rajiv Lal and Olivia Hull

This supplement to Facelift at Olay (A) explains the major steps Procter & Gamble’s skincare brand Olay took to reverse several years of declining sales. View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Demographics; Age; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Digital Marketing; Transformation; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States; Ohio

18 Oct 2018
Research & Ideas

How to Use Free Shipping as a Competitive Weapon

media creator for Harvard Business School Working Knowledge. Related Reading: Should Retailers Match Their Own Prices Online and in Stores? Behavioral Economists Can Make You a Healthier Consumer and Smarter Marketer Research Paper: The Effects of Store Openings on... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Retail

Article

The Store Is Dead—Long Live the Store

By: David R. Bell, Santiago Gallino and Antonio Moreno

In this article, we pursue two interconnected themes: the expansion of online-first retailers into offline stores that serve the purpose of “supercharging” customer value, and the transformation of the stores of offline-first retailers from... View Details

Keywords: Customer Experience; Inventory Control; Omnichannel Retailing; Online Marketing; Marketing Channels; Trends; Transformation; Digital Marketing; Retail Industry

22 Jan 2001
Research & Ideas

Control Your Inventory in a World of Lean Retailing

Manufacturers generally classify products in terms of broad product lines, developing a single marketing strategy and production plan for each line. That makes sense for marketing, but it's a mistake for production. Different SKUs [stock-keeping units] within a product... View Details

Keywords: by Frederick H. Abernathy, John T. Dunlop, Janice H. Hammond & David Weil; Consumer Products

Fall 2014
Article

Price Restrictions in Multi-sided Platforms: Practices and Responses

By: Benjamin Edelman and Julian Wright

In connecting buyers to sellers, some two-sided platforms require that sellers offer their lowest prices through the platform, disallowing lower prices for direct sales or sales through competing platforms. In this article, we explore the various contexts where such... View Details

Keywords: Intermediaries; Strategy; Pricing; Vertical Restraints; Price; Distribution Channels

19 Aug 2008
First Look

First Look: August 19, 2008

large-store formats, multiple-store formats and extensive channel blurring in the U.S. retail industry. Our analysis is based on aggregate segment-level data from the Annual Retail Trade Survey (ARTS), the Monthly Retail Trade Survey... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2000 (Revised September 2005)
Case

BMG Entertainment

By: Jan W. Rivkin and Gerrit Meier

As dramatic changes in technology and customer tastes roil the music industry, the top executives of BMG Entertainment, one of the world's largest record companies, must decide how to organize for digital distribution of music. This case includes a brief history of the... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Competitive Strategy; Distribution Channels; Organizational Structure; Technological Innovation; Industry Structures; Customer Focus and Relationships; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology; Music Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

November 2016 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Selling on Amazon at Tower Paddle Boards

By: Thales S. Teixeira and David Lopez-Lengowski

By June 2012, Stephan Aarstol felt that he had successfully passed the first critical stage of his ecommerce business. As the founder and CEO of a standup paddleboard (SUP) business, he had built a strong relationship with Asian manufacturers, built a small warehouse... View Details

Keywords: Tower Paddle Boards; Amazon; E-commerce; Online Shopping; Distribution; Internet and the Web; Business Growth and Maturation; Marketing Channels; Distribution Channels; Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry

November 2020
Teaching Note

DayTwo: Going to Market with Gut Microbiome

By: Ayelet Israeli

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 519-010. DayTwo is a young Israeli startup that applies research on the gut microbiome and machine learning algorithms to deliver personalized nutritional recommendations to its users in order to minimize blood sugar spikes after meals.... View Details

September 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Cartier v. Metro

Metro, a German wholesaler, sued Cartier, a French luxury retailer, to require Cartier to honor Cartier's guarantee on its watches that Metro sold, even though Metro is not part of Cartier's selective distribution network. Is such a network incompatible with the... View Details

Keywords: Lawsuits and Litigation; Distribution Channels; Apparel and Accessories Industry; France; Germany; European Union

June 1967 (Revised January 1968)
Case

WTS-Pharmacraft: Fresh Deodorant

By: Walter J. Salmon

Keywords: Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Advertising