Publications

April 2002 (Revised November 2003)
Case

World Oil Markets

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Rebecca Evans

Summarizes world markets for oil and natural gas from 1980-2001. Examines the rise of OPEC, two oil shocks, Gulf War efforts, and recent pricing issues facing Saudi Arabia. View Details

Keywords: Energy Sources; Asset Pricing; Markets; Organizations; Saudi Arabia

October 1993 (Revised September 1994)
Case

Catalina Marketing Corp.

By: David E. Bell, Walter J. Salmon and Dinny Starr

Catalina Marketing is a very successful marketing service firm. Their current customers include major supermarket retailers and consumer products manufacturers nation-wide. Catalina provides a unique way for these clients to distribute coupons for their products via... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Information Management; Expansion; Product; Salesforce Management; Information Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Customer Value and Value Chain; Advertising Industry

05 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

In Praise of Marketing

additional millions of poor people to buy in. As prices have fallen, Asian brands such as Asus and Acer of Taiwan have gained share while IBM sold its PC business to Lenovo. “Critics of marketing tend to... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Advertising

2008
Chapter

Allocating Marketing Resources

By: Sunil Gupta and Thomas J. Steenburgh

Companies spend billions of dollars on marketing every year because it is essential to organic growth. Given these large investments, marketing managers have the responsibility to optimally allocate resources and to demonstrate that their investments generate... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Resource Allocation; Marketing; Demand and Consumers; Mathematical Methods

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April 1978
Case

General Foods: Opportunities in the Dog Food Market

Illustrates uses of various sources of market and consumer behavior data, including psychographics, product positioning, and market segmentation decisions for a new dog food product. Based on cases by E.T. Popper and L.S. Ward. View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Consumer Behavior; Product Development; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

May 2015 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Colgate-Palmolive Company: Marketing Anti-Cavity Toothpaste

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

In October 2013, Colgate-Palmolive Company, the world's leading oral care company, was about to launch its new Colgate® Maximum Cavity Protection™ plus Sugar Acid Neutralizer™ toothpaste in Brazil. Oral care category accounted for 46 percent of Colgate's $17.4 billion... View Details

Keywords: New Product Management; Consumer Segmentation; Global Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility; Healthcare; Sustainability; Health Care and Treatment; Environmental Sustainability; Marketing; Segmentation; Product Development; Product Launch; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Product Positioning; Consumer Products Industry; Brazil; United States

June 2023 (Revised June 2025)
Course Overview Note

Introduction to the RC Marketing Course: Fall 2025

By: Jill Avery and Sunil Gupta

Course Overview Note for RC Marketing Fall 2025 View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Marketing Strategy

22 Feb 2000
Research & Ideas

The Mind of the Market: Extending the Frontiers of Marketing Thought

might serve the study of consumer behavior. An HBS professor since 1991, Zaltman's work actually cuts across a number of boundaries. He's a co-director (with Stephen M. Kosslyn, Professor of psychology at Harvard University) of View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

March 2024
Article

Establishing the Foundation for Carbon Trading Markets

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Karthik Ramanna and Marc Roston

Poor measurement practices and inadequate controls have led to extensive trading of carbon offset instruments that do not materially reduce the supply of atmospheric GHG. We introduce five carbon offset accounting principles, built from fundamental financial-accounting... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Offsetting; Accounting; Carbon Accounting; E-liabilities; Measurement; Trading; Environmental Accounting; Environmental Sustainability

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May–June 2023
Article

Analytics for Marketers: When to Rely on Algorithms and When to Trust Your Gut

By: Fabrizio Fantini and Das Narayandas

Advanced analytics can help companies solve a host of management problems, including those related to marketing, sales, and supply-chain operations, which can lead to a sustainable competitive advantage. But as more data becomes available and advanced analytics are... View Details

Keywords: Analytics and Data Science; Decision Making

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February 2016 (Revised April 2019)
Supplement

InsightSquared: Developing the Sales and Marketing Plan Courseware

By: Mark N. Roberge

These are Excel spreadsheets of Exhibit 3-6 from the InsightSquared: Developing the Sales and Marketing Plan case #816074. View Details

Keywords: Sales Strategy; Strategy; Sales

05 Mar 2015
News

Marketing to millennials

September 2014 (Revised February 2015)
Case

Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (A)

By: John A. Quelch and James Weber

In 2014, Pfizer proposed a friendly acquisition of AstraZeneca, but the AstraZeneca board resisted over price and strategy concerns. Was this good for pharmaceutical consumers? Pfizer, like pharmaceutical companies in general, faced difficulties in growing sales due to... View Details

Keywords: Health Care Policy; Mergers And Acquisitions; Marketing; Government Relations; Crisis Management; Decision Making; Growth and Development; Management; Markets; Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry; United Kingdom; United States

December 2014
Article

The Real Product Market Impact of Mergers

By: Albert Sheen

I document sources of value creation in mergers by analyzing novel data on the quality and price of goods sold by merging firms. When two competitors in a product market merge, their products converge in quality, and prices fall relative to the competition. These... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Quality; Price; Goods and Commodities; Mergers and Acquisitions

Find at Harvard

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02 Aug 2010
News

Modern Indian Art: The Birth of a Market

September 2005 (Revised October 2005)
Module Note

The Marketing of Innovations Module I: The Risk of Innovation

By: John T. Gourville

Aids classroom instructors in teaching the first module of the Marketing of Innovations course. View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management

Web

About the Project - Creating Emerging Markets

About the Project View Video Creating Emerging Markets explores the evolution of business leadership in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the... View Details

July 2010 (Revised January 2017)
Background Note

Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Customer Lifetime Value Analysis (2024)

By: Thomas Steenburgh and Jill Avery

Customers are increasingly being viewed as assets that bring value to the firm. Customer lifetime value is a metric that allows managers to understand the overall value of their customer base and relate it to three customer strategies firms employ: asset... View Details

Keywords: Customer Lifetime Value; Return On Investment; Customer Acquisition; Customer Retention; Customer Churn; ＂Marketing Analytics＂; Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Marketing Strategy; Measurement and Metrics; Strategic Planning; Value