Publications

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Article

A Brand's Eye View of Response Segmentation in Consumer Choice Behavior

By: Randolph E. Bucklin, Sunil Gupta and Sangman Han

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Segmentation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Customers; Behavior

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October 2015 (Revised October 2016)
Case

Paez

By: Jill Avery, Maria Fernanda Miguel and Laura Urdapilleta

Paez, an Argentine start-up fashion brand, sold traditional alpargatas, a sleepy shoe category that suddenly woke up when U.S. company TOMS borrowed the traditional alpargata design, covered it with fashionable colors and prints, and tied it to a social cause. Paez's... View Details

Keywords: Brands; Brand Management; Brand Positioning; Entrepreneurship In Emerging Markets; Retailing; Fashion; Competitive Strategy; Marketing; Advertising; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Competition; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; Argentina; Spain

November 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Hormel Foods

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

In 2019, CEO Jim Snee is weighing how to shape the image of Hormel Foods, one of the largest U.S. meat and food companies, at a time when the industry faces unprecedented scrutiny. Based in the small town of Austin, Minnesota, the nearly 130-year-old firm is best known... View Details

Keywords: Brand Portfolio Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product; Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Risk Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; China

February 2017
Teaching Note

Paez

By: Jill Avery

Paez, an Argentine start-up fashion brand, sold traditional alpargatas, a sleepy category that suddenly woke up when TOMS, a U.S. company, appropriated the traditional alpargata design, covered it with fashionable colors and prints, and tied it to a social cause.... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Brand Positioning; Competitive Positioning; Competitive Strategy; Retailing; Go To Market Strategy; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry; Argentina; Latin America; South America; Europe

February 2021 (Revised July 2022)
Case

Sarah Breedlove: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Max Saffer

This case describes the rise of Sarah Breedlove, who later called herself Madam C.J. Walker, from the cotton fields of Louisiana to the head of a successful, nationwide beauty company providing opportunity and hair care products to Black women. The case describes how... View Details

Keywords: Brands; African-american Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurship; Values and Beliefs; Personal Characteristics; Success; Work-Life Balance; Business Startups; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Personal Development and Career; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States

December 2020
Case

Château Margaux: Serving Up the Third Wine

By: Elie Ofek

In fall 2019, Corinne Mentzelopoulos, owner of the famous first-growth Château Margaux, is pondering a series of decisions with respect to the chateau's third wine. Margaux du Château Marguax, as this wine was called, was launched in 2013 with a particular goal in mind... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Pricing; Wine Industry; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Performance Evaluation; Price; Distribution Channels; Growth and Development Strategy; France

07 Apr 2022
Research & Ideas

Giving Back: Consumers Care More About How Companies Donate Than How Much

profits over one week. The psychology of giving Consumers might be making these choices for several reasons, even beyond judgments of generosity, Keenan says. For example, people shopping for brands that... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

2011
Working Paper

The Flexible Substitution Logit: Uncovering Category Expansion and Share Impacts of Marketing Instruments

By: Qiang Liu, Thomas J. Steenburgh and Sachin Gupta

Different instruments are relevant for different marketing objectives (category demand expansion or market share stealing). To help brand managers make informed marketing mix decisions, it is essential that marketing mix models appropriately measure the different... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Forecasting and Prediction; Investment; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Mathematical Methods

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March 2022 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Emeritus: Achieving Impact, Providing Access (A)

By: Ashish Nanda and Zack Kurtovich

In June 2019, Emeritus cofounders Ashwin Damera (HBS MBA 2005) and Chaitanya Kalipatnapu were thrilled with the rapid growth of Emeritus. Damera and Kalipatnapu believed that Emeritus, established in July 2015 to offer online executive education, was only in the early... View Details

Keywords: Education Technology; Professional Service Firm; Startup; Digital Strategy; Global Business; Global Firm; Platform Business; Business Startups; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Executive Education; Strategy; Education Industry; India

26 Apr 2010
Research & Ideas

When Other Companies Compete Like Crazy, Dare to Be Different

them to resist the urge to follow suit. Competitive pressure, I argue, breeds conformity. Q: You discuss consumer devotion to a product or service in your chapter on "category blur." What do you see happening to brand loyalty?... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

April 2017
Supplement

Imprimis (D)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karen Elterman and Marc Appel

This case is a supplement to Imprimis (A, B, & C). It describes Imprimis’s 2015 decision to develop a $1 per pill compounded alternative to Daraprim, the branded drug that had recently undergone an extreme price hike, raising its price to $750 per pill. Imprimis also... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

October 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

PhonePe: Democratizing Payments in India

By: Michael Chu and Rachna Tahilyani

The co-founders of PhonePe, India’s leading digital payment platform are considering pursuing various growth opportunities in a huge country just entering the digital age. In a highly competitive industry, the founders are keenly aware that making the right choices is... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platform; Digital Banking; Business Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Financial Services Industry; Asia; India

August 2023
Case

Tenkara Outfitters

By: Christina Wallace, Jo Tango and Johnson Elugbadebo

After taking over from their parents, Sebastian Maxwell and Alexandra Ito, CEO and COO of Minnesota-based outdoor adventure brand Tenkara, must decide how they want to resource and grow this formerly family-run business. After outdoor activities exploded during the... View Details

Keywords: General Management; Innovation; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Management; Family Business; Entrepreneurial Finance; Business Growth and Maturation

August 2018
Supplement

Garanti Payment Systems: Digital Transformation Strategy (B)

By: Shelle M. Santana and Esel Çekin

Supplements the (A) case. Işıl Akdemir Evlioğlu, executive vice president of marketing at Garanti Payment Systems (GPS), a subsidiary of Garanti Bank, is grappling with three questions. First, should GPS create its own mobile app for credit card customers or leverage... View Details

26 Sep 2011
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Lady Gaga

important for managers in the music industry to understand how to effectively manage touring." As is the way of HBS cases, Lady Gaga(A) ends with a cliff-hanger, laying out the manager's choices without revealing which path he chose,... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Entertainment & Recreation; Music

03 May 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Learning by Supplying

Keywords: by Juan Alcácer & Joanne Oxley

May 2007
Case

Westin Hotels and Resorts: Operations of a Lifestyle Experience

By: Frances X. Frei, Chekitan S. Dev and Laure Mougeot Stroock

Westin Hotels and Resorts adopted a new "lifestyle" brand strategy which provided guests with a new service experience. The dilemma Westin faced was how to operationally build a brand that delivered consistent service on intangible values. View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth Management; Brands and Branding; Service Operations; Value Creation; Tourism Industry

April 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Case

ING DIRECT

By: James L. Heskett

The CEO of ING Direct (U.S.) has to decide: (1) whether and how to coordinate his organization's branding effort with its parent, ING Group, and (2) how fast to grow the business. Includes color exhibits. View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Growth Management; Brands and Branding; Planning; Problems and Challenges; Financial Services Industry; United States

November 2001
Case

Naming the Edsel (Condensed)

Reveals the interesting and unusual story behind Ford's selection of "Edsel" as the new brand name for its ill-fated 1957 new product launch. Noteworthy as perhaps the most extensive, creative, and politically charged naming stories on record. Although both... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Auto Industry