Publications

November 2019 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Shiseido Acquires Drunk Elephant

By: Jill Avery

On October 7, 2019, the Shiseido Group announced that it would acquire clean skincare brand Drunk Elephant for $845 million, a valuation of 8.5 times sales. Did Shiseido pay too much or too little for this brand asset? How much was the Drunk Elephant brand worth and... View Details

Keywords: Personal Care; Startup; Brand Equity; Brand Valuation; Brand Value; Brand Storytelling; Brand Management; Brands and Branding; Valuation; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Japan

February 2020
Teaching Note

Essential Explorations at MUJI

By: Tomomichi Amano and Das Narayandas

Launched as a private brand in 1980 to counter the increasingly brand-conscious consumer in Japan, MUJI offered beautifully designed, fairly priced, no-frills quality goods. The once modest private label brand with 40 products had expanded significantly by 2019 to more... View Details

Keywords: Product Portfolio Management; Brands and Branding; Product; Management; Change Management; Mission and Purpose; Retail Industry; Japan

August 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Essential Explorations at MUJI

By: Tomomichi Amano, Das Narayandas, Naoko Jinjo and Akiko Kanno

Launched as a private brand in 1980 to counter the increasingly brand-conscious consumer in Japan, MUJI offered beautifully designed, fairly priced, no-frills quality goods. The once modest private label brand with 40 products had expanded significantly by 2019 to more... View Details

Keywords: Product Portfolio Management; Brands and Branding; Product; Management; Change Management; Mission and Purpose; Retail Industry; Japan

Web

Creating Brand Value - Course Catalog

optimal way to manage investments behind brands for the short- and long-term? What are the opportunities and challenges associated with geographic, target market, product line, and brand extensions? How can... View Details

11 Dec 2023
Blog Post

Building Iconic Brands and Brighter Futures: Interview with Glossier CEO, Kyle Leahy

Kyle Leahy (MBA 2011) stepped into the CEO role of Glossier in May 2022 ready to take the brand to new heights. Since its founding in 2014, Glossier had disrupted the beauty industry, created a powerful community-driven brand, and was... View Details

October 2016
Case

La-Z-Boy (A)

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Natalie Kindred

Kurt Darrow, CEO of La-Z-Boy furniture, must decide whether to continue an overhaul of the company's strategy in the face of a collapse in demand during the great recession. Having pared back La-Z-Boy's portfolio of brands and manufacturing network, he intends to... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Manufacturing; Organizational Transformations; Reorganization; Furniture Industry; Corporate Strategy; Home Fashion; Turnaround; Portfolio Rationalization; Globalization Of Supply Chain; Brand Repositioning; Business Growth and Maturation; Brands and Branding; Competitive Strategy; Vertical Integration; Retail Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

October 2018 (Revised October 2018)
Teaching Note

La-Z-Boy (A)

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Julia Kelley

Kurt Darrow, CEO of La-Z-Boy furniture, must decide whether to continue an overhaul of the company's strategy in the face of a collapse in demand during the great recession. Having pared back La-Z-Boy's portfolio of brands and manufacturing network, he intends to... View Details

Web

Online Creating Brand Value Course | HBS Online

new market, and manage a portfolio of diverse brands. Highlights Sharon MacLeod, former Global Vice President, Dove Men+Care Tina Edmundson, President, Luxury, Marriott International Brian Perkins, CEO, Budweiser Brewing Group UK &... View Details

11 Dec 2023
Blog Post

Building Iconic Brands and Brighter Futures: Interview with Glossier CEO, Kyle Leahy

Kyle Leahy (MBA 2011) stepped into the CEO role of Glossier in May 2022 ready to take the brand to new heights. Since its founding in 2014, Glossier had disrupted the beauty industry, created a powerful community-driven brand, and was... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

October 2023
Case

Leading Transformation at IHCL

By: Krishna G. Palepu, V.G. Narayanan and Malini Sen

In November 2017, Puneet Chhatwal, took charge as MD and CEO of IHCL, popularly referred to as the Taj Hotels. Despite being India’s largest hospitality company by market capitalization and respected for its values and service, IHCL had made losses for the last seven... View Details

Keywords: Turn Around Management; Hospitality Industry; Brand Management; Financial Strategy; Business Model; Restructuring; Asset Management; Leadership Style; Crisis Management; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Segmentation; Asia; India

21 Jul 2016
Cold Call Podcast

How Small Investors Can Bet Big on Brands They Love

Keywords: Re: Luis M. Viceira; Financial Services

January 2015
Case

The Blonde Salad

By: Anat Keinan, Kristina Maslauskaite, Sandrine Crener and Vincent Dessain

In 2014, Chiara Ferragni, a globe-trotting founder of the world's most popular fashion blog The Blonde Salad, and Riccardo Pozzoli, her co-founder and business partner, had to decide how to best monetize her blog as well as her shoe line called the "Chiara Ferragni... View Details

April 2016 (Revised June 2019)
Case

The Walt Disney Studios

By: Anita Elberse

In December 2015, Alan Horn, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, celebrates the world premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens—only the latest in a string of big bets that he has overseen. Disney pursues a “tentpole strategy” that revolves around at least eight... View Details

Web

Building Iconic Brands and Brighter Futures: Interview with Glossier CEO, Kyle Leahy - Recruiting

Insights & Advice 11 Dec 2023 Building Iconic Brands and Brighter Futures: Interview with Glossier CEO, Kyle Leahy Becca Carnahan Author HBS Team tag Alumni Consumer Products / Retail Student & Alumni Stories Kyle Leahy (MBA 2011) stepped... View Details

February 2011
Case

Barceló Hotels and Resorts (A)

By: John T. Gourville and Marco Bertini

Barcelo Hotels and Resorts must decide whether to allow its many hotels to continue to undertake separate promotional campaigns or to run, for the first time, a broad corporate-level promotion. Complicating the decision is the fact that the many hotels in its portfolio... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Sales Promotions; Brands and Branding; Price; Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Accommodations Industry

September 2001 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Henkel KGaA: Detergents Division

Henkel has to decide whether to replace its strong local detergent brands in Italy and Spain with its leading international brand, Persil. It faces pressure from retailers for international brand standardization. Its competitors, including P&G and Unilever, are... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Markets and Industries; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; Italy; Spain

March 2017 (Revised February 2018)
Case

Tequila Patrón

By: Rohit Deshpandé, Carlos Castellanos Rodríguez, Silvia Cacho-Elizondo, Samantha Rullán and Fernanda Miguel

Tequila Patrón was one of the most successful tequila marketers in the United States. Patrón needed to grow, and in Mexico, the second largest market for tequila, the brand was perceived as American. What portfolio and branding strategy would best serve Patrón to... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Growth and Development Strategy; Mexico