Publications

14 Jul 2009
First Look

First Look: July 14

horizontal preferences, distinct segments exist—each caring about innovation on only one attribute—and firms are a priori uncertain how many consumers each segment contains. In this case, a firm that... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 Mar 2004
What Do You Think?

Are Customer Loyalty Initiatives Worth the Investment?

program, but on whether or not the program is providing significant value to the segment for which it is intended." A third line of thought concerned the impact of rising customer expectations on loyalty initiatives. As Wendy Jameson... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

15 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

In the Virtual Dressing Room Returns Are A Real Problem

comparisons based on independent performance evaluations. (Although for online purchases, as for catalog purchases, brand names help consumers infer certain aspects of quality or fit, especially for consumers making repeat purchases.) These obstacles likely will act... View Details

Keywords: by Jan Hammond & Kristin Kohler; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion; Consumer Products; Manufacturing; Retail

February 2008 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Harvard Business School

By: Srikant M. Datar, David A. Garvin and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In 2008 the Boston-based Harvard Business School would turn 100. As the centennial year began, the HBS community and leadership were reflecting on how the School might fulfill its mission to "develop business leaders who make a difference in the world" in the next... View Details

Keywords: Business Education; Cases; Leadership Development; Management; Management Skills; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Planning; Problems and Challenges; Segmentation; Education Industry

Find at Harvard

October 1996 (Revised November 1996)
Case

Boston Beer Company: Samuel Adams, Brewmaster Leading a Revolution

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Mollie H. Carter

Boston Beer Co. revolutionized the beer industry by identifying and responding to a new consumer segment. Using the excess capacity in the brewing industry to establish contract brewing arrangements and an extremely capable sales force, the company opened the... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Leadership; Product Marketing; Product Development; Production; Quality; Salesforce Management; Segmentation; Food and Beverage Industry

16 Jul 2014
HBS Case

Marketing Obamacare

segment consumers into four different groups: Confident Rejecters, Cautious Optimists, Stoic Skeptics, and Stressed and Strained. The agency then created different messages for each one—for example, emphasizing affordability for the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

November 2008 (Revised November 2008)
Case

Cyworld: Creating and Capturing Value in a Social Network

By: Sunil Gupta and Sangman Han

In May 2008, the new CEO of Cyworld, a social network company in Korea, had to decide how to create and capture value from his rapidly growing user base. Cyworld was founded in 1999, and in 2003 it was acquired by SK Telecom, a leading mobile service provider in Korea.... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Consumer Behavior; Social and Collaborative Networks; Segmentation; Value Creation; South Korea

October 2022
Case

Ethena: A Go-to-Market Dilemma

By: Rembrand Koning and Stacy Straaberg

In November 2021, Roxanne Petraeus and Anne Solmssen, founders of Brooklyn-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup Ethena, were looking to expand their compliance training business. The founders hired Arnie Gullov-Singh, an outside revenue consultant, to advise on... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Judgments; Growth and Development Strategy; Business or Company Management; Business Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Technology Industry; United States; New York (state, US)

April 2007 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Bankinter: Growing Through Small and Medium Enterprises

Surveys the overall sequence of processes needed for the success of a strategy based on customer analytics. In particular, it charts the formulation and implementation of this strategy by a Spanish bank that decided to expand into the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME)... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Data and Data Sets; Knowledge Acquisition; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Segmentation; Banking Industry; Spain

15 Nov 2010
Lessons from the Classroom

Connecting Goals and Go-To-Market Initiatives

the industry you compete in, the market segments where you do (and do not) choose to play, and the nature of the customers that you sell and service. These factors help to determine required sales tasks—that is, what your go-to-market... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

January 2000
Case

Talbots - A Classic

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

This case traces why the $1 billion women's clothing retailer decided to attract younger customers, what went wrong, and the actions taken to recover. By the end of 1999, the company has reestablished itself and faces several growth opportunities and must decide on the... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Decisions; Crisis Management; Product Positioning; Problems and Challenges; Segmentation; Fashion Industry

10 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

IT Links for Boundaryless Companies

in the vacuum?" These are important question to ask, said Upton, amid the emergence of extranets, the fastest growing segment on the 'Net and potentially the most important in terms of transforming business. "We're developing... View Details

Keywords: by Kenneth Liss

February 2024 (Revised February 2024)
Teaching Note

Travelogo: Understanding Customer Journeys

By: Eva Ascarza and Ta-Wei Huang

Teaching Note for HBS Exercise 524-044. The exercise aims to teach students about 1) Customer Segmentation; and 2) constructing buying personas, 3) Get actionable insights from clickstream data. View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Analysis; Analytics and Data Science; Marketing Strategy; Segmentation; Consumer Behavior; Travel Industry; United States

09 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Starbucks’ Lessons for Premium Brands

conversation with a barista. Starbucks introduced new store formats like Express to try to cater to this second segment without undermining the first. But many Starbucks veterans have now switched to Peets, Caribou, and other more... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Retail

January 2004 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Electronic Arts in Online Gaming

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Justin Wong

Electronic Arts (EA), the world's largest independent video-game publisher, must decide whether to support Microsoft's initiatives in online gaming. Historically, EA has been platform-agnostic, releasing versions of its titles for all major console platforms. However,... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Digital Platforms; Network Effects; Policy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Revenue; Segmentation; Sales; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Electronics Industry

19 Aug 2008
First Look

First Look: August 19, 2008

Working PapersExploring Inventory Trends in Six U.S. Retail Segments Authors:Adenekan (Nick) Dedeke and Noel H. Watson Abstract Our paper describes inventory trends for both public and private U.S. firms in six retail View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2023 (Revised November 2024)
Case

Norse Atlantic Airways

By: Willy Shih

Bjørn Tore Larsen, Norse Atlantic Airways' founder and CEO, hadn't planned to get into the airline business. But when the COVID-19 pandemic depressed the global demand for air travel and the lease rates for jetliners, he realized if ever he was going to get into the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Market Entry and Exit; Leasing; Business Strategy; Segmentation; Interest Rates; Air Transportation Industry; Europe; North America; Norway; United Kingdom; United States