Publications

August 1984 (Revised October 1994)
Case

Suave

By: Mark S. Albion

Promotes discussion on advertising budgeting and media mix decisions in the shampoo market for low-priced, high-volume Suave. Provides various types of market research into consumer behavior and the competition context. The importance of retailers and shelf space is... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Product Marketing; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

March 2013
Article

Advertising's New Medium: Human Experience

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Standard ad messaging and conventional creative executions and placements are rapidly becoming outmoded. To win consumers' attention and trust, marketers must think less about what advertising says to its targets and more about what it does for them. Rather than... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Advertising

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August 2019
Case

ClearScore, 2018

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In October 2017, Experian, one of the “Big Three” consumer credit reporting agencies in the United Kingdom made an offer to acquire ClearScore for a total consideration of £293 million. Founded by Justin Basini, Dan Cobley, and Nigel Morris in 2014, ClearScore was the... View Details

March 2012
Article

The New Science of Viral Ads

By: Thales Teixeira

It's the holy grail of digital marketing: the viral ad, a pitch that large numbers of viewers decide to share with family and friends. Several techniques derived from new technology can help advertisers attain this. In our research, two colleagues and I use... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Information Technology; Research; System; Marketing; Emotions; Television Entertainment

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10 Mar 2009
News

Why CMOs Are Gaining Ground in the Recession

February 2009 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Big Spaceship: Ready to Go Big?

By: Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind

Big Spaceship, a digital marketing agency, faced a rather big challenge: How to scale the distinctive culture that was essential to its competitive strategy? Renowned for the cutting-edge websites that it developed to market major Hollywood movies and leading consumer... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Management; Human Capital; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Groups and Teams; Competitive Strategy; Value Creation

October 1976 (Revised April 1983)
Case

Federal Express (A)

Federal Express is a small-package airline operating throughout the United States. After initial heavy losses it is now profitable. Management is examining the services offered by the firm and believes that there is great potential for "Courier Pak", an overnight... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Product Marketing; Sales; Air Transportation Industry; Service Industry; United States

Article

Rethinking the Profession Formerly Known as Advertising: How Data Science Is Disrupting the Work of Agencies

By: John A. Deighton

The article discusses the notion of advertising as a profession in relation to the impact of digital analytics and data-driven marketing. Topics include the history of internet marketing, the investments of the content-driven internet firms Facebook Inc. and Google... View Details

Keywords: Data Science; Digital Marketing; Marketing; Internet and the Web; Analytics and Data Science; Disruption

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April 2010 (Revised June 2011)
Background Note

Television Competes for a Digital Audience

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Nancy Bartlett

In the face of major disruption in the industry television networks have sought new revenue sources, implemented cost-cutting measures and strategized on ways to monetize online access to content. Programming changes, new advertising strategies, and deals via online... View Details

Keywords: Television Entertainment; Marketing Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry

June 2003 (Revised May 2004)
Exercise

The Pacific Sentinel: Role for Alex Martinez

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Dina R. Pradel

A new publishing company has just purchased the Pacific Sentinel, a fictional West Coast newspaper. The new publisher is willing to invest $1 million in the future success of the paper and has asked the executive editor and advertising manager to develop a joint plan... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Acquisition; Business Strategy; Publishing Industry; Western United States

30 Dec 2014
News

The Future Of Air Travel Is 'Hell On Wings'

13 Jan 2017
News

Not Just A Crock: The Viral Word-Of-Mouth Success Of Instant Pot

06 Aug 2019
News

Super Bowl Ads Sell Products, but Do They Sell Brands?

23 Aug 2011
First Look

First Look: August 23

http://www.amacad.org/publications/Challenges.aspx Advertising, the Matchmaker Authors:Bharat N. Anand and Ron Shachar Publication:RAND Journal of Economics 42, no. 2 (summer 2011) Abstract We empirically study the informational role of View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Apr 2022
News

I Quit? The Real Story Behind the ‘Great Resignation’

June 2018 (Revised June 2018)
Case

Facebook Confronts a Crisis of Trust

By: William W. George and Amram Migdal

The case, “Facebook Confronts a Crisis of Trust,” starts with the crisis Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is facing in March 2018 over Cambridge Analytica’s accessing data from 87 million Facebook accounts in order to influence the 2016 U.S. Presidential... View Details

14 May 2013
Blog Post

Exploring new opportunities at HBS

On our first official day here at HBS, I looked around at my classmates, all dressed in our finest business formal, and all I could think was, “Toto, we definitely aren’t at a tech startup anymore.” Before coming to HBS, I had spent the last 2.5 years as an analyst at... View Details

Keywords: Technology

September 1998 (Revised May 1999)
Case

Arnold Communications

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Jeremiah Weinstock

The new owner and CEO of Arnold Advertising, a relatively small regional agency, aims to build it into Arnold Communications--a much larger, stronger firm competing successfully for national accounts. As part of this growth strategy, the agency develops a process for... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Creativity; Entrepreneurship; Advertising; Business Processes; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Advertising Industry