Publications

October 2008
Class Lecture

Marketing as Competitive Advantage: Fundamentals

By: Das Narayandas, David E. Bell, Anita Elberse, John T. Gourville, David B. Godes, John A. Quelch, Gail J. McGovern, Luc R. Wathieu and Marta Wosinska

Marketing as Competitive Advantage: Fundamentals will help today's business executives and tomorrow's business leaders understand the key elements of a successful marketing strategy. The multimedia resource includes video lectures by Harvard Business School faculty,... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Framework; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Planning; Competitive Advantage; Segmentation

February 2003 (Revised April 2003)
Case

Brioni

By: David E. Bell

Should Brioni, an internationally known, exclusive men's suit manufacturer and retailer extend its line to include women's apparel? The opportunity is to enter a much larger and profitable market. The dangers are: 1) compromising the existing image, and 2) failing to... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Segmentation; Expansion; Profit; Risk Management; Demand and Consumers; Fashion Industry

12 Jul 2019
News

The Power of Entrepreneurship

we make these investments is, yes, because we think you can have tremendous positive impact, but [also] because we think it's a huge business opportunity. And the potential for returns by doing that are huge. We've been able to prove that. We've proved that at... View Details

Keywords: Finance

15 Nov 2016
News

Enabling the Dream of Building A Healthy Future for India

Surabhi Bhandari (photo by Susan Young) Surabhi Bhandari (photo by Susan Young) Surabhi Bhandari (MBA 2017) wants to launch a medical technology startup in India that will help revolutionize health care in her native country. “Multinational companies dominate the... View Details

01 Feb 2002
News

If You're #1, Watch Out

such parts presents only marginal profit opportunity. Staying in the innovative segment of an industry may mean, in fact, manufacturing a key subsystem and even becoming a provider to competitors. The willingness to make such shifts and... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

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

01 Aug 2002
News

Marilynn Davis (MBA '82)

in the middle of a recession, and we have seen a lot of changes,” noted Davis, who is now EVP and manager of the consumer banking segment at FleetBoston Financial Corporation. “We've spent our careers in a climate of heightened... View Details

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

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

19 Nov 2014
HBS Case

Marketing Marijuana

segment shows different dynamics in terms of its sensitivity to price, marketing, and convenience. Medicinal consumers, for example, do not care so much about variety. "Once you find the strain and supply source that best alleviates... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Food & Beverage

17 Apr 2017
News

Jeff Immelt Wants a Radical Transformation of GE

transformation that is as radical as it is methodical, as essential to the company’s survival as Steve Jobs’s iPhone was to Apple’s.” In overseeing the company’s transition to a lean operation more akin to a tech innovator, Immelt has systematically been selling off... View Details

Keywords: Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Manufacturing

June 2005
Background Note

Overview of the Japanese Apparel Market

By: Rajiv Lal and Arar Han

Provides an overview of the Japanese apparel market, which was a 13.1 trillion yen industry in 2003, reflecting 5.5% year-over-year shrinkage since 1997, when retailers logged 17.5 trillion yen in sales. Compared to their global counterparts, Japanese apparel shoppers... View Details

Keywords: Trends; Financial Crisis; Trade; Emerging Markets; Sales; Luxury; Competition; Segmentation; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; Asia; China; Japan; Korean Peninsula

December 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Vincent Marie Dessain, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Anders Sjoman

The Dutch "Verenigde Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer Cooperative" (VBA) was on of the world's largest flower exchanges. Around 6,300 flower growers, one half of them located in the Netherlands, used the auction to sell cut flowers and plants to more than 1,000 wholesalers. In... View Details

Keywords: Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Trade; Market Entry and Exit; Financial Markets; Segmentation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Netherlands

March 1999
Case

Eastman Kodak Company

By: Robert J. Dolan

Eastman Kodak has suffered significant declines in film market share at the hands of lower-priced branded producers and private label products. The case presents Kodak's proposal to launch a new economy brand of film to combat these rivals. A rewritten version of an... View Details

Keywords: Segmentation; Product Positioning; Price; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Consumer Products Industry

22 Feb 2022
News

An Rx for Small Business Recovery

first-year MBA students will travel to 15 cities across the United States to work on projects that involve the design of a new product, service, or experience for a local segment of that city’s population. Students will partner with... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg

29 Jun 2015
HBS Case

Consumer-centered Health Care Depends on Accessible Medical Records

2,000 data points on each of its 2.2 million patients, including clinical data, medication use, education, socioeconomic factors, and consumer spending information to segment patients into groups, such as "high risk of cancer,"... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Health; Technology

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