Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(423)
- Faculty Publications (70)
- January 2011
- Case
Clean Edge Razor: Splitting Hairs in Product Positioning
By: John A. Quelch and Heather Beckham
After three years of development, Paramount Health and Beauty Company is preparing to launch a new technologically advanced vibrating razor called Clean Edge. The innovative new design of Clean Edge provides superior performance by stimulating the hair follicles to... View Details
- November 2010
- Article
Capitalizing on the Underdog Effect
By: Anat Keinan, Neeru Paharia and Jill Avery
This article presents the results of a study that investigated the use of the underdog effect in marketing. The idea of triumphing over disadvantages by impassioned determination is said to be a powerfully positive image, which can lead consumers to choose a brand over... View Details
Keywords: Marketing; Brand Management; Brands; Brand Positioning; Competitive Positioning; Competition; Brands and Branding; Advertising Campaigns; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry
- August 2010 (Revised October 2014)
- Case
Herborist
By: John Deighton, Leora Kornfeld, Yanqun He and Qingyun Jiang
Global brands such as L'Oreal and Oil of Olay dominate China's skin care market. A Chinese domestic brand, after some success in partnership with Sephora in Europe, aspires to challenge the French and U.S. brands' hold on the China market. It must decide how to segment... View Details
- 2010
- Article
The Strategic Use of Brand Biographies
By: Jill Avery, Neeru Paharia, Anat Keinan and Juliet Schor
We introduce the concept of a brand biography to describe an emerging trend in branding in which firms author a dynamic, historical account of the events that have shaped the brand over time. Using a particular type of brand biography, "the underdog," we empirically... View Details
Keywords: Marketing; Brands; Brand Management; Brand Building; Brand Positioning; Competitive Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Managerial Roles; Strategy; Product Positioning; Consumer Behavior; Biography; Success; Perception; Markets; Power and Influence; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry
- July 2009
- Teaching Note
Bernd Beetz: Creating the New Coty (TN)
Teaching Note for [808133]. View Details
- May 2009
- Case
Who is the Fairest of Them All? Choosing a Leader at Deronde International
By: Nitin Nohria and Martha Spaulding
Alain Deronde, the CEO of a French personal care company, has to choose a successor to head global product development from a diverse set of candidates with different backgrounds, strengths, and weaknesses. The candidates include Elise Bernier, Vice President of... View Details
- January 2009
- Article
From Regional Star to Global Leader
By: Nitin Nohria
Yang Jianguo was recently promoted from country manager for China to global head of product development at a staid French perfume maker. He was chosen for his technical smarts and his knowledge of emerging markets—a critical avenue for growth, given that sales in the... View Details
- April 2008
- Teaching Note
Dove: Evolution of a Brand (TN)
By: John A. Deighton
Teaching Note for [508-047]. View Details
- February 2008
- Article
Blonde and Blue-eyed?: Globalizing Beauty, c.1945–c.1980
By: Geoffrey Jones
This article examines the globalization of the beauty industry between 1945 and 1980. The industry grew quickly. Firms employed marketing and marketing strategies to diffuse products and brands internationally, despite business, economic, and cultural obstacles to... View Details
- October 2007 (Revised March 2008)
- Case
Dove: Evolution of a Brand
By: John A. Deighton
Examines the evolution of Dove from functional brand to a brand with a point of view after Unilever designated it as a masterbrand, and expanded its portfolio to cover entries into a number of sectors beyond the original bath soap category. The development causes the... View Details
- April 2005 (Revised February 2006)
- Case
L'Oreal and the Globalization of American Beauty
By: Geoffrey G. Jones, David Kiron, Vincent Dessain and Anders Sjoman
Examines L'Oreal's acquisition of leading U.S. cosmetics brands, including Maybelline, Redken, and Kiehl's, and their subsequent renewal and globalization. Reviews the history of L'Oreal, now the world's largest cosmetics company, from its origins in France in 1907.... View Details
- February 2005 (Revised June 2007)
- Case
Unilever in India: Hindustan Lever's Project Shakti--Marketing FMCG to the Rural Consumer
By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Rohithari Rajan
With liberalization of India's economy and the opening up of markets to foreign multinationals such as Procter & Gamble, the Indian subsidiary of Unilever--Hindustan Lever Ltd. (HLL)--was under pressure to grow revenues and profits. HLL had a long and stellar record of... View Details
- March 2004 (Revised November 2012)
- Teaching Note
P&G Japan: The SK-II Globalization Project (TN)
Traces changes in P&G's international strategy and structure, culminating in Organization 2005, a reorganization that places strategic emphasis on product innovation rather than geographic expansion and shifts power from local subsidiary to global business management.... View Details
- December 2003 (Revised April 2004)
- Case
Dragon's Teeth Vineyards
By: Alan D. MacCormack, Marius Leibold, Sven Voelpel and Kerry Herman
Dragon's Teeth Vineyards (DTV) is a South African wine producer that is considering whether to use genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in its wine-making process. GMOs promise to lower the costs of wine production significantly through increased yields and reduced... View Details
- November 2003
- Supplement
P&G Japan: The SK-II Globalization Project
Paolo de Cesare and A.G. Lafley review the strategic and organizational challenges they face in deciding whether to make the prestigious Japanese beauty product, SK-II, a global brand. In a three-part videotaped interview, they discuss the challenges, reveal the... View Details
- March 2003 (Revised March 2004)
- Case
P&G Japan: The SK-II Globalization Project
Traces changes in P&G's international strategy and structure, culminating in Organization 2005, a reorganization that places strategic emphasis on product innovation rather than geographic expansion and shifts power from local subsidiary to global business management.... View Details
- February 2001 (Revised February 2002)
- Case
Estee Lauder and the Market for Prestige Cosmetics
By: Nancy F. Koehn
Opens with a brief history of the U.S. cosmetics market and its rapid development in the 1920s. Also recounts Lauder's initial involvement in the sector, making skin care products and selling them in Manhattan beauty parlors during the Great Depression. Pays particular... View Details
- October 2000 (Revised August 2001)
- Case
Avon Products (B)
By: Lynn S. Paine and Greg Rogers
Presents the results of the decision taken in the (A) case. Describes the subsequent challenges faced by Avon Products in promulgating its globalization worldwide. View Details
- October 1997
- Case
L'Oreal of Paris: Bringing 'Class to Mass' with Plenitude
By: Robert J. Dolan
L'Oreal's strategy is to "trickle down" technology over time from high-end outlets like department stores to mass-markets, such as drugstores. The mass market brand Plenitude has become the market leader in France, but even eight years after introduction in the United... View Details
- November 1994
- Case
Dow Corning and the Breast Implant Controversy (A)
By: Willis M. Emmons III, Monica Brand and Greg Keller
In early 1994, Dow Corning Corp. debates whether to participate in a proposed $4.2 billion product liability settlement. Specifically, the firm must decide whether to contribute $2 billion to end a class action suit filed by women suffering from connective tissue... View Details