Publications

30 Mar 2018
What Do You Think?

What Should Mark Zuckerberg Do?

will be smart to unbundle the services and come out with a pricing table.” As Munyaradzi Mushato put it, “implement an authentic platform strategy where users pay, advertisers pay, and developers pay for the value they get.” Clearly,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Web Services; Information Technology

04 Jun 2001
What Do You Think?

What’s the Future of the Subscription Model?

that the advertising model "went bust," one respondent concludes that the "'free' connotation to the Internet is eroding away slowly." Richard Feder maintains that the subscription model will gain momentum on the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

20 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Getting the Marketing Mix Right

category of products. Take for example the "Got Milk" advertising campaign, which is intended to increase demand for a category of products, milk. In contrast, an advertisement that points out how... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

31 Jan 2007
HBS Case

When Good Teams Go Bad

What could better symbolize high-level business performance than an eight-oared crew team rowing in perfect unison, their boat powered by a selfless collaboration of strength, skill, and shared purpose? It's no wonder that advertisers... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons

March 2017 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Facebook Fake News in the Post-Truth World

By: John R. Wells and Carole A. Winkler

In January 2017, Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, was surrounded by controversy. The election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States in November 2016 had triggered a national storm of protests, and many attributed Trump’s victory to... View Details

February 2018 (Revised October 2020)
Case

The Marriott-Starwood Merger: Navigating Brand Portfolio Strategy and Brand Architecture

By: Jill Avery, Chekitan S. Dev and Laure Mougeot Stroock

In September 2016, Marriott completed its $13.3 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, which added 11 brands to its already robust 19 hotel brand portfolio. Tina Edmundson, Marriott's global brand officer, was charged with making sense of the brand portfolio... View Details

15 Jul 2019
Book

Many Executives Are Afraid of Finance. Here's How They Can Gain Confidence

it’s a forward-looking, subjective, creative exercise that requires a lot of imagination. Think about valuing Facebook today. It requires predicting the future of privacy policies around the world, the actions of Google and Amazon in the View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

06 Dec 2017
What Do You Think?

Is It Time To Break Up Amazon, Apple, Facebook, or Google?

ourselves not only to revenue-producing advertising but also a stream of advertising reminders based on information that follows us for a lifetime. Can you name Google’s closest competitor in search and... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Technology; Web Services

06 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

Technology Re-Emergence: Creating New Value for Old Innovations

cheap quartz watches, SMH and other Swiss watchmakers used the success as an opportunity to reintroduce mechanical watches to the market. This time they were advertised not simply as precision timepieces, but as carefully crafted luxury... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Apparel & Accessories; Technology; Consumer Products

February 2011 (Revised February 2012)
Case

Online Marketing at Big Skinny

By: Benjamin Edelman and Scott Duke Kominers

Describes a wallet maker's application of seven Internet marketing technologies: display ads, algorithmic search, sponsored search, social media, interactive content, online distributors, and A/B testing. Provides concise introductions to the key features of each... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Digital Marketing; Resource Allocation; Marketing Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Internet and the Web; Retail Industry

22 Feb 2021
Book

Reaching Today's Omnichannel Customer Takes a New Sales Strategy

last spring, at the height of pandemic lockdowns. And before the pandemic, social media use had been flat for four years as these advertising channels became more cluttered and distrusted, offering marketers diminishing returns. “Managers... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

26 Sep 2011
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Lady Gaga

develop "Gaga-esque" products for Polaroid, and a spot in MAC Cosmetics' "Viva Glam" advertising campaign. Connecting on Social Media Lady Gaga's success was built on more than just her considerable abilities as a... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Entertainment & Recreation; Music

September 2005 (Revised July 2006)
Case

Kingsford Charcoal

By: Das Narayandas and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Since the 1980s, Kingsford had continued to enjoy steady, moderate growth of 1% to 3% in revenues each year. During most of this time, the charcoal category as a whole grew as well. However, the summer of 2000 represented the first softening in the category in several... View Details

Keywords: Price; Marketing Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Advertising; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; United States

21 Aug 2017
Lessons from the Classroom

Companies Love Big Data But Lack the Strategy To Use It Effectively

brands goes to digital media. What happens when products with sensors generate such volumes of customer experience data that advertising may be a less significant factor?” Jeff Polzer, of the Organizational Behavior faculty, introduced... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

October 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Hulu: An Evil Plot to Destroy the World?

By: Anita Elberse and Sunil Gupta

In July 2009, Jason Kilar, the chief executive officer of Hulu, is debating whether the online video aggregator should move away from a purely advertising-supported model, and whether it should participate in an industry-wide initiative to develop and test... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Business Model; Television Entertainment; Distribution Channels; Service Operations; Internet and the Web; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

March 2020
Case

Thingtesting: Launching a Brand Discovery and Testing Digital Community

By: Ayelet Israeli and Jill Avery

Thingtesting, a brand discovery and testing digital community devoted to uncovering and exploring direct-to-consumer brands, had just received seed funding and was contemplating a second year of growth. The new year brought many challenges, as founder Jenny Gyllander... View Details

November 2017
Teaching Note

Amazon.com, 2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 716-402. On January 28, 2016, Amazon announced record 2015 operating profits of $2.2 billion on $107 billion of sales, and the markets responded with cautious optimism. For years, founder and CEO Jeffrey Bezos had prioritized growth and... View Details

January 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Uncle Nearest: Creating a Legacy

By: Hise Gibson, Archie L. Jones, Nicole Gilmore and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Fawn Weaver, as a Black woman and industry outsider in a capital-intensive, highly regulated, competitive and male-dominated spirits industry, successfully overcame numerous obstacles to launch a premium American whiskey brand, Uncle Nearest in 2017, which became the... View Details