Publications

24 Oct 2023
HBS Case

From P.T. Barnum to Mary Kay: Lessons From 5 Leaders Who Changed the World

Jackie Robinson. “They wake up every morning and see the glass as half-full not half-empty. People are attracted to optimism and hope in leaders.” Here, Simons discusses five leaders and what made them management legends. Mary Kay Ash: Praise is powerful Growing up in... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

August 1996
Case

ThermoLase

By: William A. Sahlman and Andrew S. Janower

John Hansen, CEO of ThermoLase, must develop a plan of action to exploit the company's new development-stage revolutionary hair removal technology with negligible revenues and a $500 million market capitalization. This nascent public Thermo Electron spin out company... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Business Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Plan; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

06 Apr 2010
First Look

First Look: April 6

cannibalization and endogenous vertical differentiation concerns. We discuss how our study helps improve our understanding of notions of strategy, business model, and tactics in the field of strategy. Context, Agency, and Identity: The Indian Fashion View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

26 Aug 2019
Research & Ideas

Lipstick Tips: How Influencers Are Making Over Beauty Marketing

And, in a video tutorial on YouTube, in which Hughes starts with a scrubbed-clean face (revealing some of the same splotchy spots many of us worry about), she demonstrates how she applies layer after layer of creams and cosmetics to... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Beauty & Cosmetics; Beauty & Cosmetics

25 Jan 2017
HBS Case

How Should Advertisers Respond to Consumer Demand for Whiter Skin?

In India, where many people consider fair skin more desirable than dark, the cosmetics industry has responded by producing a wide range of skin-lightening products—and with great success. But, when these... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Beauty & Cosmetics

2012
Working Paper

Entrepreneurship in the Natural Food and Beauty Categories Before 2000: Global Visions and Local Expressions

By: Geoffrey Jones

This working paper examines the creation of the global natural food and beauty categories before 2000. This is shown to have been a lengthy process of new category creation involving the exercise of entrepreneurial imagination. Pioneering entrepreneurs faced little... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Consumer Goods; Entrepreneurs; Environment; Food; Globalization; Business History; Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Asia; Europe; Latin America; Middle East; North and Central America

Read Now

13 Sep 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Entrepreneurship in the Natural Food and Beauty Categories Before 2000: Global Visions and Local Expressions

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Beauty & Cosmetics; Beauty & Cosmetics

September 2013 (Revised November 2015)
Case

Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company?

By: Willy Shih

Jon Flint came up with the idea of a science-based beauty company while talking with his hairdresser about the problems with typical hair and skin care products. Together with a small team that included Professor Robert Langer of MIT, he committed to assemble a team... View Details

27 Nov 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

Secrets for Creating a Long-Lasting Brand

maker Ferrari opens up about how it has bucked industry trends to achieve a world class brand. How Wayfair Built a Furniture Brand from ScratchWhat was once a collection of 240 home furnishing sites is now a single, successful brand,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

January 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Glossier: Co-Creating a Cult Brand with a Digital Community

By: Jill Avery

Glossier’s proclaimed strategy was “born from content; fueled by community.” The digital-first, direct-to-consumer beauty brand had experienced rapid growth, with sales up 600% in 2017 and a customer portfolio that grew by threefold. But, its founder, Emily Weiss, was... View Details

26 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

How Paid Promos Take the Shine Off YouTube Stars (and Tips for Better Influencer Marketing)

desired outcome.” Deep dive into YouTube The influencer marketing machine is huge and growing. The industry was reportedly valued at $6 billion in 2020 and is projected to climb to $85 billion by 2028, the paper says, citing Globe... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin; Technology; Media & Broadcasting

08 Apr 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

The Life of Luxury and How to Sell It

Helena Rubinstein Used Tall Tales to Turn Cosmetics into a Luxury Brand Using guile, brilliant branding, and more than a few falsehoods, Helena Rubinstein lifted cosmetics from an accessory item for... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Auto; Retail; Fashion

Web

Advisory Board - Entrepreneurship

before it went public. He then led Open Market's expansion into business-to-business applications. In 1999, he founded and ran PurchasingCenter.com, a "My Yahoo" portal for industrial purchasing agents who purchase $2-$10 million of... View Details

November 2019 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Shiseido Acquires Drunk Elephant

By: Jill Avery

On October 7, 2019, the Shiseido Group announced that it would acquire clean skincare brand Drunk Elephant for $845 million, a valuation of 8.5 times sales. Did Shiseido pay too much or too little for this brand asset? How much was the Drunk Elephant brand worth and... View Details

Keywords: Personal Care; Startup; Brand Equity; Brand Valuation; Brand Value; Brand Storytelling; Brand Management; Brands and Branding; Valuation; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States; Japan

April 2020
Teaching Note

Glossier: Co-Creating a Cult Brand with a Digital Community

By: Jill Avery

Teaching Note for HBS No. 519-022. Flush with cash from its Series C fundraise, cult beauty brand Glossier considers its next phase of growth, facing critical decisions on how to allocate its capital to support various marketing communications and distribution... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Crowdsourcing; CRM; Startup; Direct-to-consumer; DTC; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Consumer Behavior; Customer Relationship Management; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Social Media; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States

25 Jun 2007
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Beauty Entrepreneur Madam Walker

all cities for women to shop by themselves, to be out on the streets actively spending money. So this is one important aspect of a sea change," says Koehn. "Madam Walker was part and parcel of that evolution and can't really be separated from it. We shouldn't... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Beauty & Cosmetics

01 Mar 2011
First Look

First Look: March 1

direct-selling cosmetics company involved in emerging markets exhibits significant foreign exchange risk exposure and profitability swings in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Students must review the company's use of derivative... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2014 (Revised March 2017)
Case

Unilever's Lifebuoy in India: Implementing the Sustainability Plan

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Unilever's new Global Brand VP must not only revitalize Lifebuoy soap's sagging market performance, but simultaneously impact the health of one billion people worldwide. The latter challenge comes from Unilever's new CEO who has introduced the Unilever Sustainable... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Management; Corporate Social Responsibility; Strategy Implementation; Marketing Strategy; Mission And Purpose; Change Management; International Business; Global; Fast-moving Consumer Goods; Soap; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Health Care and Treatment; Environmental Sustainability; Global Strategy; Developing Countries and Economies; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Health Industry; India