Publications

Research Summary

Energy, IT, real estate, and sustainability

By: Rebecca M. Henderson

Professor Henderson’s current research focuses on the energy, information technology, and real estate sectors and the challenges firms encounter as they attempt to act in more sustainable ways. This work is an outgrowth of her decade-long examination of the... View Details

05 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Raise Their Prices: Because They Can

says. Rising prices don’t stop consumers To test consumers’ willingness to keep buying higher-priced everyday goods, the researchers examined Kilts Nielsen scanner and consumer panel data for about 14.4 million retail products in 133... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

20 Aug 2014
Research & Ideas

Why the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is a Social Media Blockbuster

early Facebook fad, planking is the act of lying face-down in an incongruous place. It is the epitome of digital narcissism and any hint of motive other than "look at me" just clouds the picture. By contrast, the ALS ice bucket... View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton

January 2011 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Rebranding Gallagher

By: Rohit Deshpande and Keith Chi-ho Wong

Steve Tucker, the Deputy CEO of Gallagher Group Limited (GGL), the world's largest electric fence company, was about to present a new branding strategy to the company's senior managers and Bill Gallagher, Jr., CEO. After spending more than 18 months with brand... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Distribution; Industrial Products Industry

28 Nov 2005
Research & Ideas

Unilever: Transformation and Tradition

South Africa and spread worldwide, how Lipton tea became the world's biggest tea brand, the origins of the sensual Magnum ice cream, and how Pond's Cream became a Unilever brand. The story behind the View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products

November 2018 (Revised January 2022)
Case

JUUL and the Vaping Revolution

By: Michael W. Toffel, John Masko and Sarah Mehta

In late 2019, San Francisco-based electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) maker JUUL Labs (pronounced “jewel”) faced intense pressure. Sales of JUUL products exceeded $1 billion in 2018, dominating the e-cigarette category. While JUUL Labs’ stated goal was to help current... View Details

Omnichannel environments where customers shop online and offline at the same retailer are ubiquitous, and are deployed by online-first and traditional retailers alike. We focus on the relatively understudied domain of online-first retailers and the engagement of... View Details

2013
Chapter

The Global and the Local in the Beauty Industry: A Historical Perspective

By: G. Jones

This chapter explores the impact of the global beauty industry on beauty ideals. It shows that as the industry internationalized from the late nineteenth century, there was a homogenization of beauty ideals and practices around the world. Western and white beauty... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Globalization; History; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Asia; Europe; Latin America; Middle East; North and Central America; South America

November 1983 (Revised May 1990)
Case

Procter & Gamble Co. (B)

By: John A. Quelch

The brand assistant on H-80, a new light duty liquid detergent, has to develop a year-one national promotion plan for the new product. Illustrates one of the important tasks of a Procter & Gamble brand assistant and provides substantial information on different types... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Product Launch; Product Marketing; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; United States

February 1998 (Revised December 2000)
Case

Nantucket Nectars

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, William A. Sahlman and Jon Biotti

The founders of Nantucket Nectars are trying to decide whether to sell their company. The case describes how the founders started the company and grew the Nantucket Nectars brand name. View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Entrepreneurship; Brands and Branding; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

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

May 2017
Article

When Discounts Raise Costs: The Effect of Copay Coupons on Generic Utilization

By: Leemore S. Dafny, Christopher Ody and Matt Schmitt

Branded pharmaceutical manufacturers frequently offer “copay coupons” that insulate consumers from cost sharing, thereby undermining insurers’ ability to influence drug utilization. We study the impact of copay coupons on branded drugs first facing generic entry... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Insurance Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

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Article

Offline Showrooms in Omni-channel Retail: Demand and Operational Benefits

By: David R. Bell, Santiago Gallino and Antonio Moreno

Omnichannel environments where customers shop online and offline at the same retailer are ubiquitous and are deployed by online-first and traditional retailers alike. We focus on the relatively understudied domain of online-first retailers and the engagement of a key... View Details

Keywords: Experience Attributes; Marketing–operations Interface; Omnichannel Retailing; Quasi-experimental Methods; Retail Operations; Showrooms; Marketing Channels; Demand and Consumers; Performance Efficiency; Retail Industry

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July 2022
Case

boAt Lifestyle

By: Rajiv Lal and Kairavi Dey

boAt began as a lifestyle brand in the consumer electronics category in 2016 with the aim of bringing affordable, durable, and fashionable audio products and accessories to millennials and Gen-Z customers in India. Born in 2016 with Amazon India as its only sales... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Brands and Branding; Initial Public Offering; Digital Marketing; Product Development; Product Marketing; Business or Company Management; Electronics Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Web Services Industry; Asia; India

June 2007 (Revised January 2008)
Case

The Vanguard Group, Inc. in 2006 and Target Retirement Funds

By: Luis M. Viceira

The Vanguard Group is one of the largest asset managers in the U.S., with over $1 trillion in assets, ninety percent of which are mutual fund assets, and more than 12,000 employees at year-end 2006. Vanguard has built a strong reputation as the manager of reference for... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Investment Funds; Personal Finance; Brands and Branding; Retirement; Trust; Financial Services Industry; United States

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

04 Sep 2019
News

Clicks and Mortar

has to create a branded experience that goes beyond the purely transactional—one that aims to build a relationship with the customer and communicate the brand in an... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Retail Trade

August 2004
Supplement

CARE Commercials

By: John A. Quelch

Six television commercials illustrate CARE's current mission and branding strategy. Supplements the case. View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Brands and Branding

2012
Article

Wider dem sauren Mund. Beiersdorfs U.S.-Geschaeft mit der Zahnpastamarke Pebeco

By: G. Jones and Christina Lubinski

This article examines the growth and ultimate demise of the toothpaste brand Pebeco, which was created by the German personal care company Beiersdorf in 1903. The brand was an enormous international success, becoming for a time the largest toothpaste brand in the... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Market Entry and Exit; Problems and Challenges; Marketing Strategy; Markets; Change; Customers; Social Psychology; Science; Brands and Branding; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Germany