Brand Strategy - Publications - Faculty & Research

07 Jun 2010
Research & Ideas

Improving Brand Recognition in TV Ads

diminishing audiences. Theories abound as to the most effective strategy for crafting a TV commercial—where and how often to place a brand in the ad frame. Some suggest using small, nonintrusive instances,... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Media & Broadcasting; Entertainment & Recreation

April 2021
Teaching Note

Thingtesting: Launching a Brand Discovery and Testing Digital Community

By: Ayelet Israeli and Jill Avery

Teaching Note for the "Thingtesting: Launching a Brand Discovery and Testing Digital Community" HBS Case No. 520-086. View Details

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09 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Starbucks’ Lessons for Premium Brands

prices. Third, opening new stores and launching a blizzard of new products create only superficial growth. Such strategies take top management's eye off of improving same store sales year-on-year. This is the heavy lifting of retailing,... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Retail

27 Nov 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

Secrets for Creating a Long-Lasting Brand

A well articulated and adored brand is more valuable to a business than any single product. But they are also vulnerable—a crippled brand, like a a piece of fine crystal with an alarming crack, is one jostle away from breaking apart.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

01 Sep 2003
News

The Levitt Brand

A consultant and professor with a Ph.D. in economics from Ohio State University, Ted Levitt had already published two articles in the Harvard Business Review when he joined the HBS faculty in 1959. One year later, observed HBS marketing professor emeritus Stephen A.... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

September 2008 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Hearts On Fire - Brand Development Manager

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Benson P. Shapiro

Hearts On Fire, a successful branded diamond producer, established the position of Brand Development Manager (BDM) to build the company's presence, sales, and relationships with its retail customers. After one year, the CEO, CFO and President must evaluate the impact... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Investment Return; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Business Processes; Salesforce Management; Business Strategy

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June 1985
Case

Henkel Group: Umbrella Branding and Globalization Decisions

By: Robert J. Dolan

Henkel's adhesive group is considering a major change in the international selling of its two major adhesives products for households. The proposed strategy is based on two concepts: umbrella branding and global standardization. View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Globalization; Expansion; Consumer Products Industry

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November 2008 (Revised August 2011)
Case

UnME Jeans: Branding in Web 2.0

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Jill Avery

This case introduces emerging Web 2.0 social media in virtual worlds, social networking sites, and video-sharing sites and encourages students to explore the opportunities and risks they present for brands. The case allows students to grapple with the strategic and... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Risk and Uncertainty; Social and Collaborative Networks; Internet and the Web; Apparel and Accessories Industry

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23 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

How to Brand a Next-Generation Product

When Apple launched its latest iPad, experts and nonexperts alike expected it to be dubbed "iPad 3," a natural follow-on to the second-generation iPad 2. Instead, the company called the new iPad just that: "the new iPad." Observers debated whether... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

13 Sep 2010
Research & Ideas

The Consumer Appeal of Underdog Branding

attractive. Why? The reason might be an increasing willingness on the part of consumers to identify with the underdog. In today's economically difficult times, it appears, underdog brands are gaining psychological, and real, power in the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

07 Jun 2016
Op-Ed

Can Brand Trump Win a Presidency?

In the marketplace, Brand Trump is authentic. It stands for aspiration and success, but more the ostentatious and flashy success that appeals to the newly wealthy, the entrepreneur, the outsider. For these consumers, View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch; Advertising; Media & Broadcasting

August 2013 (Revised July 2014)
Case

Coffee Wars in India: Café Coffee Day Takes On the Global Brands

By: David B. Yoffie and Tanya Bijlani

Café Coffee Day (CCD) is contemplating how to respond to the entry of Starbucks into the Indian coffee chain market. The case study describes the emergence of CCD as the leading coffee chain in India, with over 1,400 cafes in India. In early 2013, Starbucks, the... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Competitors; Competition; Market Entry and Exit; Retail Industry; India

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June 2016 (Revised November 2021)
Case

Longchamp

By: Jill Avery, Tonia Junker and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Longchamp’s Le Pliage is one of the fashion world’s most successful products, a cultural icon across the globe. But managing the low priced, nylon handbag is challenging as Longchamp tries to move its brand upmarket into higher priced, luxury leather goods. How much... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Luxury Brand; Brand Positioning; Product Strategy; Retailing; Pricing Strategy; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Luxury; Family Business; Price; Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Fashion Industry; France; Europe

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April 2022 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Restaurant Brands International: Version 2.0

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

In 2010, 3G Capital acquired Burger King, the second largest burger chain globally. 3G expanded Burger King’s operations via acquisitions into a multi-brand business, renamed Restaurant Brands International. The acquisition had been a financial success story for 3G.... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Growth and Development; Performance Evaluation; Private Equity; Franchise Ownership; Culture; Change Management; Strategy; Human Resources; Information Technology; Competition; Retail Industry; United States

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19 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

A Brand Manager’s Guide to Losing Control

strategies that brand managers have used in order to cope with it. Avery recently sat down with HBS Working Knowledge to discuss their findings. According to the paper, consumers are operating in four... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising

May 2020 (Revised July 2020)
Teaching Note

Brand Activism: Nike and Colin Kaepernick

By: Jill Avery and Koen Pauwels

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 519-046. Nike’s selection of politically polarizing Colin Kaepernick as the spokesperson for the thirtieth anniversary of its iconic “Just Do It” campaign catapulted the brand into the media spotlight and made it a political flashpoint... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Brands and Branding; Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Communications; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Consumer Products Industry; Sports Industry; United States; North America

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May 2020
Teaching Note

Kraft Heinz: The $8 Billion Brand Write-Down

By: Jill Avery

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 519-076. On Friday, February 22, 2019, following an unexpected and disappointing earnings report, The Kraft Heinz Company’s stock price fell 27%, wiping out $16 billion in market value. CEO Bernardo Hees had announced that the company had... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

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01 Mar 2021
Blog Post

Building Sustainable Brands

I manage the strategy and P&L for 5 of our Yoplait brands, as well as a cross functional team of over 30 people! My first launch entered stores in late December - so keep an eye out for something new from Yoplait! What are you looking... View Details

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

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January 2008
Case

Lenovo: Building A Global Brand (Multimedia case)

By: John A. Quelch and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Announced in December 2004, the $1.75 billion acquisition of IBM's PC division by Lenovo, China's largest PC maker, made headlines around the world. A relative upstart in the business, Lenovo acquired the division of IBM that invented the PC in 1981. While Lenovo was... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Information Infrastructure; Global Strategy; Acquisition; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Computer Industry; China

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