Publications

May 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Teaching Note

Reliance Baking Soda: Optimizing Promotional Spending (Brief Case)

By: John A. Quelch and Heather Beckham

Teaching Note to Briefcase 4128 View Details

Keywords: Quantitative Analysis; Consumer Marketing; Marketing Planning; Product Management; Sales Promotions; Program Budgeting; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Channels; Mathematical Methods; Advertising; Budgets and Budgeting; Product Marketing; Communication Strategy

August 1986 (Revised February 1991)
Supplement

Population Services International: The Social Marketing Project in Bangladesh, Video

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Population Services International, a not-for-profit agency founded to promote family planning information and to market birth control products, had an agreement with the government of Bangladesh to conduct a social marketing program using modern marketing techniques to... View Details

Keywords: Social Marketing; Health; Advertising; Marketing; Nonprofit Organizations; Government and Politics; Agreements and Arrangements; Health Industry; Bangladesh

11 Feb 2008
Research & Ideas

Does Democracy Need a Marketing Manager?

desperate tactics such as negative advertising to tear down their opponents rather than promoting their own virtues. Citizens can be forgiven for being cynical. However, what's needed in politics is not less marketing but better... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

04 Jun 2001
Research & Ideas

RealNetworks, CNET, and Judo Strategy

short time ago is that there is now no room for error. You need real businesses, real revenue, real profits, and real cash flows." Yoffie asked the panelists to consider three questions: Since click-through rates on Internet ads have been almost non-existent, is... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner

04 Apr 2019
Cold Call Podcast

Can Mark Zuckerberg Rebuild Trust in Facebook?

to grow this advertising model in ways that have exceeded anyone's expectation. And just think about it, there are 7.5 billion people on the planet and a third of them [have used]on Facebook? I mean, wow, this is crazy. Kenny: What were... View Details

February 2021
Teaching Plan

Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Amy Klopfenstein

This teaching plan serves as a supplement to the case “Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?” HBS 820-098. The case explores the tension between two different financing and expansion plans for a startup, and explores issues related to business model pivots and industry... View Details

March 2013
Article

For Mobile Devices, Think Apps, Not Ads

By: Sunil Gupta

Many companies envision mobile ads becoming an integral part of their communications strategies. But there's a growing consensus that ads don't work on mobile devices; consumers just don't like them. Instead of creating tiny banner ads, smart marketers will turn to... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Advertising; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Innovation and Invention

25 Jun 2019
Research & Ideas

The Powerful Strategic Tool Companies Should Not Try to Control

products sold and marketed by LEGO. In addition to reducing innovation costs, this often leads to an increase in authentic, word-of-mouth advertising as users promote designs that they created or designs they find attractive within their... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

October 2011 (Revised May 2015)
Case

The American Repertory Theater

By: Rohit Deshpande, Allen S. Grossman and Ryan Johnson

When Diane Paulus, artistic director and CEO of the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) first started in 2008, she attracted media coverage around an aesthetic that aimed to give the audience more ownership over the theater experience, excited theatergoers by... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Arts; Business Model; Leading Change; Media; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Nonprofit Organizations; Competitive Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; North and Central America

November 2001
Case

Korea-Tender

By: Das Narayandas and Kate Attea

Korea-Tender is a closed-bidding auction company trying to break even and must select the best opportunity to increase membership and revenue. It can continue its current model with heavy advertising, try to modify its costs, or develop an additional business model... View Details

Keywords: Auctions; Business Model; Advertising; Business Startups; Problems and Challenges; Marketing Strategy; Revenue; Growth and Development Strategy

November 2017
Teaching Note

Facebook Fake News in the Post-Truth World

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 717-473. 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... View Details

September 2007
Case

Metro International S.A.

By: Tarun Khanna, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Vincent Marie Dessain, Ane Damgaard Jensen and Anders Sjoman

Explores the business model of Metro International, a company publishing 70 editions of its free newspaper in 20 countries. Metro had been a pioneer in the free newspaper market, fighting incumbent publishers distributing traditional paid-for newspapers. Looks at the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Digital Marketing; Advertising; Expansion; Globalized Firms and Management; Journalism and News Industry; Spain

Find at Harvard

14 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 14

effective care teams and good management of local operations (clinical microsystems). Clinicians influence both, and local clinician leaders will have several key tasks. Publisher's link: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1301814 2006 Marketing Science The... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

27 Dec 2010
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty on 2010’s Biggest Business Developments

advertisements to building their own outlets and content. Kraft Foods, for example, is now one of the largest publishers of food-related materials. IBM is launching thought leadership communities. PepsiCo uses social networks to reach... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

August 2004 (Revised July 2006)
Case

PROPECIA TM: Helping Make Hair Loss History

By: Marta Wosinska and Youngme E. Moon

In late 1997, Tom Casola, brand manager for Propecia, debates the best approach to market this breakthrough one-a-day pill for hair loss. This launch would be atypical for a prescription drug because of the key position of the consumer. As a result, the team's... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Communication Strategy; Customers; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product; Performance Effectiveness; Problems and Challenges; Quality; Pharmaceutical Industry

02 Sep 2016
Op-Ed

The Twitter Election

advertisements in battleground or swing states. These ads are designed to raise doubts about and paint a picture of Trump before he has enough money to hit the airwaves in earnest. Complementing this air war is Clinton's well-organized... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch and Thales Teixeira

February 2008
Teaching Note

DermaCare: Zapping Zits Directly (TN)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh

Teaching Note for [808064]. View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Innovation and Invention; Health Care and Treatment; Financing and Loans; Venture Capital; Advertising; Distribution; Health Industry

December 2022 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Daniel Defense: Responding to the Shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

At 11:33am on May 24, 2022, an 18-year-old man from Uvalde, Texas walked into the Robb Elementary School carrying a semi-automatic "AR-15-style” rifle manufactured by Daniel Defense and killed 19 children and two adults. Three days later, Representative Carolyn Maloney... View Details

Keywords: Gun Violence; Gun Policy; Second Amendment; Legal Liability; Government Legislation; Marketing Strategy; Business or Company Management; Product Marketing; Ethics; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Moral Sensibility; Crime and Corruption; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Advertising Industry; Advertising Industry; United States

April 2020
Teaching Note

Tailor Brands: Artificial Intelligence-Driven Branding

By: Jill Avery

Using proprietary artificial intelligence technology, startup Tailor Brands set out to democratize branding by allowing small businesses to create their brand identities by automatically generating logos in just minutes at minimal cost with no branding or design skills... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Advertising Industry; Advertising Industry; United States; North America