Publications

July 2005 (Revised July 2006)
Case

Icebreaker: The US Entry Decision

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Dan Heath

Jeremy Moon, CEO of Icebreaker, merino wool, outdoor apparel manufacturer, believed the company could be a big hit in the United States, despite the presence of entrenched rivals. But Icebreaker clearly needed a new distribution approach. One option was to position... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Distribution Channels; Product Launch; Product Development; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; New Zealand; United States

January 1994 (Revised November 1997)
Case

Aberlyn Capital Management: July 1993

By: Josh Lerner and Peter Tufano

Aberlyn Capital Management, a venture leasing firm specializing in providing capital to biotechnology firms, proposes to introduce a new product. Aberlyn will base a lease on an intangible product: the patent of a biotechnology firm. This poses a series of short and... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Valuation; Product Launch; Problems and Challenges; Patents; Financial Instruments; Financial Services Industry; Biotechnology Industry

August 2010 (Revised July 2011)
Supplement

Erik Peterson at Biometra (C)

By: John J. Gabarro, Thomas J. DeLong and Jevan Soo

Describes the outcome of Erik Peterson's meetings over the course of two days with a number of senior executives from the parent company. Students should have read the (A) and (B) cases. The (C) case may be assigned with the (D) case. A redisguised and updated version... View Details

Keywords: Conferences; Leadership; Management; Product Launch; Problems and Challenges

19 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Ground-Floor Opportunities for Retail in India

Rangan brought together veterans of the retail world to share strategies for cashing in on what could be a new wave of organized retail in India. The discussion took place April 4 at the India Business Conference at HBS. Kishore Biyani View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

October 2006 (Revised August 2007)
Case

RKS Guitars

By: Elie Ofek, Thomas J. Steenburgh, Michael I. Norton and Kerry Herman

RKS has designed a revolutionary electric guitar and needs to decide how to best market their innovation. The iconic status of existing electric guitars, and the lack of any recent radical innovations in the category, pose challenges in securing consumer adoption. If... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Consumer Behavior; Product Design; Adoption

September 2004 (Revised February 2010)
Case

The Passion of the Christ (A)

By: John A. Quelch, Anita Elberse and Anna Harrington

Bob Berney, president of Newmarket Films, must decide on a distribution and marketing strategy for Mel Gibson's controversial new movie, The Passion of the Christ. Fueled by Gibson's star power as well as an extensive prescreening campaign among Christian leaders and... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Film Entertainment; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Distribution Channels; Religion; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

01 Jun 2015
News

Case Study: Sneak Peak

to help launch the product once they created a commercially viable recipe. In January 2013, they debuted their chocolate milk shake in the natural grocery channel (including Whole Foods Market and Sprouts... View Details

Keywords: Whole Foods; Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing; Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing; Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing; Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing

February 2025
Case

Abiomed: Clinical Trials and Tribulations

By: Satish Tadikonda, Faith Robertson and William Marks

After receiving 510(k) clearance for the Impella 2.5 device, Abiomed had proceeded to conduct a premarket approval (PMA) process as well to prove clinical superiority, earn greater protection, and extend commercial runway. However, in the middle of the clinical trial... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Testing and Trials; Product Launch; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

June 2010
Teaching Note

Apple Inc. in 2010 (TN)

By: David B. Yoffie

Teaching Note for 710467. View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Business Strategy; Success; Sales; Growth and Development; Competition; Product Launch; Electronics Industry; Computer Industry

December 2007 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Xanadu on Broadway

By: Anita Elberse

Can one of Hollywood's biggest flops magically turn into a Broadway hit? Xanadu, an adaptation of a 1980 Olivia Newton-John roller-disco film described by one critic as "the epic failure to end all epic failures," opened on Broadway in July 2007. Producer Rob Ahrens,... View Details

Keywords: Theater Entertainment; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Demand and Consumers; Risk and Uncertainty; Creativity; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

24 Aug 2021
News

Having a Moment

experienced an immediate change: “I realized it’s not caffeine that gets you focused, you need a calm mind to be able to think clearly—that’s when you can be at your best,” she told Forbes.com. The experience inspired the Pakistani native to View Details

Keywords: mindfulness; entrepreneurship; wellness; food and beverage; meditation; Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing; Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing

November 1993
Supplement

Erik Peterson (C)

By: John J. Gabarro

Describes the outcome of Erik Peterson's one-day meeting with his superior and the events of the subsequent day's meeting with the president and vice president of operations of the parent company. Students should have read the (A) and (B) cases. The (C) case may be... View Details

Keywords: Conferences; Leadership; Management; Product Launch; Operations; Outcome or Result; Problems and Challenges

2015
Working Paper

Mobile Money Services—Design and Development for Financial Inclusion

By: Rajiv Lal and Ishan Sachdev

Mobile money services are being deployed rapidly across emerging markets as a key tool to further the goal of financial inclusion. Financial inclusion, the development of novel methods to enable individuals at the base of the pyramid to access formal financial services... View Details

Keywords: Social Marketing; Poverty; Emerging Markets; Product Launch; Economic Growth; Financial Services Industry

Read Now

October 1990 (Revised April 1991)
Case

RU 486 (A)

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr.

Describes the factors faced by Roussel UCLAF, a French drug company, in deciding whether and how to market a controversial new drug, RU 486, which is often called "the French abortion pill." Roussel's decision involved its relations with the French government, its... View Details

Keywords: Judgments; Ethics; Product Launch; Negotiation; Outcome or Result; Performance; Business and Government Relations; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; France; Germany; United States

November 2004
Case

ClozeX Medical (A): The New Standard of Wound Closure

By: William A. Sahlman and Ryland Matthew Willis

Describes a set of decisions confronting the founder of a company with a revolutionary new wound-closure product. He must decide how to finance and exploit his venture. View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Product Launch; Medical Specialties; Corporate Finance; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

November 2024
Case

Demond Martin and WellWithAll

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

This case study chronicles the transformative entrepreneurial path of Demond Martin, co-founder and CEO of WellWithAll, a health and wellness startup. Motivated by a pivotal life experience and deep concern for racial health inequities, Martin transitions from a... View Details