Publications

June 2011
Background Note

It's a Social World

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Nancy Bartlett

Social media had fashioned the lives of individuals and communities by 2010, providing an opportunity and a challenge for companies of all sizes. This note provides background on various social media (e.g. social networks, forums, games and communication services) and... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Media; Service Operations; Sales; Opportunities; Corporate Strategy; Web

Web

A Marketing Revolution - The Art of American Advertising

Clubs Faculty & Research Business & Environment Business History Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning Entrepreneurship Faculty & Research Global Healthcare HBS Working Knowledge Institute for Strategy & Competitiveness Leadership... View Details

28 Oct 2019
Research & Ideas

Brick-and-Mortar Stores Are Making a Comeback

retail. Q: What’s different about the physical storefront in this renaissance of retail? Jill Avery: There’s a lot of experimentation around what a store is and what it could do. In this new worldview, a store has to create a branded... View Details

Keywords: by Jen McFarland Flint; Retail

Web

Challenges and Opportunities in the Restaurant Industry - Course Catalog

industry to these issues, especially in light of increasing concerns about how to bridge the gap between consumer willingness to pay/perception of value and the hurdles restaurants face in trying to pay living wages. Brand Positioning.... View Details

October 2000 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars

By: John A. Deighton and Stowe Shoemaker

Hilton Hotels regards the frequent guest program as the industry's most important marketing tool, directing marketing efforts at the heavy user. What is Hilton to do then, when a competitor ups the ante? This case illustrates the economics of frequency marketing in... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Brands and Branding; Competitive Strategy; Accommodations Industry

02 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

Why Good Deeds Invite Bad Publicity

really pay off when companies need that goodwill from the public? In a recent working paper, No News Is Good News: CSR Strategy and Newspaper Coverage of Negative Firm Events, Oberholzer-Gee set out to test the insurance hypothesis using... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Energy

29 Jan 2025
Blog Post

Finding professional purpose: Building an impactful career that reflects your values with Lisa Tanzer (MBA 1993)

started my marketing career in Gillette’s brand management training program. I was excited to combine analytical rigor with creative strategy and felt well-prepared for the challenge. The program helped me... View Details

23 Apr 2014
HBS Case

Are Electronic Cigarettes a Public Good or Health Hazard?

technologies, electronic cigarettes were developed by small entrepreneurs with brand names like Logic eCig (founded 2010), Blu (2009), and NJOY (2006). By 2013, according to the case study, the e-cigarette category featured more than 200... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Food & Beverage; Advertising

05 Aug 2002
What Do You Think?

Is Platform Leadership Old Hat or the Wave of the Future?

In one recent case, Procter & Gamble purchased a company producing a low-cost, mass-produced disposable electric rotary toothbrush to be marketed under its famous Crest brand umbrella. As it turns out, its founders developed the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

10 Jan 2020
Blog Post

Know Your Audience - Recruiting HBS Students for Retail

a meaty discussion of what the role would really look like day to day.” Renee also noted that company site visits are a recruiting strategy used more commonly by retailers than other industries. While the student academic schedules limit... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

May 2000
Supplement

Launching the BMW Z3 Roadster

By: Robert J. Dolan and Susan M. Fournier

Contains two BMW Z3 television commercials used at launch, a Jay Leno Tonight Show segment, a Bryant Gumbel Today Show segment, Central Park PR event coverage, and Go: An American Road Story (promotional video from BMW). View Details

Keywords: Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Auto Industry

Consumer brand building - Mission/vision/values development and adherence - Co-founder and early stage team building - DTC marketing - Go-to-market strategies - Hospitality startups - Real estate businesses... View Details

Keywords: Travel, Tourism, & Hospitality;#56;#Personal Health & Wellness;#16;#Consumer Products & Packaged Goods

February 2008 (Revised September 2008)
Case

Indesit Company: Does Global Matter?

By: Joseph L. Bower

In 2007, the leadership of the Indesit Company is focused on long-term corporate strategy. After 3 decades, the company has emerged as the number 2 home appliance producer in Europe. Should they invest further to be number 1, or should they focus on the global market,... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Global Strategy; Growth and Development; Business or Company Management; Brands and Branding; Markets; Problems and Challenges; Corporate Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

Fast Answer

Sustainability in CPG and Retail

style="font-family: "Source Sans Pro", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.238px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252);">(HarvardKey). Chapter from Channel Strategies and Marketing Mix in a Connected World.... View Details

21 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Solving the Marketing Resources Allocation Puzzle

to create a framework to help managers think about their allocation challenges. The result was published in a recent paper, "Allocating Marketing Resources". Brand managers can be confronted with a complex, daunting task, the authors... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

September 1994
Case

BayFunds

By: Alvin J. Silk, Lisa Klein Pearo and Jamie Harper

In June, 1994, the Senior Vice President of BayBank's Investment Management Group is preparing a strategic plan for her organization's line of mutual funds. Sixteen months earlier, BayBank, Massachusetts's leading retail bank, had entered the mutual fund business by... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Investment Funds; Product Marketing; Integration; Financial Services Industry

November 2002 (Revised February 2009)
Teaching Note

Value Retail (TN)

By: Arthur I Segel and Ani M Vartanian

Teaching Note for (9-803-008). View Details

Keywords: Investment; Risk and Uncertainty; Performance Effectiveness; Brands and Branding; Planning; Strategy; Luxury; Milan

05 Dec 2007
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Managing Marketing

can be low growth and declining margins. The key challenge in aligning marketing activities with corporate strategy is to develop a set of metrics to be used by top executives and the board that measure the impact of marketing activities... View Details

August 2011
Supplement

John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, In-Class Comments, 2/11/11

By: David Garvin

In January 2010, John Fahey, president, CEO, and chairman of the board of trustees' executive committee of the Washington, D.C.-based National Geographic Society (NGS), must decide how best to organize the 121-year old mission-driven organization for a world of... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Leadership Style; Business or Company Management; Brands and Branding; Sales; Environmental Sustainability; Business Strategy; Web Sites; Publishing Industry; Washington (state, US)