Publications

07 Jun 2010
Research & Ideas

Improving Brand Recognition in TV Ads

through what the commercial is selling, only revealing the answer at the end. But if a viewer watches the ad for 15 seconds before zapping it, the ad (and the sometimes millions of dollars spent to produce and View Details

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

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

23 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

How to Brand a Next-Generation Product

notice a new name.” Like Apple, most consumer-centric companies deal with the dilemma of how to brand the next- generation of an existing product. Product upgrades make up the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

Article

The Corporate Brand Identity and Reputation Matrix—The Case of the Nobel Prize

By: Mats Urde and Stephen A. Greyser

The purpose of this article is to explore corporate brand identity and reputation, with the aim of integrating them into a single managerial framework. The Nobel Prize serves as an in-depth field-based case study and is analysed using the Corporate Brand Identity and... View Details

Find at Harvard

04 Feb 2002
Research & Ideas

How a Juicy Brand Came Back to Life

by asserting that a brand might fit better in one company's portfolio than in another's. But a marketing professional would probably explain the improved fit in terms of distribution economies or... View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton; Food & Beverage

November 2019 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Shiseido Acquires Drunk Elephant

By: Jill Avery

On October 7, 2019, the Shiseido Group announced that it would acquire clean skincare brand Drunk Elephant for $845 million, a valuation of 8.5 times sales. Did Shiseido pay too much or too little for this brand asset? How much was the Drunk Elephant brand worth and... View Details

Keywords: Personal Care; Startup; Brand Equity; Brand Valuation; Brand Value; Brand Storytelling; Brand Management; Brands and Branding; Valuation; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Japan

03 Jul 2024
Podcast

Adaptable and inclusive: Kraft Heinz’s brand of workforce

Melissa Werneck, EVP and global chief people officer for the multinational food and beverage firm, on reskilling for web marketing and personalization, AI, hybrid work, and collaboration across time zones and cultures. Also, why diversity is good business for consumer... View Details

24 Sep 2018
News

Why Bad “Plot Twists” Ruin Brand Stories

01 Sep 2013
News

Case Study: A Place at the Table

by Carmen Nobel Taking Care of Business: Marlene Krauss, Mary Falvey, Annon Adams, and Vicki Keller, circa 1967. Photo courtesy of Baker Library historical collections, HBS In 1962, the Harvard Business... View Details

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

August 2000 (Revised November 2000)
Case

Building Brand Community on the Harley-Davidson Posse Ride

The second Harley-Davidson Posse Ride, a grueling 2,300 mile, 10-day trek from South Padre Island, Tex., to the Canadian Border is billed "for serious riders only." Harley Owner's Group (H.O.G.) Director Mike Keefe must decide whether this rolling rally deserves a... View Details

Keywords: Relationships; Customer Focus and Relationships; Brands and Branding; Motorcycle Industry; United States

November 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Starbucks: Reaffirming Commitment to the Third Place Ideal

By: Francesca Gino, Katherine B. Coffman and Jeff Huizinga

On April 12, 2018, two African American entrepreneurs had scheduled a business meeting at a Starbucks in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. They sat without ordering, waiting for a local businessman to show up for the meeting. The store manager called 911... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Values and Beliefs; Prejudice and Bias; Crisis Management; Employees; Training

06 Sep 2005
Research & Ideas

The Best Place for Retirement Funds

choice of non-pension assets or capital structure. In the late 1990s, as the focus of tax-deferred investing drifted away from defined benefit plans and toward individually View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

10 Sep 2012
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Branding Yoga

Owner/President Management Program, with plenty of lessons about branding and competitive strategy. Two Paths In Branding Yoga, cowritten with... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Entertainment & Recreation

19 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

A Brand Manager’s Guide to Losing Control

Thanks (or no thanks) to social media, brand managers have lost the power to control the perception of their products through carefully orchestrated advertising campaigns.... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising

03 Nov 2014
Research & Ideas

Brand Lessons From the Nobel Prize

It draws from previous work by Urde (an associate professor at the Lund University School of Economics and Management in Lund, Sweden), John Balmer (a marketing professor at Brunel University in London) and... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

December 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand within Unilever

By: James E. Austin and James Quinn

In the months after Ben & Jerry's was acquired by Unilever, Ben & Jerry's head social mission faces challenges and opportunities unique in the company's history, including: how to manage employee morale; whether to include synthetic ingredients to meet consumer... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Problems and Challenges; Mergers and Acquisitions; Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Management Teams; Governing and Advisory Boards; Value Creation; Corporate Governance; Employee Relationship Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Retail Industry; United States

01 Mar 2021
Blog Post

Building Sustainable Brands

Prior to attending HBS, Liz Thomas worked at Colgate-Palmolive, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, and Crossmark with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. Since graduating from... View Details

November 2000
Case

Building Brand Community on the Harley-Davidson Posse Ride (Multimedia Case)

Concerns the second Harley-Davidson Posse Ride, a grueling 2,300 mile, 10-day trek from South Padre Island, TX to the Canadian border that is billed "for serious riders only." Harley Owner's Group (H.O.G.) Director Mike Keefe must decide whether this rolling rally... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Brands and Branding; Motorcycle Industry