Publications

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16 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

What Customers Want from Your Products

get done, and design products and brands that fill that need. In this excerpt, the authors look at designing products that do a job rather than fill a product segment. With few exceptions, every job people need or want to do has a social,... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott Cook & Taddy Hall; Consumer Products

August 2019 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Lemonade: Disrupting Insurance with Instant Everything, Killer Prices, and a Big Heart

By: Elie Ofek and Danielle Golan

Launching its first products in the fall of 2016 in New York, insurtech startup Lemonade was on a mission to disrupt the insurance market by using AI and behavioral economics principles. The company offered renters, homeowners, and condo insurance and mainly targeted... View Details

Keywords: AI; Business Startups; Insurance; Technological Innovation; Business Model; Disruption; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Decision Making; Insurance Industry; Technology Industry

21 Aug 2013
Research & Ideas

What Went Wrong at J.C. Penney?

especially lower- and middle-income families, while the boutiques didn't want their brands diluted by discount pricing. The depths of the recession made this everyday-low-prices strategy difficult to carry out. Customer traffic dropped... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner; Retail

November 1972 (Revised July 2023)
Case

Benihana of Tokyo

By: W. Earl Sasser

Discusses the development of a chain of "theme" restaurants. The student is asked to evaluate the current operating strategy and suggest a long-term expansion strategy. View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Business Strategy; Brands and Branding; Food and Beverage Industry; Service Industry

June 2017 (Revised December 2017)
Case

CJ E&M: KCON Goes Global

By: Elie Ofek and Michael Norris

In January of 2017, CJ Entertainment & Media (E&M) proudly announced that it will be holding its first ever KCON in Mexico City just two months later. CJ Group Chairman Jay Lee and Vice Chairwoman Miky Lee are pleased at the progress that KCON, a Korean-oriented music... View Details

Keywords: Music Entertainment; Cultural Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Food; Music Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

01 Jun 2023
HBS Case

A Nike Executive Hid His Criminal Past to Turn His Life Around. What If He Didn't Have To?

Jordan brand and served as president of the Portland Trail Blazers NBA team? Probably not, says HBS Professor Francesca Gino, who coauthored the case with HBS Senior Lecturer Hise Gibson and HBS Professor Frances X. Frei, as well as... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Apparel & Accessories

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Employment Data Trends

12% 10% 11% Brand Management <1% <1% 2% <1% 1% General Marketing 2% 3% <1% <1% <1% Product Management 9% 7% 10% 8% 8% Sales 1% <1% <1% <1% <1% Other Marketing <1% 0% 0% <1% 1% Strategic Planning 7% 10% 8% 7% 8% Other 4% 4% 4% 3% 5% Human... View Details

18 Jul 2023
News

The First Five Years: Brooke Biederman (MBA 2019)

I’ll think, what commercial IP products could a project generate? It's a hybrid business-creative Mad Libs I love. What was your favorite class at HBS? A three-way tie between Arts & Cultural Entrepreneurship, Brand Strategy, and The... View Details

Keywords: Robert Bochnak

31 Aug 2020
Blog Post

Five Important Steps before Taking the Entrepreneurial Leap

research and development process, manufacturing and clinical research strategy as well as offline retail. Hilary has a finance, consumer products and retail background, notably as brand manager of FIJI Water. Most recently, Hilary led... View Details

Web

Online Business Courses & Certifications | HBS Online

the program’s learnings. 6 months, 5-6 hrs/week Apply by November 3 $6,500 Credential New Personal Branding Professor Jill Avery Develop the tools to define and express your purpose, values, and points of differentiation and make your... View Details

April 2009 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Gucci Group: Freedom within the Framework

By: Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez, Elena Corsi and Vincent Marie Dessain

Gucci Group's CEO had to decide if his decentralized management style was the most effective philosophy in an economic downturn. The sharing of customer information across units and its use in the creative process are key initiatives analyzed in the case. CEO Robert... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Globalized Firms and Management; Knowledge Sharing; Leadership; Management Style; Management Systems; Brands and Branding; Apparel and Accessories Industry

June 2012
Article

The Economic Value of Celebrity Endorsements

By: Anita Elberse and Jeroen Verleun

What is the payoff to enlisting celebrity endorsers? Although effects on stock returns are relatively well documented, little is known about any impact on sales—arguably a metric of more direct importance to advertising practitioners. In this study of athlete... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Value; Advertising; Sales; Brands and Branding; Decisions; Economics; Marketing Strategy; Investment Return

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History of Excellence - Doctoral

Community Do Yoon Kim Strategy Student Research Reputation Burning: Analyzing the Impact of Brand Sponsorship on Social Influencers By: Mengjie Cheng and Shunyuan Zhang 01 JUL 2025 | Management Science Extraverts Reap Greater Social... View Details

20 Nov 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, November 20, 2018

School Case 919-403 Philanthropy and Brand Building: Jeff Vinik and the Tampa Bay Lightning Owner Jeff Vinik and top management of the NHL Tampa Bay Lightning are reviewing their strategy and progress in achieving their goals of... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

17 Feb 2010
First Look

First Look: Feb. 17

critiques of prior work on ads as signals; namely, that ad content is irrelevant, ad exposure is unnecessary, and the choice of ads as signals is inherently arbitrary. The Consumer Psychology of Mail-in Rebates Authors:John T. Gourville and Dilip Soman... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Web

2023 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

Rise of DTC Brands – Implications for Legacy Brands Professor Rajiv Lal This modified case discussion did not require pre-reading. + More Info – Less Info We discuss the forces that have given rise to many... View Details

14 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 14

Review Making Charity Pay By: Norton, Michael I., and Jill Avery Abstract—Companies are increasingly experimenting with the use of philanthropy to enhance consumer loyalty, brand awareness, and sales. But even highly creative approaches... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May–June 2015
Article

Television Advertising and Online Shopping

By: Jura Liaukonyte, Thales Teixeira and Kenneth Wilbur

Media multitasking competes with television advertising for consumers' attention, but it also may facilitate immediate and measurable response to some advertisements. This paper explores whether and how television advertising influences online shopping. We construct a... View Details

Keywords: Content Analysis; Difference-in-differences; Internet; Media Multitasking; Online Purchases; Advertising; Advertising Industry; United States