Publications

06 Sep 2005
Research & Ideas

When Product Variety Backfires

Traditional wisdom teaches that brands win market share by offering a wide variety of products, increasing the chance of appealing to a wider variety of customers. But how happy are you when trying to find a head cold remedy at the... View Details

Keywords: by Poping Lin; Consumer Products

05 Dec 2007
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Managing Marketing

store; simultaneously, new customers are attracted to the direct channels, perhaps due to a branding effect stemming from the publicity surrounding the new store, which makes customers more aware of and more comfortable with the firm's... View Details

13 Feb 2017
Research & Ideas

Paid Search Ads Pay Off for Lesser-Known Restaurants

spending in the United States in 2015, up from $26 billion in 2010. Advertisers are steering the biggest share of their digital ad dollars—about half of all online ad expenditures—toward paid search. "Smaller businesses have less of an established View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage

April 2010
Teaching Note

Swire Beverages: Implementing CSR in China

By: Christopher Marquis, Alison Comings and Bobbi Thomason

Teaching Note for [410021]. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Community Relations; Health; Organizational Design; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Business Strategy; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Safety; Natural Environment; Brands and Branding; Interests; Partners and Partnerships; Food and Beverage Industry; China

31 Jan 2005
Research & Ideas

Rethinking Marketing’s Conventional Wisdom

Take another piece of conventional wisdom: Brands need to have a consistent brand message. In the United States, BMW is a relatively new brand, some thirty or forty years old in terms of its American... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons; Service

10 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Privatization and the New European Economy

International Senior Management Program) has been in the thick of Europe's airline industry for decades. With more than thirty years' experience at Swissair, he has served as president and CEO of Sabena since 1996. Christoph Brand (HBS... View Details

Keywords: by James E. Aisner; Air Transportation; Transportation

July 2004 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Sony EyeToy

By: Anita Elberse and Youngme E. Moon

In early 2004, less than a year after its launch, Sony's EyeToy, a unique video gaming concept, had become a tremendous success across Europe. Developed for use with Sony's PlayStation 2 console, the revolutionary technology allowed users standing in front of a small... View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Development; Performance Improvement; Software; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Europe

June 2010
Teaching Note

Radiant Cosmetics: What's in a Pout? (TN)

By: Robert C. Pozen and Mary Ellen Webster Hammond

Teaching Note for 310003. View Details

Keywords: Product Launch; Decisions; Brands and Branding; Distribution; Globalized Markets and Industries; Intellectual Property; Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Fashion Industry; France

May 2010
Teaching Note

Re-THINK-ing THINK: The Electric Car Company (TN)

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III

Teaching Note for [810105]. View Details

Keywords: Production; Product Launch; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Environmental Sustainability; Brands and Branding; Distribution; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Auto Industry; Indiana; Norway

March 2008 (Revised June 2008)
Case

Sirtris Pharmaceuticals: Living Healthier, Longer

Describes a set of key strategic decisions facing the scientific founder and CEO of a promising, early stage bio-pharmaceuticals company. Should the company establish a proposed alliance with a pharmaceutical firm? Should it create a nutraceuticals business in parallel... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk Management; Brands and Branding; Pharmaceutical Industry

November 1994 (Revised February 1997)
Case

Levi Strauss & Co.: Global Sourcing (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Jane Palley Katz

In 1993, senior managers at Levi Strauss & Co., the world's largest brand-name apparel manufacturer, were deciding whether the company should have a business presence in China, given the human rights and other problems there. The China Policy Group has been asked to... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Decisions; Management Skills; Trade; Brands and Branding; Rights; Ethics; Foreign Direct Investment; Apparel and Accessories Industry; China

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

Article

When the Name Is the Game

By: Marco Bertini, John Gourville and Elie Ofek

In Romeo and Juliet, the fair maiden asks, "What's in a name?" When it comes to marketing next-generation products for the global marketplace, we have done extensive research and found that names can play an enormous role in a product's success. View Details

Keywords: Next-generation Products; Product Development; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Global Range

Find at Harvard

June 2022
Case

Worten Portugal: Becoming a Digital Marketplace

By: Antonio Moreno, Pedro Amorim and Tonia Labruyere

With Amazon's entry into Portugal, Miguel Mota Freitas, CEO of Portuguese electronics chain Worten, is reflecting on their strategy of building a competitive marketplace. View Details

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Digital Strategy; Digital Platforms; Brands and Branding; E-commerce; Logistics; Service Delivery; Supply Chain; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry; Retail Industry; Portugal; Spain

June 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Blue Man Group: Creativity, Life and Surviving an Economic Meltdown

In 2008, Blue Man Group's three co-founders are facing the prospect of losing not just a business but a way of life they have built together. The case follows the story of Chris Wink, Matt Goldman, and Phil Stanton as they pursue their creative passion and build the... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Financial Crisis; Entrepreneurship; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Personal Development and Career; Creativity; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

April 2005 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Change at Whirlpool Corporation (A)

By: Jan W. Rivkin, Dorothy A. Leonard and Gary Hamel

In 1998, the CEO of Whirlpool Corp. decides to change the company's strategy significantly to escape an increasingly unattractive "stalemate" in the appliance industry. The change he proposes involves a fundamental shift in the company's focus--from manufacturing to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Competitive Advantage; Strategic Planning; Production; Brands and Branding; Management Teams; Consumer Products Industry; United States

December 1997 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Hewlett Packard: Creating, Running, and Growing an Enduring Company

By: H. Kent Bowen and Courtney Purrington

Traces the development of Hewlett-Packard Co. from a small start-up company in 1938 to a world-class manufacturer of electronic instruments and computer products. Examines the challenges of starting and running a small company, including financing, human resources... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Product Positioning; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Brands and Branding; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry