Publications

June 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Case

Membership Rewards® from American Express

By: Shelle Santana, Frances X. Frei and Lauren G. Pickle

Credit and charge card issuer American Express (Amex) had developed a strong reputation among consumers due in part to its Membership Rewards (MR) loyalty program, first established in 1991. Through MR, all Amex cardholders could accumulate and redeem “points” based on... View Details

Keywords: Financial Services; Customer Loyalty; Credit Cards; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Brands and Branding; Customer Value and Value Chain; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; North America; United States

04 Apr 2011
HBS Case

Reinventing the National Geographic Society

recalls the remark about magazine piles. "That has come back to haunt us," Fahey says. "People today don't want clutter." It turns out that many things that made National Geographic one of the world's top brands during... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Publishing

26 Sep 2011
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Lady Gaga

secret that Lady Gaga's star has continued to shine and thrive. A follow-up case, Lady Gaga (B), focuses on the release strategy for her latest album, Born This Way, and the brand partnerships that were born in the wake of her... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Entertainment & Recreation; Music

27 Jun 2019
Blog Post

My Week at Harvard Business School's Summer Venture in Management Program (SVMP)

encouraged to listen intensely to my peers and also to add value with my responses. This way the analyses progressed intelligently and critically which kept me engaged and inspired to think through different perspectives. We covered a variety of cases in marketing for... View Details

17 Dec 2020
News

Making Club History in Japan; Startup Accelerator Case Goes Virtual in Atlanta

networking, efforts to support innovation in Japanese business as well as community service and charitable works. “HBS has a great brand and reputation in Japan, and I hope we can make a difference with our initiatives around DEI,” says... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

10 Jan 2023
Op-Ed

Time to Move On? Career Advice for Entrepreneurs Preparing for the Next Stage

it’s like to lead a larger team at scale. Or perhaps you were great at building a social media campaign, but want to learn more about the broader elements of marketing and brand functions. What do you wish to leave behind? Consider... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

23 Sep 2022
Research & Ideas

8 Strategies to Sustain Business Innovation

caution that it’s a mistake to dwell on the familiar for too long, because the real audience is looking for “what is new, fresh, and unique.” 7. Focus on the job to be done One of the most challenging tensions is between product and purpose in sustaining a unique View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

Web

Systems Integration - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

some degree of autonomy yet gain the power of affiliation with a major high volume provider bringing expertise and brand recognition. The key in this type of affiliation is outcome measurement across the system as the ultimate measure of... View Details

09 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Industry Self-Regulation: What’s Working (and What’s Not)?

Q: Do firms compete on their programs? A: Except for niche firms, few companies brag about the conditions under which their products are made. Interestingly, many of the brands that were once targets of activists are now leaders in this... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

November 2022 (Revised February 2024)
Case

The Globalization of Manchester City Football Group

By: Maria P. Roche, Tiona Zuzul, Exequiel Hernandez and Amy Klopfenstein

This case describes the efforts of City Football Group (CFG) to purchase Esporte Clube Bahia (Bahia), a Brazilian professional soccer club. CFG’s strategy was to acquire under-performing clubs worldwide, invest money in high-profile players, and improve the teams’... View Details

January 2025 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Duolingo: On a 'Streak'

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Nicole Tempest Keller and Nicole Luo

In December 2024, Severin Hacker, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Duolingo, reflected on the remarkable evolution of the language-learning app he helped launch in 2011. As the #1 most downloaded education app in the world, Duolingo had over 100 million... View Details

Keywords: Learning; AI and Machine Learning; Growth and Development Strategy; Motivation and Incentives; Diversification; Business Model; Market Entry and Exit; Technology Industry; Education Industry; United States