Publications

September 2017
Case

Tencent

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Tencent had undergone many transformations since it was founded in 1998 as a simple messaging service. In 2017, it was the largest online games provider in China with a wide range of game types, China’s largest social networking service provider with several of the... View Details

Keywords: Tencent; Tencent Holdings; WeChat; Social Networking; Social Networks; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Video Games; Computer Games; Mobile Gaming; Portals; Payments; Mobile Payments; O2O; Online-to-offline; E-commerce; Messaging; Subscription Model; Freemium; Mobile App Industry; Smartphone; PC; Monetization Strategy; Antitrust; Streaming; Cloud Computing; Artificial Intelligence; Big Data; Alibaba; Facebook; JD.com; Tesla; Bundling; Synergies; Digital Strategy; Imitation; Licensing; Agility; Entry Barriers; Online Platforms; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Joint Ventures; Restructuring; Communication; Communication Technology; Blogs; Interactive Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Investment; Investment Portfolio; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business History; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Social Marketing; Network Effects; Emerging Markets; Market Entry and Exit; Digital Platforms; Industry Growth; Monopoly; Media; Distribution Channels; Product Development; Service Delivery; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Business and Government Relations; Groups and Teams; Networks; Opportunities; Social and Collaborative Networks; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Cooperation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Value Creation; Communications Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry; Information Industry; Information Technology Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; Asia; China; Canton (province, China)

17 Mar 2021
Research & Ideas

Beyond Pajamas: Sizing Up the Pandemic Shopper

significantly as more consumers than ever started shopping online. As vaccines fuel hope about life after COVID-19, retailers are trying to learn more about the pandemic shopper. Are they different from the existing online users? Do they... View Details

Keywords: by Ayelet Israeli, Eva Ascarza, and Laura Castrillo; Retail

14 Jul 2003
Research & Ideas

Keeping Your Balance With Customers

accomplished. It is not possible to be all things to all people, so market segmentation is the way to avoid this temptation.—Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton The Customer Management theme is made up of four processes—customer... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton

25 Sep 2000
Research & Ideas

Cyber-Marketing: Scouting the Digital Communications Frontier

Seated before a computer with an Internet link, consumers today can flip through an estimated 800 million Web pages of public information by merely clicking a mouse. Add to this that television, now in 98 percent of American homes, is... View Details

Keywords: by Peter K. Jacobs

March 1999
Case

Eastman Kodak Company

By: Robert J. Dolan

Eastman Kodak has suffered significant declines in film market share at the hands of lower-priced branded producers and private label products. The case presents Kodak's proposal to launch a new economy brand of film to combat these rivals. A rewritten version of an... View Details

Keywords: Segmentation; Product Positioning; Price; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Consumer Products Industry

16 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Peeling Back the Global Brand

moment.) Why detergent? Why Europe? In Europe, consumers in individual countries may cling to a long-standing loyalty to certain beloved products: so-called heritage brands. In Europe, sometimes the same product is offered in different... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

16 Aug 2010
Lessons from the Classroom

HBS Introduces Marketing Analysis Tools for Managers

Lifetime Value Analysis" toolkit complements the "HubSpot: Inbound Marketing and Web 2.0" case, which introduces the concept of calculating the value that a customer segment delivers to the firm. Professors have also used... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

19 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

Finding Success in the Middle of the Market

offers consumers three options—good, better and best—in most high turnover product categories. In addition, Tesco doesn't just sell groceries through one-size-fits-all supermarkets. Recognizing the need to shape as well as respond to an... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Auto; Retail

26 May 2003
Research & Ideas

What Your Competition is Telling You

commercial properties, and planned communities. So as the Rouse shopping center becomes the place of choice for consumers primarily interested in good jewelry or children's clothes, the competing shopping center nearby responds by trying... View Details

Keywords: by David Stauffer

January 2004 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Electronic Arts in Online Gaming

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Justin Wong

Electronic Arts (EA), the world's largest independent video-game publisher, must decide whether to support Microsoft's initiatives in online gaming. Historically, EA has been platform-agnostic, releasing versions of its titles for all major console platforms. However,... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Digital Platforms; Network Effects; Policy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Revenue; Segmentation; Sales; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Electronics Industry

25 Jul 2005
Research & Ideas

An Organization Your Customers Understand

including retail consumers, are treated as constituents in the process and are managed accordingly. Identifying the primary customer is not, of course, the end of the story. Managers must still segment the customer market and decide which... View Details

Keywords: by Robert Simons

05 May 2003
Research & Ideas

How Bank of America Turned Branches into Service-Development Laboratories

Companies often use rigorous R&D processes to guide new product development, but are much less scientific when it comes to creating services. Not Bank of America, which has turned Atlanta-area branches into consumer laboratories.... View Details

Keywords: by Stefan Thomke; Banking; Financial Services

September 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

QuickBase

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Mark Szigety

Describes the challenge that engineers and marketing executives at Intuit Corp. faced when finding markets and applications for their QuickBase product. The breakthrough occurred when they abandoned their conventional modes of market segmentation, and instead strove to... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Engineering; Product Marketing; Segmentation; Jobs and Positions; Consumer Behavior; Information Technology Industry

29 Jun 2015
HBS Case

Consumer-centered Health Care Depends on Accessible Medical Records

2,000 data points on each of its 2.2 million patients, including clinical data, medication use, education, socioeconomic factors, and consumer spending information to segment patients into groups, such as... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Health; Technology

18 Jul 2005
Research & Ideas

Identify Emerging Market Opportunities

to invest in retailing. Product Markets. Developing countries have opened up their markets and grown rapidly during the past decade, but companies still struggle to get reliable information about consumers, especially those with low incomes. Developing a View Details

Keywords: by Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu & Jayant Sinha

November 2008 (Revised November 2008)
Case

Cyworld: Creating and Capturing Value in a Social Network

By: Sunil Gupta and Sangman Han

In May 2008, the new CEO of Cyworld, a social network company in Korea, had to decide how to create and capture value from his rapidly growing user base. Cyworld was founded in 1999, and in 2003 it was acquired by SK Telecom, a leading mobile service provider in Korea.... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Consumer Behavior; Social and Collaborative Networks; Segmentation; Value Creation; South Korea