Customer Segmentation - Publications - Faculty & Research

09 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

Six Keys to Building New Markets by Unleashing Disruptive Innovation

refinements or radical breakthroughs, improve the performance of established products and services along the dimensions that mainstream customers in major markets historically have valued. Examples: a microprocessor that enables personal... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor & Scott D. Anthony

October 2022
Case

Ethena: A Go-to-Market Dilemma

By: Rembrand Koning and Stacy Straaberg

In November 2021, Roxanne Petraeus and Anne Solmssen, founders of Brooklyn-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup Ethena, were looking to expand their compliance training business. The founders hired Arnie Gullov-Singh, an outside revenue consultant, to advise on... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Judgments; Growth and Development Strategy; Business or Company Management; Business Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Technology Industry; United States; New York (state, US)

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23 Oct 2000
Research & Ideas

The Strategy-Focused Organization

weather that depressed sales of natural gas and home heating oil. As you know, this is also the first quarter we are operating with the Balanced Scorecard, so I can see performance across a broader set of indicators. Market shares in our key View Details

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

16 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Strategy and the Internet

best practice, its rivals tend to copy it quickly. Best practice competition eventually leads to competitive convergence, with many companies doing the same things in the same ways. Customers end up making decisions based on price,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter

30 May 2018
Research & Ideas

Should Retailers Match Their Own Prices Online and in Stores?

brick-and-mortars, including Best Buy, Target, Staples, and Sears, will gladly match their online prices in-store if a customer asks for them. However, others, like Home Depot, Bloomingdale’s, and Macy’s, are usually quite firm about... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail

16 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restaurant Revolution: How the Industry Is Fighting to Stay Alive

[div class=infogram-embed data-id=_/57Y0v9Xi9HTtAOb900lW][/div] Various segments of restaurants experienced the crisis differently. Those previously adept at drive-through and takeout service weathered the storm well while others, reliant... View Details

Keywords: by Michael S. Kaufman, Lena G. Goldberg, and Jill Avery; Food & Beverage

09 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

It’s Time to Reset Decision-Making in Your Organization

price decreases segmented by customer and channel. Another hallmark of stressful situations is that they can lead to paralysis and inaction, what Nathan Furr calls “unproductive uncertainty.” He recommends... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott

24 Apr 2023
HBS Case

What Does It Take to Build as Much Buzz as Booze? Inside the Epic Challenge of Cannabis-Infused Drinks

use bespoke strategies to navigate the splintered regulations. Are there ripe customer segments waiting to be tapped? Cann has prioritized larger marketing campaigns with the goal of raising overall... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage

07 May 2020
Research & Ideas

The One Good Thing Caused by COVID-19: Innovation

accommodating an appropriate level of economic activity. Businesses have historically overcome this type of challenge through the introduction of risk-mitigating technologies, which in this pandemic include technologies, business practices, and strategies that improve... View Details

Keywords: by Hong Luo and Alberto Galasso

August 2006 (Revised February 2009)
Case

Tanishq: Positioning to Capture the Indian Woman's Heart

By: Das Narayandas and Kerry Herman

The firm has to choose between an established brand, Tanishq, and a new skunkworks brand, GoldPlus, to go after the Indian plain gold jewelry market: Tanishq, initially targeted at a western customer, has undergone strategic retooling and has currently been... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Segmentation; Apparel and Accessories Industry; India

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06 Oct 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

18 Tips Managers Can Use to Lead Through COVID's Rising Waters

or, in other words, to exploit and explore. To achieve your goals, consider leveraging cross-functional teams, employing creative exercises, adjusting expectations and deliverables, supporting an agile enterprise and generating customer... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

October 2016
Case

The Quiet Ascension of LA Fitness

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2016, LA Fitness was the largest chain of non-franchised fitness clubs in North America, operating 676 clubs, serving 4.9 million members, and generating revenues of over $1.9 billion. Founded by Chinyol Yi, Louis Welch, and Paul Norris in 1984, the privately held... View Details

Keywords: LA Fitness; Health Clubs; Fitness; Gyms; Chain; Exercise; Personal Training; Retention; Bally Total Fitness; 24 Hour Fitness; Planet Fitness; Buildings and Facilities; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Demographics; Age; Gender; Income; Residency; Borrowing and Debt; Capital; Capital Structure; Cash; Cash Flow; Cost; Private Equity; Financial Condition; Financial Liquidity; Financing and Loans; Investment Return; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Employees; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Human Capital; Contracts; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Service Operations; Leasing; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Salesforce Management; Situation or Environment; Opportunities; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Mobile Technology; Technology Platform; Health Industry; United States; California; Los Angeles

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05 Apr 2011
First Look

First Look: April 5

China's skin care market. A Chinese domestic brand, after some success in partnership with Sephora in Europe, aspires to challenge the French and U.S. brands' hold on the China market. It must decide how to segment the market, how to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2016
Supplement

24 Hour Fitness (B): Ownership Changes, 2005–2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2016, 24 Hour Fitness was the number-two fitness chain in the United States, generating revenues of $1.4 billion from 441 clubs serving 3.8 million members. Based in San Ramon, California, 24 Hour Fitness operated clubs in 13 states. Having grown rapidly to become... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Buildings and Facilities; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Age; Training; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Health; Nutrition; Business History; Human Resources; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Journals and Magazines; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Demand and Consumers; Market Entry and Exit; Media; Organizational Design; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Groups and Teams; Sales; Salesforce Management; Situation or Environment; Welfare or Wellbeing; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Software; Web Sites; Value; Valuation; Health Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States; California; San Francisco

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19 Apr 2010
Research & Ideas

The History of Beauty

strove to create a brand that symbolized style and elegance, he got his first order by smashing a bottle of his perfume on the floor of a prominent Parisian department store, in a successful gambit to get customers to smell it. He created... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Beauty & Cosmetics

30 Sep 2014
First Look

First Look: September 30

negatively affected compared to external-finance-dependent firms, and capital controls on equity have a more negative announcement effect than those on debt. Real investment falls following the controls. Overall, the results suggest that capital controls View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Dec 2016
First Look

December 6, 2016

rationalize these findings in a stylized model with segmented investor clienteles and habit formation. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51958 Harvard Business School Case 716-062 Naranya: Created in... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

29 Jan 2021
Op-Ed

How Influencers, Celebrities, and FOMO Can Win Over Vaccine Skeptics

central premise of the diffusion of innovations framework is that customer or patient segments that adopt early will influence later adopters. Innovators will influence early adopters, who then influence the... View Details

Keywords: by Rohit Deshpandé, Ofer Mintz, and Imran S. Currim

26 Jun 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, June 26, 2018

measures of constraints. These findings imply a high degree of market segmentation and suggest that frictions within specialized financial institutions prevent capital from flowing into the market at shorter horizons. Publisher's link:... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

January 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

CrossBoundary Energy

By: John Macomber

Almost 500 million people are without electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. Governments and public utilities are challenged to bring generation and distribution to most of them. Considerable promise exists in “off-grid” or “mini-grid” technologies, notably using renewable... View Details