Publications

November 1998 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Merrill Lynch's Acquisition of Mercury Asset Management

By: Andre F. Perold, Imran Ahmed and Randolph B Altschuler

In the Spring of 1998, Merrill Lynch faced an array of challenges and opportunities related to its global asset management business. The firm had recently completed its $5.3 billion cash acquisition of U.K.-based Mercury Asset Management, a transaction that made it one... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Asset Management; Currency; Financial Strategy; Global Strategy; Brands and Branding; Distribution; Production; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Retirement; Japan; Europe; United Kingdom

Find at Harvard

06 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 6

century. It focuses especially on Beiersdorf, a pharmaceutical and skin care company in Germany. During World War I, the expropriation of its brands and trademarks revealed its vulnerability to political risk. Following the advent of the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: ‘Talk, Inc.’

or as trained brand ambassadors. By empowering employees to communicate in that way, leaders relinquish much of the control that they formerly exerted over organizational messaging. But they gain a great deal in return. Through... View Details

Keywords: Re: Boris Groysberg

June 2010
Teaching Note

Ebro Puleva (TN)

By: David E. Bell and Mary Louise Shelman

Teaching Note for 510026. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Transformation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Business or Company Management; Strategy; Brands and Branding; Financial Crisis; Business Exit or Shutdown; Organizational Structure; Globalization; Food and Beverage Industry; Spain

31 Oct 2004
Research & Ideas

Bypass Marketing: Are Docs Influenced?

brand over another based on their patients' requests? A recent study, Physicians Report on Patient Encounters Involving Direct to Consumer Advertising, focused on one aspect of pharma DCTA: What do physicians think about all of this? What... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

09 Jan 2013
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Understanding Customers

product. How Can I Understand My Customers Better? Empathy: The Brand Equity of Retail Retailers can offer great product selection and value, but those who lack empathy for their customers are at risk of losing them, says professor Ananth... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty

June 2011
Background Note

It's a Social World

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Nancy Bartlett

Social media had fashioned the lives of individuals and communities by 2010, providing an opportunity and a challenge for companies of all sizes. This note provides background on various social media (e.g. social networks, forums, games and communication services) and... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Media; Service Operations; Sales; Opportunities; Corporate Strategy; Web

18 Mar 2009
Research & Ideas

Marketing After the Recession

closely to your customers and revise your market segmentation assumptions. Assess your target customers' trust in your brand. Clearly, trust in financial services brands has taken a beating. Many well-known View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Retail

03 Mar 2015
First Look

First Look: March 3

on a sustained and balanced growth trajectory? Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/715008-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 514-078 Ghurka Ghurka was a 38-year-old luxury leather goods brand that specialized in... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2017
Case

Clover Food Lab in 2016

By: Lena G. Goldberg, Sonia Smith and Sandra Bahous

Ayr Muir, founder and CEO of Clover Food Lab, has grown his restaurant chain from a single food truck to 11 thriving stores but he has no interest in running a regional chain. His ambition is to change the way America eats and his goal is national expansion. As he... View Details

Keywords: Restaurant Industry; Food; Growth Management; Strategic Planning; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Innovation and Management; Customer Satisfaction; Small Business; Expansion; Decision Choices and Conditions; Food and Beverage Industry

28 Aug 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, August 28, 2018

recruit in the future Purchase this case:https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/718497-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 518-086 The Art and Science of Brand Valuation Brand valuation, the art and... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

19 Sep 2006
First Look

First Look: September 19, 2006

the largest segment. The case describes in detail the company's endeavors to develop its private brand in apparel. Purchase this case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=506054 Icebreaker: The China Entry... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2008 (Revised September 2008)
Case

Indesit Company: Does Global Matter?

By: Joseph L. Bower

In 2007, the leadership of the Indesit Company is focused on long-term corporate strategy. After 3 decades, the company has emerged as the number 2 home appliance producer in Europe. Should they invest further to be number 1, or should they focus on the global market,... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Global Strategy; Growth and Development; Business or Company Management; Brands and Branding; Markets; Problems and Challenges; Corporate Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

19 Nov 2014
HBS Case

Marketing Marijuana

medium-sized marijuana producers are already trying to build brand loyalty by marketing strains such as Grape Stomper, which boasts a high THC content; sweet-tasting Golden Goat; and low-THC Critical Mass, which markets itself as a more... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Food & Beverage

11 Jun 2001
Research & Ideas

E-Commerce Unplugged

knowledge of consumer behavior to create killer applications in the m-commerce arena. Imagine a brand well positioned to satisfy the life intentions of the youth market: Let's call it "Soda X." What if Soda X built a... View Details

Keywords: by Nitin Nohria & Marty Leestma

December 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Ebony Magazine

By: Steven Rogers and Derrick Jackson

For nearly 75 years, the Johnson Publishing Company has been the most successful African American magazine publisher. Its flagship Ebony magazine was an iconic coffee table fixture for decades in black households of all classes, making founder John H. Johnson... View Details

July 2010
Teaching Note

Shanzhai! MediaTek and the "White Box" Handset Market (TN)

By: Willy C. Shih

Teaching Note for 610081. View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Information Infrastructure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Brands and Branding; Market Entry and Exit; Trade; Growth and Development Strategy; Semiconductor Industry; China

August 2009 (Revised August 2010)
Case

Slanket: Responding to Snuggie's Market Entry

By: John A. Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

How does a pioneer in a new product category deal with the runaway success of a follower? Can search engine marketing and social media help? In 2008 Slanket CEO, Gary Clegg, found that his product, a blanket with sleeves, had been eclipsed by The Snuggie, another... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Social and Collaborative Networks; Internet and the Web

October 2003 (Revised August 2005)
Case

American Legacy: Beyond the Truth Campaign

By: Youngme E. Moon and Kerry Herman

The hard-hitting "Truth" campaign has been one of the most successful antismoking initiatives in history. The focus of the "Truth" campaign is to dissuade teenagers from smoking. The sponsor of the campaign, the American Legacy Foundation, is now trying to decide... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Communication Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Choices and Conditions; Ethics; Brands and Branding; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact