Publications

December 2018
Case

Kodak: The Rebirth of an Iconic Brand

By: Anat Keinan, Giana M. Eckhart and Michael B. Beverland

Following its re-emergence from bankruptcy protection in 2014, the marketing team at Kodak has been charged with tripling brand value with consumers, with little marketing budget. The case focuses on the strategies used by senior Kodak marketers Steven Overman and Dany... View Details

Keywords: Branding; Brand ＆ Product Management; Brand Heritage; Cultural Branding; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Demographics

November 2008 (Revised March 2023)
Module Note

Understanding Brands

By: Anat Keinan and Jill Avery

For many firms, the brands associated with their products and/or services are their most valuable assets, and, hence, much management attention is given to designing, communicating, nurturing, and protecting them. This note is designed to provide an understanding of... View Details

Keywords: Brand Equity; Brand Management; Brands and Branding; Management; Marketing Strategy; Value

December 1970 (Revised April 1983)
Case

Product Management at United Brands

By: Jay W. Lorsch

Keywords: Product; Management; Consumer Products Industry

Find at Harvard

June 2018 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Global Brand Management of Anheuser Busch InBev's Budweiser

Brian Perkins, chief architect of the $6 billion Budweiser brand, was excited about 2018, in which the company would launch Budweiser into several new markets in Africa and Latin America. He was feeling the pressure to finalize a global brand strategy that would define... View Details

January 2019 (Revised October 2020)
Technical Note

Brand Storytelling

Marketers have long appreciated the value and power of storytelling. Stories fill brands with resonant and relevant meaning and empower brands to serve as critical elements in the lives of consumers. Mastering the art of brand storytelling is an increasingly important... View Details

Keywords: Brand Communication; Brand Management; Brand Storytelling; Marketing; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Advertising; Consumer Behavior; Consumer Products Industry

August 2016 (Revised July 2017)
Background Note

Brand Portfolio Strategy and Brand Architecture

While companies choose to brand their products and services in many different ways, there are some central tenets that help define an optimal brand portfolio and associated brand architecture. Brand portfolio strategy involves the design, deployment, and management of... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Brand Portfolio; Brand Extension; Brand Portfolio Strategy; Brand Architecture; Consumer Behavior; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy

June 2020
Teaching Note

Global Brand Management of Anheuser Busch InBev's Budweiser

Brian Perkins, chief architect of the $6 billion Budweiser brand, was excited about 2018, in which the company would launch Budweiser into several new markets in Africa and Latin America. He was feeling the pressure to finalize a global brand strategy that would define... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Global Brands; Brand Equity; Brand Storytelling; Brand Communication; Brand Positioning; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Global Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; China; Africa; Latin America

September 2017 (Revised September 2023)
Case

Chase Sapphire: Creating a Millennial Cult Brand

By: Shelle Santana, Jill Avery and Christine Snively

The launch of the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card was enthusiastically received by millennial consumers, a cohort that had previously eluded JPMorgan Chase and its competitors. With the one-year anniversary of the launch approaching, managers are focused on... View Details

2011
Chapter

Consumers' Relationships with Brands

By: Susan Fournier and Jill Avery

This chapter presents a brand management paradigm based on the foundational principles of relationships. (1) Brand relationships are a means to an end: brand relationship managers must consider the whole person and understand how the brand adds meaning into people's... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Brands; Brand Building; Brand Equity; Brand Management; Customer Relationship Management; CRM; Customer Focus and Relationships; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

October 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

La Roche-Posay: Growing L'Oreal's Active Cosmetics Brand

By: Jill Avery, Vincent Dessain and Mette Fuglsang Hjortshoej

As 2018 neared its end, Laetitia Toupet, international general manager of L’Oréal’s La Roche-Posay brand reflected on the brand’s achievements over the past year. At €1 billion in revenue, La Roche-Posay had recently become the number one dermocosmetics brand in the... View Details

May–June 2011
Article

The Uninvited Brand

By: Susan Fournier and Jill Avery

Brands rushed into social media, viewing social networks, video sharing, online communities, and microblogging sites as the panacea to diminishing returns for traditional brand building routes. But, as more branding activity moves to the web, marketers are confronted... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Brands; Brand Building; Brand Management; Digital Marketing; Advertising Campaigns; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Internet and the Web; Social Media; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

Find at Harvard

June 2020
Teaching Note

Brand Storytelling at Shinola

By: Jill Avery, Giana M. Eckhardt and Michael Beverland

Detroit, Michigan, aka “The Motor City,” is known as the birthplace of most of the American classic automotive brands. It is a city filled with the rich history of the industrial age, the pride of American manufacturing, and of the soulful sounds of Motown music. It is... View Details

Keywords: Brand Storytelling; Brand Management; Brand Management Of Places; Luxury Brand; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Advertising; Luxury; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; United States

2012
Chapter

The Relational Roles of Brands

In contemporary culture, brands play important relational roles, linking consumers to others and serving as relational partners. This chapter provides an understanding of the relational roles of brands to illuminate why and how consumers connect with brands and how... View Details

Keywords: Brands; Brand Management; Brand Equity; Brand Building; Customer Relationship Management; CRM; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

January 2000
Case

The Dimensions of Brand Equity for Nestlé Crunch Bar: A Research Case

By: Jill Avery and Gerald Zaltman

An in-depth study of consumers' thoughts and feelings about a branded candy bar. View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Brand Equity; Brand Communication; Brand ＆ Product Management; Brand Building; Brand Positioning; Brand Storytelling; Brand Strategy; Brand Value; Branding; Marketing; Advertising; Customer Satisfaction; Brands and Branding; Consumer Behavior; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

2014
Other Teaching and Training Material

Marketing Reading: Brand Positioning

By: Jill Avery and Sunil Gupta

This Reading addresses the principles of brand positioning and demonstrates how companies can strategically craft powerful, resonant, and unique brand positions to help products stand out amidst the cacophony of the marketplace. Strategic brand positioning provides... View Details

Keywords: Brand Positioning; Branding; Consumer Research; Defensive Strategies; Market Positioning; Marketing; Product Differentiation; Product Positioning; Strategic Positioning; Value Proposition; Customer Relationship Management; Organizational Structure; Customer Satisfaction; Brands and Branding

2011
White Paper

Brands Are People Too! Harnessing the Power of Brand Warmth and Competence

By: Chris Malone, Jill Avery and S. T. Fiske

Research in customer behavior has revealed that the way humans respond to brands is simply an extension of the way they instinctively perceive, judge, and behave towards one another. Understanding how consumers judge brands using social processes akin to those used in... View Details

Keywords: Brands; Brand Management; Customer Relationship Management; CRM; Brand Positioning; Brand Equity; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

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23 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

How to Brand a Next-Generation Product

notice a new name.” Like Apple, most consumer-centric companies deal with the dilemma of how to brand the next- generation of an existing product. Product upgrades make up the majority of corporate research... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

May 2020
Teaching Note

Shiseido: Reinvesting in Brand

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 519-026. Shiseido was in the midst of a six year corporate turnaround, trying to reverse the effects of decades of under-investment in R&D and marketing that had led to a vicious cycle of declining customer support and brand value. Would... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Marketing ROI; Brand Portfolio Strategy; Growth Strategy; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Japan; Asia

April 2019 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Kraft Heinz: The $8 Billion Brand Write-Down

On Friday, February 22, 2019, following an unexpected and disappointing earnings report, The Kraft Heinz Company’s stock price fell 27%, wiping out $16 billion in market value. CEO Bernardo Hees had announced that the company had taken a $15.4 billion asset write-down,... View Details