Publications

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December 2018 (Revised June 2021)
Supplement

Bulb 2017: Launch

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

On August 21, 2015, Amit Gudka and Hayden Wood, co-founders of Bulb Ltd. (Bulb) launched a new business to supply energy to the United Kingdom’s 27 million residential homes with a promise of 100% renewable electricity at affordable prices. By the end of March 2017,... View Details

30 Sep 2014
News

First Look: Harvard’s New Launch Lab, a Home for Alumni Startups

Keywords: i-Lab; Launch Lab; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

March 1998
Case

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Launch has developed an entertainment publication on CD-ROM with 240,000 subscribers and has recently introduced an on-line entertainment product (www.mylaunch.com) to complement the CD-ROM. Deals with multiple-channel delivery and platform selection and branding on... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Distribution Channels; Information Publishing; Brands and Branding; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Publishing Industry

June 2013 (Revised January 2016)
Case

Château Margaux: Launching the Third Wine

By: Elie Ofek and Eric E. Vogt

Château Margaux, one of only five prestigious estates in the Bordeaux Medoc wine region to have been classified as a "first-growth", is facing a host of strategic decisions in early 2013. Up until this point the estate had been selling two red wines, a first wine whose... View Details

Keywords: New Product Launch; Marketing Plan; Brand Management; Go To Market Strategy; Channels Of Distribution; Wine Industry; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; France

January 2018 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Château Margaux: Launching the Third Wine (Abridged)

By: Elie Ofek

Château Margaux, one of only five prestigious estates in the Bordeaux Medoc wine region to have been classified as a "first-growth", is facing a host of strategic decisions in early 2013. Up until this point the estate had been selling two red wines, a first wine whose... View Details

Keywords: New Product Launch; Marketing Plan; Brand Management; Go To Market Strategy; Channels Of Distribution; Wine Industry; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; France

Launching Technology Ventures (LTV) is an MBA elective designed for students who will join startups, launch their own companies, or work in established firms launching information technology products, in particular, new... View Details

June 2021
Case

HelloSelf: Launch

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In April 2021, Charles Wells, founder and CEO of HelloSelf was reflecting on the company’s progress since it launched two years earlier. HelloSelf’s goal was to help the mentally ill recover and those who were mentally fit to stay well and feel even better. To do this,... View Details

Keywords: Mental Health; Health Care and Treatment; Internet and the Web; Growth and Development Strategy; Great Britain

August 2018 (Revised August 2018)
Case

The De Beers Group: Launching Lightbox Jewelry for Lab-Grown Diamonds

By: Benjamin C. Esty

In May 2018, the De Beers Group shocked the diamond industry when it announced it was launching a new fashion jewelry brand of laboratory-grown (synthetic) diamonds. The reaction was swift as people sought to understand the company’s motivations: was it a “huge gamble”... View Details

September 1991 (Revised November 1997)
Case

Gillette's Launch of Sensor

By: Pankaj Ghemawat and Benjamin C. Esty

The introduction of the Sensor Shaving System, one of the biggest product launches ever, forced Gillette to reevaluate its strategy in its shaving and non-shaving business. It had to decide whether to go ahead with the launch and if so, at what scale. Permits analysis... View Details

Keywords: Product Launch; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Business Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Measurement and Metrics; Consumer Products Industry

01 Dec 2015
News

Launch Codes

Photo courtesy of Jodi Gernon Before joining HBS’s Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship as its new director in July, Jodi Gernon (MBA 1991) weighed two other potential career options—joining a startup or launching one of her own. “I... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell

30 May 2013
Blog Post

Product Launch Day

At Sonation we’ve been working all summer toward product launch day, and the day has finally come! Last week I went to Michigan with my cofounder Paul to demo the app at Interlochen, one of the premier summer arts camps in the US. Of all... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technology

Teaching Interest

Launching Technology Ventures

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

This course takes the perspective of founders struggling to achieve product market fit in their early-stage startups. Our cases focus on founder decision during this search and discovery phase, both in the experiments that they design and run as well as the... View Details

05 Oct 2021
News

Launch Signals

moment of uncertainty,” added Fitzgerald. The pair spent four years interviewing assault survivors and refining their product before launching in February 2020—and relaunching in June 2020. “Honestly, we were very concerned initially that... View Details

Keywords: entrepreneurship; startup; safety; wearable tech; women; Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing

Program

Launching New Ventures

Summary Successful entrepreneurship takes more than an innovative idea—it also requires the right mindset and skillset. Whether you're developing new business, launching new ventures, or building an entrepreneurial culture within a larger... View Details

22 Feb 2022
News

Launch Codes

Pak (MBA 2015) founding member and CMO at Blueland; Alumni track winner, 2019 Forget the Past Sebastian Monroy (MBA 2018) and I launched Zubale as a marketplace to connect independent contractors to consumer goods companies in need of... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell; illustrations by Alvaro Dominguez

July 2012
Case

Droga5: Launching Jay-Z's Decoded

By: Anita Elberse and Kwame Owusu-Kesse

In 2010, David Droga and Andrew Essex, co-founders of advertising agency Droga5, hope to convince both John Meneilly, manager of hip-hop star Shawn Carter—better known as Jay-Z—and a partner in Carter's company Roc Nation and Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president of... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Entertainment; Advertising Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Web

Launching New Products

As today's pace of change continues to accelerate, companies need to successfully innovate to stay ahead, and yet most new products fail. To transform innovation into competitive advantage, leaders need to ensure their organization has both the right mindset and the... View Details

November 2004 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Launching the New MINI

By: Douglas B. Holt and John A. Quelch

Focuses on how strategy is transformed into creative branding materials. Reports on the development of a wide variety of brand communication materials produced to support the MINI launch in the United States. MINI USA executives worked with their ad agency Crispin... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Creativity; Auto Industry; United States