Publications

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June 2020
Teaching Note

Armarium: Luxury Fashion Brands for Rent

By: Jill Avery and David Fubini

Armarium, a two-sided digital platform that offered consumers the opportunity to rent the most coveted, current season high fashion clothing and accessories from the top global luxury brands, had emerged from its first sales season with two distinct customer segments:... View Details

Keywords: Luxury Brand; Fashion; Sharing Economy; Two-sided Marketplace; Target Market; Customer Selection; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Luxury; Two-Sided Platforms; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Customer Value and Value Chain; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; North America

December 2017 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Armarium: Luxury Fashion Brands for Rent

By: Jill Avery, David Fubini, Natasha Dossa and Devon Stewart

Armarium, a two-sided online platform that offered consumers the opportunity to rent the most coveted, current season high fashion clothing and accessories from the top global luxury brands, had emerged from its first sales season with two distinct customer segments:... View Details

18 Apr 2005
Research & Ideas

Selling Luxury to Everyone

Luxury is the new essential. Consumers know it and retailers are reaping the bounty. At a "Growth Strategies in the Luxury Goods Industry" panel on April 3 at the HBS... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette; Consumer Products

January 2015 (Revised October 2016)
Case

onefinestay: Building a Luxury Experience in the Sharing Economy

By: Jill Avery, Anat Keinan and Liz Kind

onefinestay was a two-sided marketplace that offered high-end home rentals to travelers who sought a more authentic and local experience than a typical upscale hotel might provide. After five years of rapid growth, it was time to do a comprehensive analysis of the... View Details

January 2015 (Revised November 2016)
Case

La Martina: Leveraging Polo's Luxury Lifestyle

By: Anat Keinan, Maria Fernanda Miguel and Sandrine Crener

Founded in 1984 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, La Martina has grown from a high-end polo equipment company into a global fashion brand with operations in 56 countries. Polo, which is not only a sport but also a way of life, is at the core of the brand DNA. Polo is a... View Details

2016
Chapter

Luxury Branding Research: New Perspectives and Future Priorities

By: Anat Keinan, Sandrine Crener and Silvia Bellezza

Several major trends have changed the landscape for luxury brands. These shifts include the increasing role of technology (digital and mobile) as well as the use by consumers of alternative signals of status, such as wearing less prominently branded apparel, being less... View Details

Keywords: Luxury; Brands and Branding

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March 2020
Teaching Note

onefinestay: Building a Luxury Experience in the Sharing Economy

By: Jill Avery and Anat Keinan

onefinestay was a two-sided marketplace that offered high-end home rentals to travelers who sought a more authentic and local experience than a typical upscale hotel might provide. After five years of rapid growth, it was time to do a comprehensive analysis of the... View Details

16 Aug 2004
Research & Ideas

Luxury Isn’t What It Used to Be

Cashing in on the $60 billion global luxury goods market has never been tougher—or more rewarding. Competition is keen. And consumer preferences are constantly shifting, causing the concept of View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Consumer Products

08 Apr 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

The Life of Luxury and How to Sell It

Research released recently by iseecars.com seems to indicate a fleeting happiness with luxury cars. New buyers of BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche sell them more frequently in the first year than owners of other models.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Auto; Retail; Fashion

November 2014
Case

Taryn Rose Launches Dresr: Street Marketing a Luxury Brand

By: Lena G. Goldberg, Marcel Saucet and Christine Snively

Serial entrepreneur and shoe designer Taryn Rose, M.D., prepared to launch a new e-commerce platform, Dresr, which would connect shoppers with tastemakers online. Dresr would bring the service element found in brick and mortar luxury stores into the online shopping... View Details

Keywords: E-commerce; Online Platforms; Online Marketing; Footwear; Legal Aspects Of Business; Street Marketing; Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Luxury; Marketing Strategy; Digital Platforms; Legal Liability; Fashion Industry; Technology Industry

20 Sep 2004
Research & Ideas

How Consumers Value Global Brands

In 2002, we carried out a two-stage research project in partnership with the market research company Research International/USA to find out how consumers in different countries value global brands. First, we conducted a qualitative study... View Details

Keywords: by Douglas B. Holt, John A. Quelch & Earl L. Taylor

25 Nov 2009
Working Paper Summaries

The Devil Wears Prada? Effects of Exposure to Luxury Goods on Cognition and Decision Making

Keywords: by Roy Y.J. Chua & Xi Zou; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

Research Summary

Rethinking Brand Contamination: How Consumers Maintain Distinction When Symbolic Boundaries Are Breached"

If consumers view their brands as extensions of themselves, what happens when undesirable consumers adopt these same brands? I address this question by examining an issue that is of great concern to managers of high-status brands: the rampant spread... View Details

January 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Christie's and Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi: The Value of a Brand

By: Jill Avery

A 16th century Renaissance masterpiece, missing for 137 years, believed by many to have been destroyed and then rediscovered less than a decade ago, becomes the most expensive painting ever sold, all the while surrounded by controversy. Did the buyer of Leonardo da... View Details

March 2022
Case

Abu Issa Holding: Navigating the Qatar Blockade

By: Mark Egan and Youssef Abdel Aal

The case follows Ashraf Abu Issa, CEO and chairman of Abu Issa Holding (AIH), as he contemplated the fate of his company’s regional expansion. AIH was a Qatari diversified holding company, whose primary business was luxury retailing and distribution. Abu Issa had set... View Details

Keywords: Luxury Retail; Expansion; Equity; Business Divisions; Growth and Development; Market Entry and Exit; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Consumer Products Industry; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates

January 2015
Case

Monte-Carlo Weddings

By: Anat Keinan and Sandrine Crener

Monte-Carlo Weddings, established by Frank Damgaard in 2005, is the most respectable and exclusive wedding planning business in the South of France. Frank has organized the largest, most expensive and luxurious weddings in Europe, serving celebrities, CEOs, and other... View Details

Teaching Interest

Overview

The Business of Aesthetics is a new course for second-year students who are considering careers in sectors and companies whose long-term financial value is built on their ability to deliver aesthetic value. Such companies are rewarded not only for eliciting a high... View Details

Keywords: Aesthetics; Luxury Goods; Retail; Consumer Goods; Design; Creativity; Consumer Behavior; Brand Building; Experience Goods; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; Technology Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Travel Industry

November 2021
Case

The Wolf in Cashmere: LVMH's Bid to Acquire Tiffany

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott

In November 2019, the iconic U.S. jeweler Tiffany agreed to be acquired by the luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. The $16.6 billion transaction was scheduled to close in mid-2020. However, in 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on the luxury goods sector. In... View Details

Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Luxury Brand; COVID-19 Pandemic; Mergers and Acquisitions; Health Pandemics; Lawsuits and Litigation; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Europe

August 2016 (Revised November 2016)
Case

C.W. Dixey & Son

By: Anat Keinan and Michael B. Beverland

C.W. Dixey & Son is about to be relaunched as a luxury eyewear brand after a fifty-year absence from the marketplace. This case focuses on reviving a dormant brand with a 200-year plus heritage of innovation, craft excellence, and luxury. Drawing on extensive... View Details

Keywords: Luxury Branding; Authenticity; Inconspicuous Consumption; Brand Positioning; Brand Revitalization; Eyeyewear; Market Entry and Exit; Luxury; Market Participation; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry