Publications

September 20, 2004
Comment

How Consumers Value Global Brands

By: Douglas Holt, John A. Quelch and Earl L. Taylor

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 in forty-one countries to... View Details

Keywords: Global Brands; Brand Value; Multi-national Brands; Social Responsibility; Global Range; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Brands and Branding; Social Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

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October 2023
Case

Kevin O'Leary: Building a Brand in Shark-infested Waters

By: Reza Satchu and Patrick Sanguineti

For more than fifteen years, successful Canadian entrepreneur and investor Kevin O’Leary had developed his brand into a global powerhouse. Since his first appearance on the Canadian television program Dragons’ Den in 2006 and his meteoric rise to stardom through the... View Details

Keywords: Personal Brand; Crisis; Brands and Branding; Entrepreneurship; Crisis Management; Social Media; Public Opinion; Power and Influence; Financial Services Industry

February 2011
Article

The Underdog Effect: The Marketing of Disadvantage and Determination Through Brand Biography

By: Neeru Paharia, Anat Keinan, Jill Avery and Juliet B. Schor

We introduce the concept of an underdog brand biography (UBB) to describe an emerging trend in branding in which firms author an historical account of their humble origins, lack of resources, and determined struggle against the odds. We identify two essential... View Details

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February 21, 2024
Article

The NFT Staircase: How Digital Ownership Benefits Brands and Consumers

By: Scott Duke Kominers and Steve Kaczynski

One of our goals with our new book, The Everything Token: How NFTs and Web3 Will Transform the Way We Buy, Sell, and Create, is to unlock the power of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, for business. National and international brands are already using NFTs in some of... View Details

Keywords: Non-fungible Tokens; NFTs; Brand; Brand Building; Digitization; Metaverse; Tokenization; Crypto Economy; Blockchain; Market Design; Brands and Branding; Value Creation

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February 2002 (Revised December 2003)
Case

H-E-B Own Brands

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

H-E-B is a $9 billion grocery chain located in Southwest Texas. This case focuses on H-E-B's private label strategy, a product category that accounts for 19% of H-E-B's sales and one that earns gross margins 50% higher than national brands. A leader in its markets,... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Market Entry and Exit; Supply Chain Management; Private Ownership; Sales; Strategy; Competitive Strategy

18 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

How Brand China Can Succeed

Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes a blog on marketing issues, called Marketing Know: How, for Harvard Business Online. It is reprinted on HBS Working Knowledge.As the British nineteenth century commentator John Ruskin astutely observed: "Great... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

16 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Peeling Back the Global Brand

Transnational Brand: How Global Perceptions Drive Value," drew inspiration from Theodore Levitt in order to probe a missing link: the management of the transnational brand. Transnational brands are corporate View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Consumer Products; Retail

13 Sep 2010
Research & Ideas

The Consumer Appeal of Underdog Branding

the February Journal of Consumer Research is based on the results of a series of lab and online studies with over 2,000 consumers recruited from national online samples. We tested their response to underdog View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

13 Mar 2005
Research & Ideas

The Tricky Business of Nonprofit Brands

Are brand management issues faced by a powerful for-profit company such as Toyota the same as those navigated by an international non-government organization (NGO) such as the Red Cross? Yes and no. In their new book, The New Global... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

10 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Nationality and Multinationals in Historical Perspective

Keywords: by Geoffrey G. Jones

01 Apr 1999
News

A Vibrant Brand

such as the Society of Publication Designers, it has been nominated for five National Magazine Awards. In fact, two of Vibe's recent accomplishments have put the enterprise in the company of Rolling Stone. With the 1997 acquisition of... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

November 2018 (Revised February 2019)
Case

Israel at 70: Is it Possible to (re)Brand a Country?

By: Elie Ofek and Sarah Gulick

In the spring of 2018, Israel was set to celebrate its 70th anniversary. While there was much to rejoice in reaching this milestone, the country’s brand image internationally was far from ideal. Past efforts to impact perceptions of Israel, spearheaded by the Ministry... View Details

Keywords: Branding; Brand Management Of Places; Nation Branding; Brand Positioning; Public Diplomacy; Marketing Communication; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Perception; Change; Israel

July 2020 (Revised July 2023)
Case

Live Nation and Pharrell Williams

By: Anita Elberse and Kate Christensen

“We’re in business together, and whether we lose a few million dollars or make a few million dollars, let’s do this. If you think you can pull it off, I’m behind you.” Michael Rapino, chief executive officer of Live Nation, the world’s leading live entertainment... View Details

Keywords: Music; Entertainment; Superstars; Talent; Labor Economics; General Management; Music Entertainment; Media; Talent and Talent Management; Joint Ventures; Marketing; Strategy; Music Industry

04 Feb 2002
Research & Ideas

How a Juicy Brand Came Back to Life

marketing, having developed Gatorade into a powerhouse national brand by skillfully executing a plan drawn straight from the marketing textbooks. After purchasing the sports drink from Stokely-Van Camp in... View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton; Food & Beverage

07 Jun 2016
Op-Ed

Can Brand Trump Win a Presidency?

rather than be about Trump. A successful brand is owned by its consumers. It delivers benefits that speak to their needs and aspirations. If brand Trump can project convincing superiority on those issues... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch; Advertising; Media & Broadcasting

September 2022 (Revised January 2025)
Case

The Pokémon Company: Evolving into an Everlasting Brand

By: Tomomichi Amano and Masaki Nomura

Super Bowl 50, the fiftieth annual championship game of the American National Football League played in February 2016, featured 52 commercials, and brands spent more than six million dollars each for a 30-second commercial slot. Surprisingly, the commercial that... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Growth and Development Strategy; Video Game Industry; Japan