More from the Author

• Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2019 (Revised June 2019)

  Glossier: Co-Creating a Cult Brand with a Digital Community

  Jill Avery

  Glossier’s proclaimed strategy was “born from content, fueled by community”. The digital-first, direct-to-consumer beauty brand had experienced rapid growth, with sales up 600% in 2017 and a customer portfolio that grew by threefold. But, its founder, Emily Weiss, was not complacent. Instead, she dreamed of creating the world’s first socially-driven brand that inserted its community into the buying experience so that the company was merchandising people, their opinions, and their content, just as much as they were merchandising products. As her team debates marketing strategies for 2018, they recognize the opportunities and challenges associated with managing Glossier’s rapidly scaling brand community. While the community’s support had emerged organically in the past, the team was now debating whether the company’s next phase of growth would need to be fueled by a greater emphasis on paid peer-to-peer sales representatives, professional influencer marketing, paid media, and a physical market presence.

  Keywords: Brands; brand management; brand communication; retailing; e-commerce; DTC; influencer; digital marketing; social media; Startup; internet marketing; big data; crowdsourcing; Marketing; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Consumer Behavior; Distribution; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Retail Industry; United States; North America;

  Citation:

  Avery, Jill. "Glossier: Co-Creating a Cult Brand with a Digital Community." Harvard Business School Case 519-022, January 2019. (Revised June 2019.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2018 (Revised May 2019)

  Adeo Health Science: Turning a Product into a Brand

  Elizabeth A. Keenan and Jill Avery

  For decades, American parents were warned to avoid introducing potential allergens to their babies prior to their first birthday. But two influential clinical studies caused the medical establishment to radically reverse its position. Parents were now warned that delaying the introduction of these types of foods increased a baby's risk of food allergies. Adeo Health Science was ready, with patents filed for a baby food that made it simple for parents to introduce allergens. Now, the new company had to turn its product into a brand and map its go-to-market strategy, including creating a compelling value proposition, choosing a path to market that was either direct-to-consumer, through grocery retailers, or via the physician channel, and planning its marketing communications and sales strategy. As a new startup with constrained resources, the company knew its marketing decisions would make or break the new product.

  Keywords: marketing; Startup; entrepreneurship; health care; consumer; consumer products; branding; brands and branding; marketing strategy; Marketing communications; Distribution; retailing; go to market strategy; Marketing; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Consumer Products Industry; Health Industry; United States; North America;

  Citation:

  Keenan, Elizabeth A., and Jill Avery. "Adeo Health Science: Turning a Product into a Brand." Harvard Business School Case 518-065, January 2018. (Revised May 2019.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2018 (Revised May 2019)

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

  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 Vinci's painting pay too much? Was it real? Did it matter? The sale of Leonardo's painting allows students to reengineer brand equity to understand from what it is derived and how marketing actions influence changes in it. Methods for brand valuation can be discussed and issues related to branding in contemporary times, such as authenticity, legitimacy, authorship, craftsmanship, and storytelling can be used to show how brand value is built and destroyed. Brand partnerships, particularly between and among Leonardo, Christie's auction house, the sellers, the experts who attributed the painting to Leonardo, and the celebrities used to market it, are dissected to understand how brand meaning and value transfer from one partner to another.

  Keywords: marketing; Brands; brands and branding; marketing strategy; brand valuation; art collector; arts marketing; value; auction house; auctions; luxury brand; luxury consumers; Luxury Goods; Marketing; Valuation; Marketing Strategy; Arts; Luxury; Value; Brands and Branding; Fine Arts Industry; Italy; United Kingdom; Europe; United States; United Arab Emirates;

  Citation:

  Avery, Jill. "Christie's and Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi: The Value of a Brand." Harvard Business School Case 518-066, January 2018. (Revised May 2019.)  View Details

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