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• Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2018 (Revised October 2018)

  HubSpot and Motion AI: Chatbot-Enabled CRM

  Jill Avery and Thomas Steenburgh

  HubSpot, an inbound marketing, sales, and customer relationship management (CRM) software provider, announced that it had acquired Motion AI, a software platform that enabled companies to easily build and deploy chatbots, fueled by artificial intelligence, to interact with their customers. Before unleashing bot-building technology to its B2B customers, HubSpot first needed to develop some best practices for the use of chatbots for CRM. First, the team had to clearly assess the trade-offs between effectiveness and efficiency associated with the use of bots versus humans to create, nurture, and manage customer relationships. Second, they had to decide to what extent to anthropomorphize the chatbots. How human-like should they be? Was a conversational user interface (UI) the desired solution for B2B CRM, or would a stripped down, more functional UI produce more efficiency for the customers who interacted with the bot? Historically, HubSpot had “practiced what it preached,” using its own products to build its business. The team had to consider whether to use chatbots to nurture and service its own customer relationships and manage the effectiveness and efficiency of its sales funnel. Currently, a team of chat representatives worked with marketing to qualify and prime prospects for HubSpot’s sales team. Could they and should they be replaced with chatbots? Was HubSpot ready for bots to become the face of its brand to its prospective customers?

  Keywords: marketing; customer relationship management; CRM; marketing strategy; Sales; sales management; customer service; brands and branding; artificial intelligence; B2B vs. B2C; business marketing; software; SaaS; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Customer Focus and Relationships; Sales; Salesforce Management; Technological Innovation; Technology Industry; Service Industry; United States; North America;

  Citation:

  Avery, Jill, and Thomas Steenburgh. "HubSpot and Motion AI: Chatbot-Enabled CRM." Harvard Business School Case 518-067, February 2018. (Revised October 2018.)  View Details

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• Module Note | November 2008 (Revised September 2018)

  Understanding Brands

  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 brand management strategies firms use to build, sustain, and leverage their brands.

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

  Citation:

  Keinan, Anat, and Jill Avery. "Understanding Brands." Harvard Business School Module Note 509-041, November 2008. (Revised September 2018.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2018

  Garanti Payment Systems: Digital Transformation Strategy (A)

  Shelle M. Santana and Esel Çekin

  The case opens with three questions that Işıl Akdemir Evlioğlu, the executive vice president of marketing at Garanti Payment Systems (GPS), a subsidiary of Garanti Bank, is grappling with in January 2015. First, should GPS, create its own mobile app instead of capitalizing on the Bank’s successful banking mobile app? Second, if a separate app was developed, then who should manage it? GPS managed the Bank’s credit card business and was as a separate entity. But, the Bank’s digital assets were managed exclusively by the Bank. Third, if a separate app was not developed, then how did the breadth and depth of functionality for the credit card customers need to be resolved? GPS employed nontraditional marketing techniques for managing the credit card business of the Bank. It was more of a loyalty program than a pure credit card business and had high focus on customer engagement and experience. GPS generated revenues from its customers (consumers and merchants) by managing installments and other features of credit cards. However, in 2013 and 2014, the banking watchdog of Turkey instituted a series of regulations on credit card providers to curb the prevailing consumer indebtedness in the country. As was the case for all Turkish retail banks and credit card businesses, GPS’s profitability was hit severely. Evlioğlu immediately shifted her focus to the idea of transferring GPS’s campaign management to a mobile app and driving down costs. But, how best to do that was a critical question.

  Keywords: Loyalty program; campaign management; campaign enrollment; branding; customer acquisition; regulations; regulatory changes; bank; retail banks; banking; credit card; payment systems; installment; mobile app; call center; Data Analytics; digital transformation; Digital technology; Banks and Banking; Business Subsidiaries; Mobile Technology; Transformation; Brands and Branding; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Services Industry;

  Citation:

  Santana, Shelle M., and Esel Çekin. "Garanti Payment Systems: Digital Transformation Strategy (A)." Harvard Business School Case 519-014, August 2018.  View Details

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