Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2018 (Revised July 2020)

Hubble Contact Lenses: Data Driven Direct-to-Consumer Marketing

by Jill Avery and Ayelet Israeli

Abstract

As its Series A extension round approaches, the founders of Hubble, a subscription-based, social-media fueled, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand of contact lenses, are reflecting on the marketing strategies that have taken them to a valuation of $200 million and debating changes to them that will allow them to grow their business. Ensuring that their marketing dollars were being spent efficiently was critical to the data-driven management team and proving to be complicated as the company moved spending from digital marketing to offline media, which made attribution modeling more difficult. Decisions pertaining to product extensions, channel expansion beyond DTC e-commerce, and geographic expansion were also on the table to prove that Hubble's customer value proposition and operations could profitably scale.

Keywords: DTC; direct to consumer marketing; health care; e-commerce; mobile; digital marketing; attribution; experimentation; experiments; churn/retention; customer lifetime value; internet marketing; big data; analytics; social media; A/B Testing; CRM; Advertising; Marketing; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Media; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Online Advertising; Consumer Behavior; Acquisition; Growth and Development Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Health Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; North America; Europe;

Language: English Format: Print 24 pages EducatorsPurchase

Citation:

Avery, Jill, and Ayelet Israeli. "Hubble Contact Lenses: Data Driven Direct-to-Consumer Marketing." Harvard Business School Case 519-011, August 2018. (Revised July 2020.)

Related Work

  1. Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | January 2019

    Hubble Contact Lenses: Data Driven Direct-to-Consumer Marketing

    Ayelet Israeli

    Teaching Note for HBS No. 519-011. As its Series A extension round approaches, the founders of Hubble, a subscription-based, social-media fueled, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand of contact lenses, are reflecting on the marketing strategies that have taken them to a valuation of $200 million and debating changes to them that will allow them to grow their business. Ensuring that their marketing dollars were being spent efficiently was critical to the data-driven management team and proving to be complicated as the company moved spending from digital marketing to offline media, which made attribution modeling more difficult. Decisions pertaining to product extensions, channel expansion beyond DTC e-commerce, and geographic expansion were also on the table to prove that Hubble's customer value proposition and operations could profitably scale.

    Keywords: DTC; direct to consumer marketing; health care; e-commerce; mobile; digital marketing; attribution; experimentation; experiments; churn/retention; customer lifetime value; internet marketing; big data; analytics; social media; A/B Testing; CRM; Advertising; Marketing; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Media; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Online Advertising; Acquisition; Growth and Development Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Consumer Behavior;

    Citation:

    Israeli, Ayelet. "Hubble Contact Lenses: Data Driven Direct-to-Consumer Marketing." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 519-056, January 2019.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsPurchase Related

  2. Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2018 (Revised July 2020)

    Hubble Contact Lenses: Data Driven Direct-to-Consumer Marketing

    Jill Avery and Ayelet Israeli

    As its Series A extension round approaches, the founders of Hubble, a subscription-based, social-media fueled, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand of contact lenses, are reflecting on the marketing strategies that have taken them to a valuation of $200 million and debating changes to them that will allow them to grow their business. Ensuring that their marketing dollars were being spent efficiently was critical to the data-driven management team and proving to be complicated as the company moved spending from digital marketing to offline media, which made attribution modeling more difficult. Decisions pertaining to product extensions, channel expansion beyond DTC e-commerce, and geographic expansion were also on the table to prove that Hubble's customer value proposition and operations could profitably scale.

    Keywords: DTC; direct to consumer marketing; health care; e-commerce; mobile; digital marketing; attribution; experimentation; experiments; churn/retention; customer lifetime value; internet marketing; big data; analytics; social media; A/B Testing; CRM; Advertising; Marketing; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Media; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Online Advertising; Consumer Behavior; Acquisition; Growth and Development Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Health Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; North America; Europe;

    Citation:

    Avery, Jill, and Ayelet Israeli. "Hubble Contact Lenses: Data Driven Direct-to-Consumer Marketing." Harvard Business School Case 519-011, August 2018. (Revised July 2020.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase Related

About the Authors

Photo
Jill J. Avery
Senior Lecturer of Business Administration, C. Roland Christensen Distinguished Management Educator
Marketing

View Profile »
View Publications »

 
Photo
Ayelet Israeli
Associate Professor of Business Administration
Marketing

View Profile »
View Publications »

 
Campus Map
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→ Map & Directions
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College