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• Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2018 (Revised September 2019)

  The Marriott-Starwood Merger: Navigating Brand Portfolio Strategy and Brand Architecture

  Jill Avery, Chekitan S. Dev and Laure Mougeot Stroock

  In September 2016, Marriott completed its $13.3 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, which added 11 brands to its already robust 19 hotel brand portfolio. Tina Edmundson, Marriott's global brand officer, was charged with making sense of the brand portfolio and designing a strategy that would clearly differentiate each brand from the others and a brand architecture system to communicate to consumers how to navigate among them. She would need to decide whether and how to prune brands from the portfolio, whether and how to combine brands through dual-branding and or sub-branding strategies, and whether, where, and how to use the Marriott parent brand to endorse the remaining brands.

  Keywords: brand management; brand architecture; brand portfolio; Merger; Hospitality Industry; services marketing; branded house; house of brands; sub-branding; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Mergers and Acquisitions; Consumer Behavior; Advertising; Travel Industry; Accommodations Industry; Tourism Industry; United States; North America; Europe; Asia;

  Citation:

  Avery, Jill, Chekitan S. Dev, and Laure Mougeot Stroock. "The Marriott-Starwood Merger: Navigating Brand Portfolio Strategy and Brand Architecture." Harvard Business School Case 518-081, February 2018. (Revised September 2019.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | December 2018 (Revised August 2019)

  Super Bowl Storytelling

  Shelle Santana and Jill Avery

  The one day a year when consumers not only tolerate but actually eagerly anticipate ads is during the NFL's Super Bowl. In sharp contrast to their behavior on the other 364 days of the year, consumers watch an average of 89 commercials per Super Bowl game for an average of 46 minutes. Why are consumers willing to spend 3.5x more time watching commercials on the Super Bowl than on any other day of the year? Perhaps because they have come to expect the best, most creative, most engaging storytelling of the year from advertisers. With one out of every three Americans glued to the game, advertisers know they have a captive audience and they go to great lengths to stand out in what is somewhat akin to a battle of the brands. However, at a cost of more than $5 million for a 30-second spot, is Super Bowl advertising worth it? And, which types of Super Bowl stories are more and less likely to "win" on the Super Bowl?

  Keywords: television advertising; entertainment; brand management; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Communications; Advertising; Television Entertainment; Brands and Branding; Media; Cost vs Benefits; Advertising Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Sports Industry; United States; North America;

  Citation:

  Santana, Shelle, and Jill Avery. "Super Bowl Storytelling." Harvard Business School Case 519-041, December 2018. (Revised August 2019.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | December 2018 (Revised July 2019)

  Shiseido: Reinvesting in Brand

  Jill Avery and Nobuo Sato

  Shiseido was in the midst of a six year corporate turnaround, trying to reverse the effects of decades of under-investment in R&D and marketing which had led to a cycle of declining customer support and brand value. Would the CEO’s VISION 2020 plan, centered on four strategies: 1.) increasing R&D spending from 1.8% to 3% of sales, 2.) investing an incremental ¥120 billion in brand-building marketing, 3.) moving to a “think global-act local” matrixed brand management structure, and 4.) rethinking brand portfolio strategy, be enough to achieve aggressive 8% per year sales goals while simultaneously increasing the company’s operating margin from 8% to 10% in the highly competitive and slow growing beauty industry?

  Keywords: brand management; Brand Value; turnaround; brand portfolio; brand communication; global brands; digital marketing; Return on investment; marketing ROI; internet marketing; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Value; Growth and Development Strategy; Investment Return; Consumer Behavior; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Japan; Asia;

  Citation:

  Avery, Jill, and Nobuo Sato. "Shiseido: Reinvesting in Brand." Harvard Business School Case 519-026, December 2018. (Revised July 2019.)  View Details

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