More from these Authors

• Case | HBS Case Collection | December 2019

  JUUL and the Vaping Revolution

  Michael W. Toffel, John Masko and Sarah Mehta

  In late 2019, San Francisco-based electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) maker JUUL Labs (pronounced “jewel”) faced intense pressure. Sales of JUUL products exceeded $1 billion in 2018, dominating the e-cigarette category. While JUUL Labs’ stated goal was to help current smokers switch from traditional cigarettes to e-cigarettes, the company’s products had become popular with high school and even middle school students, among whom “vaping”—the use of e-cigarettes—was rapidly spreading. Some advocacy groups and policymakers speculated that JUUL Labs had purposefully marketed its products to minors, an allegation the company strongly denied. The debate over JUUL Labs’ marketing and products had made 2019 a difficult year for the company, with a number of states and municipalities imposing bans on the sale of flavored e-liquids, and in some cases, on all e-cigarette products. Given that the company was ostensibly founded to reduce the harm of smoking, what more could JUUL Labs do to prevent misuse of its products, restore its reputation, and grow its business more successfully?

  Keywords: electronic cigarettes; E-Cigarettes; vaping; Nicotine Replacement; JUUL; Juuling; Advertising; Online Advertising; Customers; Innovation and Invention; Marketing; Ethics; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Technology; Technology Industry;

  Citation:

  Toffel, Michael W., John Masko, and Sarah Mehta. "JUUL and the Vaping Revolution." Harvard Business School Case 620-069, December 2019.  View Details

  CiteView DetailsEducators

  Related

• Case | HBS Case Collection | April 2019 (Revised December 2019)

  Clear Link Technologies, LLC: Driving Sales with Peer Learning (A)

  Christopher Stanton, Richard Saouma and Olivia Hull

  Facing threats to its growth, digital marketing and sales company Clear Link Technologies, LLC (Clearlink) decides to run a field experiment to test strategies for improving sales productivity. Designed in collaboration with a team of academic researchers, the study compares the efficacy of two interventions: incentives and management-directed peer learning. In addition to providing an introduction to the call center industry and an overview of some of the cultural factors that make experimentation challenging in a business organization, the case also provides basic information about experimental design. Instructors may use the case to introduce students to fundamental concepts such as control, randomization, statistical power, and minimum detectable effect size. Students will consider best practices for experimental design, build skills for analyzing experimental findings, and explore strategies for implementation.

  Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Interactive Communication; Experience and Expertise; Decision Making; Training; Design; Compensation and Benefits; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Sharing; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Measurement and Metrics; Outcome or Result; Performance; Performance Improvement; Research; Sales; Salesforce Management; Motivation and Incentives; Telecommunications Industry; Utah; United States;

  Citation:

  Stanton, Christopher, Richard Saouma, and Olivia Hull. "Clear Link Technologies, LLC: Driving Sales with Peer Learning (A)." Harvard Business School Case 819-072, April 2019. (Revised December 2019.)  View Details

  CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase

  Related

• Case | HBS Case Collection | November 2019 (Revised December 2019)

  Indigo Agriculture: Harnessing Nature

  Marco Iansiti, Michael W. Toffel and James Barnett

  Indigo Agriculture used a digital-enabled research and development (R&D) process to launch its initial product, microbial coatings for agricultural seeds, which increase crop yields while reducing the need for fertilizers. In doing so, the company developed direct relationships with farmers, in contrast to typical agricultural supply chains that use intermediaries. The company then launched a marketplace platform to link growers directly to crop buyers, again disintermediating the market. Indigo Agriculture is now considering launching an initiative to incentivize farmers to engage in regenerative agricultural practices by setting up a carbon market that could pay them for sequestering carbon into their soils. If scaled globally, the idea could sequester as much as one trillion tons (a teraton) of carbon dioxide from the earth’s atmosphere into agricultural soils, but pursing the idea has many risks.

  Citation:

  Iansiti, Marco, Michael W. Toffel, and James Barnett. "Indigo Agriculture: Harnessing Nature." Harvard Business School Case 620-024, November 2019. (Revised December 2019.)  View Details

  CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase

  Related