Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • March 2020
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Thingtesting: Launching a Brand Discovery and Testing Digital Community

By: Ayelet Israeli and Jill Avery
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:19 
ShareBar

Abstract

Thingtesting, a brand discovery and testing digital community devoted to uncovering and exploring direct-to-consumer brands, had just received seed funding and was contemplating a second year of growth. The new year brought many challenges, as founder Jenny Gyllander had to decide how to scale her fledgling company. As the company matured, she had to decide what role she would play going forward: should she continue to operate as head curator and content developer of her own reviews or open up her platform to invite and crowdsource the reviews of her followers. Her value proposition positioned her at the nexus of several different audiences: millennial consumers eager to try new brands, venture capitalists eager to invest in them, and the companies and brands themselves, who were interested in seeing their new products succeed. What was the best path to monetizing the business? As Gyllander navigates the emerging landscape of influencer marketing, she needs to decide how to transform her online audience into a co-creating community and how to best wield her own influence to create value for her followers and other constituencies in a way that could fund a profitable business model.

Keywords

Influencer Marketing; Monetization; Female Ceo; Female Entrepreneur; Female Protagonist; Marketing; Brands And Branding; Marketing Strategy; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Marketing Communications; Consumer Products Industry; Financial Services Industry; Advertising Industry; London; United Kingdom; United States; Europe; North America

Citation

Israeli, Ayelet, and Jill Avery. "Thingtesting: Launching a Brand Discovery and Testing Digital Community." Harvard Business School Case 520-086, March 2020.
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Authors

Ayelet Israeli

Marketing
→More Publications

Jill J. Avery

Marketing
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • January 2021
    • Faculty Research

    Amazon Shopper Panel: Paying Customers for Their Data

    By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli
    • 2020
    • Faculty Research

    REMOTE—A Framework for Teaching Online

    By: Ayelet Israeli
    • 2020
    • Faculty Research

    The Value of Descriptive Analytics: Evidence from Online Retailers

    By: Ron Berman and Ayelet Israeli
More from the Authors
  • Amazon Shopper Panel: Paying Customers for Their Data By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli
  • REMOTE—A Framework for Teaching Online By: Ayelet Israeli
  • The Value of Descriptive Analytics: Evidence from Online Retailers By: Ron Berman and Ayelet Israeli
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College