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- September 2023
- Case
The Meteoric Rise of Skims
Since its founding in 2019 by Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede, Skims, a solutions-oriented brand creating the next generation of underwear, loungewear, and shapewear with an eye toward body-type and skin-tone inclusivity, has experienced a meteoric rise. Kardashian, who...
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Keywords:
Brand;
Branding;
Direct-to-consumer;
DTC;
Influencers;
Influencer Marketing;
Fashion;
Growth;
Direct Marketing;
Influence;
Reputation;
Social Inference;
Consumer Goods;
Consumer Products;
Female Entrepreneur;
Female Protagonist;
Entrepreneurship And Strategy;
Brand ＆ Product Management;
Competitive Advantage;
Online Followers;
Retail;
Retail Formats;
Retailing;
Online Retail;
Celebrities;
Celebrity;
Celebrity Endorsement;
Go To Market Strategy;
Apparel;
Startup Marketing;
Startups;
Brands and Branding;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Growth Management;
Distribution Channels;
Digital Marketing;
Advertising;
Power and Influence;
Fashion Industry;
Apparel and Accessories Industry;
Consumer Products Industry;
United States
- May 2023
- Teaching Note
Away: Scaling a DTC Travel Brand
By: Joseph B. Fuller and Jill Avery
Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 520-051. Away, a direct-to-consumer, digital native e-commerce seller of travel luggage, is debating how to invest its latest round of venture funding. How quickly could and should Away scale and what were the most promising growth...
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- February 22, 2023
- Article
How to Seed Organic Marketing in a Video-First World
By: Ayelet Israeli, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Matt Higgins
Early direct-to-consumer (DTC) companies relied on plentiful capital and low-cost digital marketing to power growth. But as this sector has matured, capital is more constrained, social media is more cluttered, and customer acquisition costs are rising. DTC companies...
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Keywords:
Online Business;
Ecommerce;
E-commerce;
E-Commerce Strategy;
Omnichannel Retail;
Omnichannel Retailing;
Influencer Marketing;
Consumer;
Organic Growth;
Video Advertising;
Promotion;
Celebrities;
Online Advertising;
Online Channel;
Online Communities;
Online Community;
Go To Market Strategy;
Platform;
Media;
Media Content;
Digital;
Digital Culture;
Digital Influencers;
Direct To Consumer Marketing;
Direct-to-consumer;
Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship;
Innovation;
Sales;
Digital Platforms;
Digital Marketing;
Digital Strategy;
Consumer Behavior;
Internet and the Web;
Advertising;
Business Model;
Growth Management;
Marketing;
Marketing Strategy;
Marketing Channels;
Marketing Communications;
Communication Strategy;
Innovation Strategy;
Retail Industry;
Consumer Products Industry;
Fashion Industry;
Advertising Industry;
Apparel and Accessories Industry;
Beauty and Cosmetics Industry;
Food and Beverage Industry;
Media and Broadcasting Industry;
United States;
North America
- February 2023
- Case
Seemore Meats & Veggies
By: Lou Shipley, Patricia Favreau and Mel Martin
Cara Nicoletti was an emerging food entrepreneur that had recently launched her first product, a sustainably sourced, vegetable-infused meat sausage. Brooklyn, New York City-based Seemore Meats & Veggies had seen promising signs of success in local markets and pockets...
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- December 2022 (Revised January 2023)
- Case
Cann: High Hopes for Cannabis Infused Beverages
By: Ayelet Israeli and Anne V. Wilson
Founded in 2018 by Jake Bullock and Luke Anderson, Cann sold “social tonics,” or cannabis-infused beverages. By 2022, the company had several notable celebrity investors and talent partners, had sold over 10 million beverages to consumers, was distributing in six...
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Keywords:
Stigma;
Product Innovation;
Product Introduction;
Product Differentiation;
New Products;
New Product Marketing;
New Product Management;
Brand Management;
Branding;
Packaging;
Positioning;
Growth Strategy And Execution;
Growth;
Cannabis Industry;
Purpose;
Purpose Brands;
LGBTQ;
Direct-to-consumer;
DTC;
Regulations;
Channels Of Distribution;
Product Development;
Product Marketing;
Product Positioning;
Product;
Innovation and Invention;
Brands and Branding;
Marketing;
Marketing Communications;
Marketing Channels;
Advertising;
Advertising Campaigns;
Digital Marketing;
Market Entry and Exit;
Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms;
Consumer Products Industry;
Food and Beverage Industry;
United States;
Canada;
North America
- November 2022
- Case
The Battle Among Channels for Marketing Pharmaceuticals: UpScript, Pharmacy Benefit Managers, and Direct-to-Consumer Sales
By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Tiffany Farrell
Can an online, direct-to-consumer pharmacy both improve the quality and speed of care for patients who need branded drugs and stabilize profits for pharmaceutical manufacturers? UpScript, after years spent achieving legal and regulatory compliance and simultaneous...
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- August 2022
- Exercise
Joy4Home Brands: Pricing Matters
By: Elie Ofek, Oded Koenigsberg and Marco Bertini
Joy4Home Brands, the maker of novel houseware items, was gearing up for its launch. The company would be introducing two lines: kitchenware products and storage containers. The initial go-to-market plan called for a direct to consumer (DTC) channel strategy. While...
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- May 2022
- Case
Byte
By: Boris Groysberg, Katherine Connolly Baden and Julia Kelley
In January 2021, Byte co-founders Scott Cohen and Blake Johnson reflected on how far their Los Angeles-based direct-to-consumer (DTC) orthodontics company had come since launching its clear aligners just a little over two years earlier. Cohen and Johnson were both...
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- Article
How Direct-to-Consumer Brands Can Continue to Grow
By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Daniel Corsten, Matt Higgins and Leonard A. Schlesinger
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands such as Allbirds, Casper, Peloton, and Warby Parker have creatively found a weakness in the marketing citadel of incumbent brands. By using data gleaned from daily interactions with customers, these brands have been able to adapt how...
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- January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
- Exercise
E-Commerce Analytics for CPG Firms (A): Estimating Sales
By: Ayelet Israeli and Fedor (Ted) Lisitsyn
The E-Commerce Analytics group at the traditional CPG firm was in charge of compiling various online sales reports, as well as making data-driven recommendations for sales and marketing tactics. In a series of exercises, students address different data challenges for...
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Keywords:
Data Analysis;
Data Analytics;
CPG;
Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG);
Estimation;
Online Channel;
Retail Analytics;
Retail;
Retailing Industry;
Data;
Data Sharing;
Bricks And Mortar;
Ecommerce;
Direct-to-consumer;
DTC;
Analytics and Data Science;
Sales;
Marketing;
E-commerce;
Retail Industry;
Consumer Products Industry;
United States
- November 2020
- Teaching Note
DayTwo: Going to Market with Gut Microbiome
By: Ayelet Israeli
Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 519-010. DayTwo is a young Israeli startup that applies research on the gut microbiome and machine learning algorithms to deliver personalized nutritional recommendations to its users in order to minimize blood sugar spikes after meals....
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Keywords:
Start-up Growth;
Startup;
Positioning;
Targeting;
Go To Market Strategy;
B2B Vs. B2C;
B2B2C;
Health ＆ Wellness;
AI;
Machine Learning;
Female Ceo;
Female Protagonist;
Science-based;
Science And Technology Studies;
Ecommerce;
Applications;
DTC;
Direct To Consumer Marketing;
US Health Care;
＂USA,＂;
Innovation;
Pricing;
Business Growth;
Segmentation;
Distribution Channels;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Business Startups;
Science-Based Business;
Health;
Innovation and Invention;
Marketing;
Information Technology;
Business Growth and Maturation;
E-commerce;
Applications and Software;
Health Industry;
Technology Industry;
Insurance Industry;
Information Technology Industry;
Food and Beverage Industry;
Israel;
United States
- July 2020 (Revised January 2021)
- Case
Pattern Brands
By: Sunil Gupta, Elie Ofek and Julia Kelley
In March 2020, direct-to-consumer (DTC) company Pattern Brands needed to decide how to allocate resources across its different brands. Pattern Co-Founders Nick Ling and Emmett Shine hoped to avoid the pitfalls faced by some DTC companies—such as inability to scale and...
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Keywords:
Direct-to-consumer;
Brands and Branding;
Marketing Channels;
Marketing Strategy;
Product Marketing;
Product Launch;
Product Positioning;
Business Model;
Business Startups;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Demand and Consumers;
Business Strategy;
Diversification;
Competitive Advantage;
Consumer Products Industry;
Retail Industry;
North and Central America;
United States;
New York (city, NY);
New York (state, US)
- June 2020
- Teaching Note
Shiseido Acquires Drunk Elephant
By: Jill Avery
On October 7, 2019, the Shiseido Group announced that it would acquire clean skincare brand Drunk Elephant for $845 million, a valuation of 8.5 times sales. Did Shiseido pay too much or too little for this brand asset? How much was the Drunk Elephant brand worth and...
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Keywords:
Brand Management;
Brand Valuation;
Brand Equity;
Brand Value;
Mergers ＆ Acquisitions;
Startup;
DTC;
Brand Portfolio Strategy;
Marketing;
Marketing Strategy;
Brands and Branding;
Mergers and Acquisitions;
Valuation;
Entrepreneurship;
Business Startups;
Beauty and Cosmetics Industry;
Consumer Products Industry;
United States;
Japan;
Asia;
North America
- May 2020 (Revised August 2022)
- Teaching Note
Direct to Consumer Brands
By: Sunil Gupta
In recent years, we have seen a dramatic rise of direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands. Many of these brands, such as Dollar Shave Club, Harry’s, Glossier, and Allbirds, entered mature markets dominated by established companies, and yet they grew rapidly to attain valuations...
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- April 2020
- Teaching Note
Glossier: Co-Creating a Cult Brand with a Digital Community
By: Jill Avery
Teaching Note for HBS No. 519-022. Flush with cash from its Series C fundraise, cult beauty brand Glossier considers its next phase of growth, facing critical decisions on how to allocate its capital to support various marketing communications and distribution...
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Keywords:
Digital Marketing;
Crowdsourcing;
CRM;
Startup;
Direct-to-consumer;
DTC;
Marketing;
Marketing Strategy;
Brands and Branding;
Consumer Behavior;
Customer Relationship Management;
Venture Capital;
Business Startups;
Entrepreneurship;
Social Media;
Beauty and Cosmetics Industry;
United States
- March 31, 2020
- Article
Reinventing the Direct-to-Consumer Business Model
By: Len Schlesinger, Matt Higgins and Shaye Roseman
Over the past decade, a new breed of “direct-to-consumer” (DTC) startups, including Warby Parker and Casper, helped forge a new business model. But lately that business model is faltering as the advantages that early entrants enjoyed have evaporated. To retool, DTC...
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- January 2020 (Revised April 2020)
- Teaching Note
Brandless: Disrupting Consumer Packaged Goods
By: Jill Avery
Brandless, an online direct-to-consumer seller of upscale private-label consumer packaged goods (CPG), offered consumers a limited assortment of values-conscious products delivered directly to their homes with the simplicity of one fixed $3.00 price point that promised...
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- January 2020 (Revised May 2020)
- Case
Direct to Consumer Brands
By: Sunil Gupta
Recent years have seen the dramatic rise of direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands by several startups. Many of these brands, such as Dollar Shave Club, Harry’s, Glossier, and Allbirds, entered mature markets dominated by established companies, and yet they grew rapidly to...
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- January 2020 (Revised March 2020)
- Case
LOLA: Do You Know What's in Your Tampon?
By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Aldo Sesia
LOLA is a direct-to-consumer (DTC) business launched in 2015. What started as a company to provide women with organic and transparent material-labeled tampons via a subscription model, had, by 2019 evolved to include additional menstrual and sexual wellness products....
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- November 2019 (Revised April 2020)
- Case
Purple Innovation, Inc.: The Online to Offline Marketing Challenge
By: Elie Ofek and Nakisha Williams
This case focuses on Purple Innovation Inc. (Purple), a company that started out in the Direct to Consumer (DTC) mattress space. In late 2018, after a successful launch and IPO with sales predominantly originating from its website, Purple was looking to sustain its...
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