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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
- 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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- November 2019 (Revised April 2020)
- Case
Away: Scaling a DTC Travel Brand
By: Jill Avery and Joseph B. Fuller
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 trajectories to maximize its potential? Three...
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Keywords:
Brand Management;
DTC;
Brand Extension;
Lifestyle Brand;
Customer Segmentation;
Retailing;
Scaling And Growth;
Startup;
Brands and Branding;
Marketing;
Marketing Strategy;
Marketing Channels;
Entrepreneurship;
Venture Capital;
Consumer Behavior;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Business Startups;
E-commerce;
Consumer Products Industry;
Travel Industry;
United States;
North America
- March 2019
- Case
DayTwo: Going to Market with Gut Microbiome
By: Ayelet Israeli and David Lane
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. After a first year of trial rollout in...
View Details
Keywords:
Start-up Growth;
Startup;
Positioning;
Targeting;
Go To Market Strategy;
B2B2C;
B2B Vs. B2C;
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
- January 2019
- Teaching Note
Hubble Contact Lenses: Data Driven Direct-to-Consumer Marketing
By: 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...
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Keywords:
DTC;
Direct To Consumer Marketing;
Health Care;
Mobile;
Attribution;
Experimentation;
Experiments;
Churn/retention;
Customer Lifetime Value;
Internet Marketing;
Big Data;
Analytics;
A/B Testing;
CRM;
Advertising;
Marketing;
Marketing Channels;
Marketing Strategy;
Media;
Brands and Branding;
Marketing Communications;
Digital Marketing;
Acquisition;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Consumer Behavior;
Social Media;
E-commerce
- January 2019 (Revised October 2019)
- Case
Glossier: Co-Creating a Cult Brand with a Digital Community
By: Jill Avery
Glossier’s proclaimed strategy was “born from content; fueled by community.” The digital-first, direct-to-consumer beauty brand had experienced rapid growth, with sales up 600% in 2017 and a customer portfolio that grew by threefold. But, its founder, Emily Weiss, was...
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Keywords:
Brands;
Brand Management;
Brand Communication;
Retailing;
DTC;
Influencer;
Digital Marketing;
Startup;
Internet Marketing;
Big Data;
Crowdsourcing;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Social Media;
E-commerce;
Consumer Products Industry;
Beauty and Cosmetics Industry;
Retail Industry;
United States;
North America
- August 2018 (Revised December 2020)
- Case
Hubble Contact Lenses: Data Driven Direct-to-Consumer Marketing
By: 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...
View Details
Keywords:
DTC;
Direct To Consumer Marketing;
Health Care;
Mobile;
Attribution;
Experimentation;
Experiments;
Churn/retention;
Customer Lifetime Value;
Internet Marketing;
Big Data;
Analytics;
A/B Testing;
CRM;
Advertising;
Marketing;
Marketing Channels;
Marketing Strategy;
Media;
Brands and Branding;
Marketing Communications;
Digital Marketing;
Consumer Behavior;
Acquisition;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Social Media;
E-commerce;
Health Industry;
Consumer Products Industry;
United States;
North America;
Europe
- March 2015 (Revised December 2016)
- Case
American Well: The DTC Decision
By: Elie Ofek and Natalie Kindred
In late 2013, telehealth company American Well, which developed a digital platform that allowed patients to conduct online medical consultations with physicians, is considering pursuing a direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategy. Founded in 2006, American Well had, to date,...
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Keywords:
Health Care;
Telehealth;
Telemedicine;
American Well;
Schoenberg;
Boston;
Israel;
Technology;
Online Care;
Direct-to-consumer;
DTC;
Health Insurance;
Affordable Care Act;
Health Care Reform;
Accountable Care Organizations;
Technology Change;
Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship;
Digital Marketing;
Strategy;
Competition;
Information Technology;
Marketing;
Technological Innovation;
Technology Adoption;
Entrepreneurship;
Marketing Strategy;
Health Industry;
Technology Industry;
Boston;
Massachusetts;
United States;
Israel