Faculty & Research

Marketing

Marketing

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About the Unit

Marketing is critical for organic growth of a business and its central role is in creating, communicating, capturing and sustaining value for an organization. Marketing helps a firm in creating value by better understanding the needs of its customers and providing them with innovative products and services. This value is communicated through a variety of channels as well as through the firm's branding strategy. Effective management of customers and pricing allows the firm to capture part of the value it has created. Finally, by building an effective customer-centric organization a firm attempts to sustain value over time.

Our faculty addresses a broad array of topics in all of these areas. Our work attempts to get a better understanding of how consumers use information and make choices and how these choices affect the firm's strategy for new product development, customer relationship management, branding and other marketing efforts. We examine issues related to branding, business marketing, global marketing, distribution channels, pricing, direct and interactive marketing, sales management and return on marketing investment. Some of our faculty specializes in specific industries such as retailing, agribusiness, social enterprise, media, arts and entertainment.

There are several new developments in marketing that offer opportunities for us to make important contributions in the future. The current economic crisis is changing consumers' current and future purchase and consumption patterns. Search engines have changed the way consumers obtain information and make decisions and they are also dramatically changing the advertising industry. Social networks and user generated content have opened a new way for consumers to engage with each other as well as with brands and companies. There are significant changes in the attitudes of consumers and companies about social issues. Consumer preferences and choice of products are increasingly influenced by social factors. Companies are recognizing that there is a large market at the "bottom of the pyramid" and marketing to these consumers may require a new framework. These and related developments provide great opportunities for the marketing faculty to make a significant impact in the future.

Recent Publications

The Pandemic's Impact on the U.S. Food System

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Natalie Kindred
  • March 2021 |
  • Background Note |
  • Faculty Research
This note is intended not as a comprehensive account but as a starting point for discussion about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the U.S. food system. Written in late 2020, the note describes, in part through the voices of industry leaders, how the pandemic disrupted supply chains and businesses, demanded new approaches to worker safety, and forced consumers to change how they shopped for food. The note allows students to reflect on how leaders responded to rapidly changing circumstances with limited information, how the pandemic exposed or exacerbated pain points in the food system, and how the pandemic may (or may not) alter industry operations and consumer behavior over the long term.
Keywords: Agribusiness; Risk And Uncertainty; Risk Management; Leadership; Change Management; Safety; Health; Health Pandemics; Disruption; Adaptation; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Retail Industry; Food And Beverage Industry; Agriculture And Agribusiness Industry; Transportation Industry; United States
Related

Artea (A), (B), (C), and (D): Designing Targeting Strategies

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli
  • March 2021 |
  • Supplement |
  • Faculty Research
Power Point Supplement to Teaching Note for HBS No. 521-021,521-022,521-037,521-043. This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing—implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on A/B testing analysis and targeting. Parts (B),(C),(D) Introduce algorithmic bias. The exercises are designed such that the issues of algorithmic bias and discrimination would emerge inductively, “surprising” the students in the act of recommending a strategy that, inadvertently, is discriminating against customers who belong to minority groups. This is achieved via the combination of hands-on exercises, where students would make decisions based on data analyses and visualization, and in-class discussions, where students would defend their proposed strategies, discover the (discriminating) implications of those actions, and discuss possible solutions.
Keywords: Targeted Advertising; Targeting; Algorithmic Data; Bias; A/b Testing; Experiment; Gender; Race; Diversity; Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Prejudice And Bias; Retail Industry; Apparel And Accessories Industry; Technology Industry; United States
Related

AIM Module 2 Introduction

By: Das Narayandas, Arijit Sengupta and Jonathan Wray
  • March 2021 |
  • Module Note |
  • Faculty Research
Related

eToro: Building the World’s Largest Social Trading Network

By: Elie Ofek
  • March 2021 |
  • Teaching Note |
  • Faculty Research
Related

Beyond Pajamas: Sizing Up the Pandemic Shopper

By: Ayelet Israeli, Eva Ascarza and Laura Castrillo
  • March 17, 2021 |
  • Other Article |
  • Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
A first look at how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted e-commerce apparel shopping in the US and the UK. Extensive analysis and interactive graphics utilizing millions of transactions. While the pandemic is still playing out, our preliminary investigations suggests that the new e-commerce consumers are turning out to be valuable for online retailers. Companies should use the data they collect from digital interactions to learn about these new customers: How do the new e-commerce customers compare to the pre-pandemic ones? Are they buying the same products at the same rates and prices? Are they returning items in the same rates? What is important for these new customers? Companies should use these insights to deepen their relationships with these new customers—and more newcomers on the way—and delight them with good service and product selection.
Keywords: Retail; Retail Analytics; Consumer; Pandemic; Covid; Covid-19; Apparel; Ecommerce; E-commerce; Online Shopping; Online Apparel; Online Sales; Returns; Crm; Customer Retention; Customer Experience; Customer Value; Digital; Customer Focus And Relationships; Customers; Health Pandemics; Consumer Behavior; Customer Relationship Management; Online Technology; Behavior; Retail Industry; Apparel And Accessories Industry; Technology Industry; United States; United Kingdom
Related

Blue Meridian Partners (B): Pivoting in a Crisis

By: V. Kasturi Rangan
  • March 2021 |
  • Supplement |
  • Faculty Research
Related

Blue Meridian Partners (A): Scaling for Impact

By: V. Kasturi Rangan
  • March 2021 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
Related

M-KOPA: Empowering Lives

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Wale Lawal and Pippa Tubman Armerding
  • March 2021 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
Related
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Contact Information

Marketing Unit
Harvard Business School
Morgan Hall
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
Marketing@hbs.edu