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

Forecasting the Adoption of E-books Spreadsheet Supplement

By: Elie Ofek
  • January 2021 |
  • Supplement |
  • Faculty Research
Related

Barbara Krakow Gallery (B): Art and the Pandemic

By: Jose B. Alvarez and David Lane
  • January 2021 |
  • Supplement |
  • Faculty Research
Updates (A) case by describing the early impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the art market, the renaming of the gallery as the Krakow Witkin Gallery, and the response of its partners and staff to the pandemic.
Keywords: Arts; Business Model; Change Management; Trends; Communication; Customer Focus And Relationships; Human Resources; Marketing; Distribution Channels; Outcome Or Result; Fine Arts Industry
Related

eToro: Building the World’s Largest Social Trading Network

By: Elie Ofek and Danielle Golan
  • January 2021 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
Social trading platform eToro was preparing for the launch of its expanded offering in the U.S. The company faced critical decisions regarding product-market fit, go-to-market strategy, positioning and monetization. Moreover, it faced the challenge of how best to make its social features relevant to U.S. consumers. eToro was founded in Israel in 2007, with a mission to democratize investing. The cofounders, the Assia brothers, were determined to open the global markets for everyone to trade and invest in a simple and transparent way. By 2020, eToro’s customers in most countries were able to trade multiple assets, and in most territories the company offered zero commission stock trading. The vast majority of its users shared their investment strategy, and others in the community could review and even copy their portfolio with a single click. A subset of users were able to garner a large following and become “investment celebrities,” enjoying fame and often fortune. Figuring out the best path forward with respect to the U.S. launch was complicated by shifts in the competitive landscape, which had seen consolidation of large players in the U.S. market and the emergence of fintech firms that offered zero commission trading and appealed to millennials. The U.S. regulatory approval was a pivotal milestone in eToro’s evolution. But with a limited suite of products, a modest community and a market where zero-commission stock trading was already commonplace, the management team deliberated on what it would take to make inroads in the U.S. and what success could look like.
Related

Amazon Shopper Panel: Paying Customers for Their Data

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli
  • January 2021 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
This case introduces a new Amazon program that offers consumers money o have consumers upload their receipts from transactions outside of Amazon, in exchange for money. Through the discussion, the case aims to exlpore issues in customers’ privacy in the digital age, the value of customers’ private data, and the change in regulations aimed to protect consumers that move companies from using third party data to first party data. In addition, the cae offers an opportunity to discuss the power dynmaics of online giants such as Amazon, Google, and Facebook.
Keywords: Data Analytics; Data Privacy; Data Management; Marketing; ＂marketing Analytics＂; Marketing Communication; Marketing Research; Data-driven Management; E-commerce; E-commerce Strategy; Ethical Decision Making; Customer Relationship Management; Crm; Consumer Protection; Targeted Advertising; Targeted Policies; Data Ownership; Marketing; Retail Industry; Technology Industry; United States
Related

Pearson: Efficacy 2.0

By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini, Oded Koenigsberg and James Weber
  • January 2021 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
Pearson, that billed itself as the "world's learning company", faced a host of critical decisions in mid-2020. Several years prior, it had embarked on a new path that put the learner at the heart of the business and committed to a new strategic orientation. The new approach, under the heading of "efficacy", was meant to ensure that products and services were developed with measurable outcomes that mattered to learners in mind; and such offerings would further be taken to market with an emphasis on touting their efficacy credentials. While several efficacy reports had been produced on existing products to hone the framework, 2020 marked the first year Pearson launched a new product (the AIDA Calculus app) with efficacy in mind from the get go. As CEO John Fallon, the main architect behind efficacy, neared the end of his tenure at Pearson, he wanted to chart the next phase of the efficacy journey. In particular, should the company develop all its products and services with efficacy as the guiding principle? Which learner outcomes made the most sense to focus on in the future? How could Pearson better communicate efficacy in the marketplace and get it to resonate with various stakeholders - particuarly educators and learners? With competitors following suit and using efficacy in their own communications, often without the same rigor that Pearson had applied, how should Pearson combat such "copy-cat" behavior? Was efficacy a pillar upon which to build the Pearson brand? In short, should he and his successor bet the "Pearson farm" on efficacy?
Keywords: Education Industry
Related

Tencent: Combining Technology and Culture

By: Elie Ofek, Billy Chan and Dawn H. Lau
  • December 2020 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
Tencent, one of the largest Internet conglomerates in China, had a vision to become a "Tech+Culture" firm. With dominant market shares in online games and social networking, it had built a vast Internet-based entertainment ecosystem, and was now focused on cultural asset development. Specifically, the company had an opportunity to develop a media franchise that was rich in Chinese cultural elements and had the potential to turn into a blockbuster franchise comparable with Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe. Edward Cheng, the company’s vice president, had to decide how to launch the franchise – whether it should start with a game, movie, a streamed series, or something more innovative. He also had to consider how to promote Chinese culture and project the country’s image to a foreign audience.
Keywords: Marketing; China
Related

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra: Cultural Entrepreneurship (B) Case Supplement

By: Rohit Deshpandé
  • December 2020 |
  • Supplement |
  • Faculty Research
This case includes links to case supplement videos for students to view with the written case before class, and also supplement videos for faculty to use exclusively during class.
Related

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra: Cultural Entrepreneurship Case Supplement

By: Rohit Deshpandé
  • December 2020 |
  • Supplement |
  • Faculty Research
This case includes links to case supplement videos for students to view with the written case before class, and also supplement videos for faculty to use exclusively during class.
Related
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Contact Information

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