Marketing →
- 16 Jun 2008
- Research & Ideas
Seven Tips for Managing Price Increases
Consumers get hit with the price-increase hammer every time they drive past a gas station. John Quelch offers tips on how marketers can cope with inflation and consumer sticker shock. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 May 2008
- Research & Ideas
Connecting with Consumers Using Deep Metaphors
Consumer needs and desires are not entirely mysterious. In fact, marketers of successful brands regularly draw on a rich assortment of insights excavated from research into basic frames or orientations we have toward the world around us, according to HBS professor emeritus Gerald Zaltman and Lindsay Zaltman, authors of Marketing Metaphoria. Here's a Q&A and book excerpt. Key concepts include: Deep metaphors are powerful predictors of what customers think and how they react to new or existing goods and services. The seven deep metaphors discussed in Marketing Metaphoria appear across a variety of products. Recent advances in various disciplines are providing concepts and techniques enabling marketers to dig into what consumers don't know they know. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 01 May 2008
- Research & Ideas
The Marketing Challenges of the China Olympics
The Olympic Games are normally a marketer's dream. Not so much this year, given widespread protests against the Chinese government. Professor John Quelch outlines the branding challenges posed by this year's Games in Beijing. Key concepts include: Political pressure directed at the Chinese government will also pose challenges for Olympic Games sponsors, who don't want to be associated with the controversy. Given the prominence of China as a supplier and customer, it is unlikely that we will witness grandstanding boycotts of the Games by any company. Some marketers are employing a dual marketing approach, with China-specific campaigns inside the country but less Beijing-centric messaging outside. Marketers are not over-committing funds to Olympics-related brand advertising and promotions. The normal Olympics year advertising boost may be less than expected. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 30 Apr 2008
- Sharpening Your Skills
Sharpening Your Skills: Brand Management
Should I trust my brand to a sports endorser? Does B2B branding work? What does mystery writer James Patterson know about branding that I don't? Here are some recent Working Knowledge articles on issues that keep brand managers up at night. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 21 Apr 2008
- Research & Ideas
The New Math of Customer Relationships
Harvard Business School professor emeritus James L. Heskett has spent much of his career exploring how satisfied employees and customers can drive lifelong profit. Heskett and his colleagues will soon introduce a new concept into the business management literature: customer and employee "owners." Key concepts include: Service profit chain concepts are global, subject only to local cultural practices. Businesses are experimenting with the idea of creating "owners" out of both customers and employees, who create the highest lifetime value to the organization. During times of economic stress, relationships between customer and employee satisfaction, loyalty, and productivity become more critical. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 04 Apr 2008
- What Do You Think?
Who Owns Intellectual Property?
Online forum now closed. Is intellectual property becoming community property? While the impact of change on the valuation of IP is of concern to some respondents, others wonder whether the issues are overblown. HBS professor Jim Heskett sums up responses to this month's column. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 02 Apr 2008
- Research & Ideas
Four Companies that Conquered America
Any self-respecting global company needs to compete in the United States, but many have floundered on its shores. Professor John Quelch spotlights the strategies of four that succeeded: Royal Bank of Scotland, IKEA, ING, and Dyson. Key concepts include: Royal Bank of Scotland built strong market share by acquiring regional banks and letting them maintain local identities. IKEA offers a unique furniture buying experience coupled with category-killer prices. ING gave its entrepreneurial general manager the green light to offer retail banking services exclusively on an online basis. Dyson started with a great product, then found a big-bang distributor: Best Buy. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 19 Mar 2008
- Research & Ideas
Finding Success in the Middle of the Market
Let's face it—the middle market isn't sexy. Sears isn't Victoria's Secret. But it can be very profitable to know how to play "midfield" adroitly, says professor and soccer enthusiast John Quelch. Key concepts include: Midfield represents the middle of the market, to which one end of the market aspires to trade up while the other end may have to trade down. A company controls midfield by fielding a complete product line that includes backs and forwards. Cost and service tradeoffs are required of companies that continue to dominate the middle ground. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 13 Mar 2008
- Working Paper Summaries
An Investigation of Earnings Management through Marketing Actions
Earnings management behavior may be divided into two categories: 1) the opportunistic exercise of accounting discretion; and 2) the opportunistic structuring of real transactions. This paper focuses on the latter by providing evidence that managers use retail-level marketing actions (price discounts, feature advertisements, and aisle displays) to influence the timing of consumers' purchases in relation to their firms' fiscal calendars and financial performance. The results will be of interest to practitioners negotiating with suppliers as well as those responsible for setting price and promotion strategy in response to competitor actions, and practitioners responsible for designing incentive-based compensation as well as regulators monitoring reporting of fiscal period-ending promotion. Key concepts include: Marketing actions that produce short-term results occur more frequently when firms have incentive to manage reported earnings upwards. While these actions boost unit sales, revenue, and profits in the near term, the resulting gains come at the expense of long-term profit and may not be in the strategic interest of the firm. These results imply that firms make systematic decisions across their product lines to manage earnings and indicate the behavior is being driven by parties higher in the firm than the brand managers. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 12 Mar 2008
- Working Paper Summaries
Allocating Marketing Resources
Deciding how to allocate marketing resources is particularly difficult because decisions need to be made at many different levels—across countries, products, marketing mix elements, and different vehicles within elements of the mix (e.g., television versus the Internet for advertising). With the increasing availability of data and sophistication in methods, it is now possible to more judiciously allocate marketing resources. In this paper, HBS professors Gupta and Steenburgh discuss a two-stage process where a model of demand is estimated in stage-one and its estimates are used as inputs in an optimization model in stage-two. The researchers propose a matrix with three approaches for each of these two stages, and discuss the pros and cons of these methods. They highlight each method with applications and case studies to present rigorous yet practical approaches to making marketing resource allocation decisions. Key concepts include: This paper lays out a framework for managers who are responsible for allocating marketing resources for their products and services. Scores of studies in the area of allocating marketing resources now make it possible to form empirical generalizations about the impact of marketing actions on sales and profits. In practical terms, information about marketing resource allocation makes a significant impact at all levels of an organization. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 03 Mar 2008
- Research & Ideas
Marketing Your Way Through a Recession
In a recession, consumers become value oriented, distributors are concerned about cash, and employees worry about their jobs. But a downturn is no time to stop spending on marketing. The key, says professor John Quelch, is to understand how the needs of your customers and partners change, and adapt your strategies to the new reality. Key concepts include: Brands that increase advertising during a downturn can improve market share and return on investment. Early-buy allowances, extended financing, and generous return policies motivate distributors to stock your full product line. In tough times, price cuts attract more consumer support than promotions. CEOs must spend more time with customers and employees. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 11 Feb 2008
- Research & Ideas
Does Democracy Need a Marketing Manager?
It's more than coincidence that we feel more association with our favorite consumer brands than with our elected politicians or government institutions. Can the power of marketing be used to promote public participation in politics? Harvard Business School professor John A. Quelch and research associate Katherine E. Jocz discuss their new book, Greater Good: How Good Marketing Makes for Better Democracy. Plus: book excerpt. Key concepts include: The core benefits of marketing align closely with the requirements of democracy: exchange, consumption, choice, information, engagement, and inclusion. Voter apathy in the United States could be improved by better marketing of candidates, the political process, political parties, and government institutions. This year's presidential race is increasing voter interest because it offers a diversity of choices. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 17 Jan 2008
- Research & Ideas
If Marketing Experts Ran Elections
Most Americans seem indifferent about the political process, judging by lackluster voter turnout historically, although the primaries so far seem to be bucking the trend. Professor John Quelch discusses what politicians can learn from consumer marketing. Key concepts include: Americans are turned off by the electoral process for a number of reasons including a belief their vote won't make a difference and the mixed messages from candidates. People have stronger relationships with their favorite consumer brands than they do with politicians or parties. Politics needs better marketing, focusing on current and emerging customer needs, developing product and service solutions, informing interested citizens about them, and making them easily accessible. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 14 Dec 2007
- Op-Ed
When Your Product Becomes a Commodity
Like death and taxes, commoditization of your products is a given. Marketing professor John Quelch offers tips for delaying the inevitable and dealing with it once it arrives. Key concepts include: The speed from product launch to maturity is faster than ever before. Innovate, bundle, and segment are 3 things marketers can do to delay commoditization. Managers already in a commoditized market must rethink salesforce compensation and pricing, trim costs, acquire competitors, and fire unprofitable customers. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 03 Dec 2007
- Research & Ideas
Authenticity over Exaggeration: The New Rule in Advertising
Advertisers thought technology was their friend in identifying and creating new customers. Funny thing happened along the way, though: Now consumers are using the Internet to blunt traditional commercial messages. Time for companies to rethink their strategy, says HBS professor John A. Deighton. Key concepts include: In today's media-rich world, traditional advertising models are breaking down. Now, the consumer runs the show. Successful advertising campaigns today are self-parodying and spark discussions rather than blatantly sell products. As digital interactivity increases the contexts in which people use new media, it becomes less and less productive to think of people as consumers alone. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 28 Nov 2007
- Research & Ideas
B2B Branding: Does it Work?
Does it make sense for B2B companies to take a cue from consumer companies and invest in brand awareness? Many B2B CEOs say no, but HBS marketing professor John Quelch disagrees in his latest blog entry. Key concepts include: Most B2B marketers cannot economically address thousands of small businesses using the traditional direct sales force. If left unattended, individual managers will each do their own ad hoc marketing. B2B marketers are realizing that developing brand awareness among their customers' customers can capture a larger share of channel margins and build loyalty that can protect them against lower-priced competitors. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 20 Nov 2007
- Working Paper Summaries
The “Fees → Savings” Link, or Purchasing Fifty Pounds of Pasta
Discount membership clubs have a large and growing presence in retail—one recent survey reported that Costco sells to 1 in every 11 people in the United States and Canada, and warehouse clubs are estimated to be a $120 billion industry today in the United States alone. As a result, many people have had the experience of entering one of these popular clubs and leaving hours later with more goods than can fit in their car. One rational reason for such behavior is that membership clubs do offer lower prices than other retailers. However, Norton and Lee offer a counterintuitive explanation for such buying behavior. They propose that the presence of membership fees alone—independent of the actual savings on any given product—can lead consumers to infer a "fees → savings" link, leading them to spend more than they otherwise would to capitalize on these perceived "great deals." Norton and Lee explore this phenomenon by setting up their own "membership clubs" and comparing profits across stores with varying membership fees. Key concepts include: Consumers behave irrationally in response to membership fees. When stores charge membership fees, consumers infer a "fees → savings" link due to their belief that stores that charge fees do so because they offer better prices. The presence of fees leads to increased spending. Consumers in the study were more likely to express a desire to shop at stores that charged fees than those that did not, even when products and savings were similar. With exceptions, there may be a curvilinear relationship between fees and savings: fees that are too low serve as a hook to make people pay more later; medium fees indicate good prices and decent quality and service; and high fees signal exclusivity and high prices. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 07 Nov 2007
- Op-Ed
How Marketing Hype Hurt Boeing and Apple
In his latest blog entry, professor John Quelch looks at the examples of Boeing and Apple to investigate why shareholders have little patience for companies that hype high but deliver low. Key concepts include: The penalties for not delivering on marketing promises are fast becoming as significant as not meeting quarterly earnings targets. Do not risk marketing hype unless you are sure of both your supply curve and your demand curve. Hype can hurt stock prices and investor confidence when expectations are not met. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 29 Oct 2007
- HBS Case
Marketing Maria: Managing the Athlete Endorsement
Anita Elberse discusses her research on sports marketing and a case study on tennis powerhouse Maria Sharapova. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
Starbucks’ Lessons for Premium Brands
After building a great franchise offering a unique customer experience, Starbucks diluted its brand when it overexpanded and offered too many new products. John Quelch thinks the trouble began when the company went public. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.