Consumer Products →
- 05 Dec 2023
- Cold Call Podcast
Tommy Hilfiger’s Adaptive Clothing Line: Making Fashion Inclusive
In 2017, Tommy Hilfiger launched its adaptive fashion line to provide fashion apparel that aims to make dressing easier. By 2020, it was still a relatively unknown line in the U.S. and the Tommy Hilfiger team was continuing to learn more about how to serve these new customers. Should the team make adaptive clothing available beyond the U.S., or is a global expansion premature? Assistant Professor Elizabeth Keenan discusses the opportunities and challenges that accompanied the introduction of a new product line that effectively serves an entirely new customer while simultaneously starting a movement to provide fashion for all in the case, “Tommy Hilfiger Adaptive: Fashion for All.”
- 17 Oct 2023
- HBS Case
With Subscription Fatigue Setting In, Companies Need to Think Hard About Fees
Subscriptions are available for everything from dental floss to dog toys, but are consumers tiring of monthly fees? Elie Ofek says that subscription revenue can provide stability, but companies need to tread carefully or risk alienating customers.
- 05 Jul 2023
- Cold Call Podcast
How Unilever Is Preparing for the Future of Work
Launched in 2016, Unilever’s Future of Work initiative aimed to accelerate the speed of change throughout the organization and prepare its workforce for a digitalized and highly automated era. But despite its success over the last three years, the program still faces significant challenges in its implementation. How should Unilever, one of the world's largest consumer goods companies, best prepare and upscale its workforce for the future? How should Unilever adapt and accelerate the speed of change throughout the organization? Is it even possible to lead a systematic, agile workforce transformation across several geographies while accounting for local context? Harvard Business School professor and faculty co-chair of the Managing the Future of Work Project William Kerr and Patrick Hull, Unilever’s vice president of global learning and future of work, discuss how rapid advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation are changing the nature of work in the case, “Unilever's Response to the Future of Work.”
- 31 May 2023
- HBS Case
Why Business Leaders Need to Hear Larry Miller's Story
VIDEO: Nike executive Larry Miller concealed his criminal past to get a job. What if more companies were willing to hire people with blemishes on their records? Hise Gibson explores why business leaders should give the formerly incarcerated a second chance.
- 31 May 2023
- HBS Case
From Prison Cell to Nike’s C-Suite: The Journey of Larry Miller
VIDEO: Before leading one of the world’s largest brands, Nike executive Larry Miller served time in prison for murder. In this interview, Miller shares how education helped him escape a life of crime and why employers should give the formerly incarcerated a second chance. Inspired by a Harvard Business School case study.
- 30 May 2023
- Research & Ideas
Can AI Predict Whether Shoppers Would Pick Crest Over Colgate?
Is it the end of customer surveys? Definitely not, but research by Ayelet Israeli sheds light on the potential for generative AI to improve market research. But first, businesses will need to learn to harness the technology.
- 25 Apr 2023
- Op-Ed
How SHEIN and Temu Conquered Fast Fashion—and Forged a New Business Model
The platforms SHEIN and Temu match consumer demand and factory output, bringing Chinese production to the rest of the world. The companies have remade fast fashion, but their pioneering approach has the potential to go far beyond retail, says John Deighton.
- 24 Apr 2023
- HBS Case
What Does It Take to Build as Much Buzz as Booze? Inside the Epic Challenge of Cannabis-Infused Drinks
The market for cannabis products has exploded as more states legalize marijuana. But the path to success is rife with complexity as a case study about the beverage company Cann by Ayelet Israeli illustrates.
- 11 Apr 2023
- Research & Ideas
Is Amazon a Retailer, a Tech Firm, or a Media Company? How AI Can Help Investors Decide
More companies are bringing seemingly unrelated businesses together in new ways, challenging traditional stock categories. MarcAntonio Awada and Suraj Srinivasan discuss how applying machine learning to regulatory data could reveal new opportunities for investors.
- 04 Apr 2023
- Book
Two Centuries of Business Leaders Who Took a Stand on Social Issues
Executives going back to George Cadbury and J. N. Tata have been trying to improve life for their workers and communities, according to the book Deeply Responsible Business: A Global History of Values-Driven Leadership by Geoffrey Jones. He highlights three practices that deeply responsible companies share.
- 03 Mar 2023
- Research & Ideas
When Showing Know-How Backfires for Women Managers
Women managers might think they need to roll up their sleeves and work alongside their teams to show their mettle. But research by Alexandra Feldberg shows how this strategy can work against them. How can employers provide more support?
- 17 Jan 2023
- Cold Call Podcast
Nestlé’s KitKat Diplomacy: Neutrality vs. Shared Value
In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, and multinational companies began pulling out of Russia, in response. At Switzerland-based Nestlé, chief executive Mark Schneider had a difficult decision to make. Nestlé had a long tradition of neutrality that enabled it to operate in countries regardless of their political systems and human rights policies. But more recently the company had embraced Michael Porter’s “shared value” paradigm, which argues that companies have a responsibility to improve the business community and the health of their communities. What should Schneider do? Professor Geoffrey Jones discusses the viability of the shared value concept and the social responsibility of transnational corporations today in the case, “Nestlé, Shared Value and Kit Kat Diplomacy.”
- 08 Dec 2022
- HBS Case
The War in Ukraine and Nestlé’s Moral Dilemma: Stay or Leave Russia?
Nestlé had to choose whether to leave Russia in protest and potentially deprive civilians of essential goods, such as baby formula, or stay and face global outrage. A case study by Nien-hê Hsieh explores this complex decision and offers advice for leaders weighing fraught questions.
- 06 Dec 2022
- Research & Ideas
Latest Isn’t Always Greatest: Why Product Updates Capture Consumers
Consumers can't pass up a product update—even if there's no improvement. Research by Leslie John, Michael Norton, and Ximena Garcia-Rada illustrates the powerful allure of change. Are we really that naïve?
- 26 Jul 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
Can Bombas Reach New Customers while Maintaining Its Social Mission?
Bombas was started in 2013 with a dual mission: to deliver quality socks and donate much-needed footwear to people living in shelters. By 2021, it had become one of America’s most visible buy-one-give-one companies, with over $250 million in annual revenue and 50 million pairs of socks donated. Later, as Bombas expanded into underwear, t-shirts, and slippers, the company struggled to determine what pace of growth would best allow it to reach new customers while maintaining its social mission. Harvard Business School assistant professor Elizabeth Keenan discusses the case, "Bee-ing Better at Bombas."
- 22 Feb 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
How to Scale a Startup Marketplace for Used Furniture
AptDeco, a peer-to-peer marketplace for used furniture in the New York City area, was growing rapidly in the massive $120 billion furniture market, despite its complexity and high costs. Co-founders Reham Fagiri and Kalam Dennis were considering different options to scale the business, including converting sellers into buyers and vice versa, finding superusers to fuel the supply for their platform, expanding to new markets, and rebranding with a sustainability focus. Professor Ayelet Israeli and AptDeco co-founder Kalam Dennis discuss the best way to scale the business in the case, “AptDeco: Circular Economy Furniture Marketplace.” Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 29 Jun 2021
- Cold Call Podcast
Procter & Gamble’s Lean Innovation Transformation
When Kathy Fish became Procter & Gamble’s Chief Research, Development & Innovation Officer in 2014, she was concerned that the world’s leading consumer packaged goods company had lost its capability to produce a steady stream of disruptive innovations. In addition, intensifying competition from direct-to-consumer companies convinced Fish that P&G needed to renew its value proposition to make all aspects of the consumer experience “irresistibly superior.” But making this change would require wholesale transformation from within. Can Fish bring lean innovation to scale at Procter & Gamble? Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Emily Truelove discusses the challenges of bringing this established company back to an innovative mindset in her case, “Kathy Fish at Procter & Gamble: Navigating Industry Disruption by Disrupting from Within.” Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 02 Nov 2020
- What Do You Think?
Is Antitrust Just a Quaint Notion in the Digital Age?
SUMMING UP: Given the US Department of Justice's new antitrust complaint against Google, is it time to revisit what defines a market monopoly in the internet era? James Heskett's readers consider the potential ramifications. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 17 Oct 2019
- Research & Ideas
‘Chick Beer’ for Women? Why Gender Marketing Repels More Than Sells
Just how far will women go to avoid products labeled "for women?" Research by Leslie K. John and colleagues explores why gender marketing usually offends the very people a company is trying to attract. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
Psychological Pricing Tactics to Fight the Inflation Blues
Inflation has slowed from the epic rates of 2021 and 2022, but many consumers still feel pinched. What will it take to encourage them to spend? Thoughtful pricing strategies that empower customers as they make purchasing decisions, says research by Elie Ofek.