Set in 2023, the case features Sanergy, a Kenya-based social enterprise founded by three MIT graduates. Sanergy''s circular sanitation model comprised a not-for-profit toilet unit, which provided safe access to sanitation and waste collection, and a for-profit agriproducts unit, which treated the waste and upcycled it into saleable organic products. Ten years after Sanergy''s 2011 launch, cofounders David Auerbach, Lindsay Stradley, .....more

Firms and investors alike are beginning to recognize the importance of tracking how revenues from existing customers are evolving over time and to appreciate the value in understanding what might explain changes in these revenues. Consequently, in addition to looking at measures such as the retention rate to assess customer base health, they have begun examining a quantity called Net Revenue Retention, or NRR, which measures the fraction (or percent) .....more

Channels of distribution are a critical component of a firm''s go to market strategy. A company may elect to sell its products directly to customers (DTC) without the assistance of any intermediaries or, alternatively, it may seek several channel partners to help it reach various customer segments at various locations. Regardless of the route(s) taken to make products and services available to customers, a company needs to understand the pricing .....more

The technologies driving artificial intelligence (AI) had progressed significantly since HubSpot''s acquisition of Motion AI in 2017. Generative AI was the newest major development. Software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies such as HubSpot were analyzing how generative AI could impact marketing and sales processes in two ways: hyperpersonalized and contextual content generation to feed the top of their sales funnels and intelligent chatbots for .....more

Years before the Barbie movie phenomenon, leaders at Mattel became concerned that consumer perceptions of the famous doll were out of sync with demographic trends. The company conducted in-depth research to understand how customers felt about Barbie and to determine whether more-inclusive versions presented a strong market opportunity. The findings led to a new inclusion strategy that affected all areas of the brand-product design, distribution, and .....more

The author argues for an industry in which unethical behavior is punished; professional expectations, pay, and desired outcomes are standardized; and creators are given the same rights and protections as other professional marketers.

Celebrities have shifted from endorsing established brands to being influencers for established brands to drawing on their influence to create brands themselves. The authors examine what it takes to make celebrity brands work.

Followers respond more favorably to sponsored posts by virtual influencers versus those by humans, costs are lower, and creating an influencer from scratch allows marketers to introduce more diversity.

The authors'' research findings: Athletes'' image and quality of social media posts are more important than their follower counts, posts should feature sports more than personal content, and sexy imagery should be avoided.

The product recommendation website BeM was launched in 2020 in Brazil to explore the significant and untapped potential of the country''s online reviews market. Inspired by US models, BeM''s webpages featured expert-generated reviews of products in four categories: air fryers, headphones and earbuds, Bluetooth speakers, and irons. Its revenue model centered on participating in affiliate marketing programs: BeM''s website included .....more