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Conjoint Analysis has become one of the most commonly used quantitative market research methods. It has been successfully employed across a wide variety of industries to quantify consumer preferences for products and services. This technical note is intended to provide practical guidelines for designing, conducting and analyzing a conjoint analysis survey. The note discusses the six steps needed to effectively run a conjoint analysis study, and includes advice on best practices to follow and what pitfalls to avoid. Several user-friendly Microsoft Excel spreadsheets accompany this note and can be used as aids when implementing and analyzing a conjoint study.

Small and midsize companies that want to expand abroad often face a daunting task: finding the sweet spot between multinationals, with their extensive resources and economies of scale, and the smaller players in the foreign markets, which have an intimate understanding of local conditions. The more than 75 Israeli companies that have transformed themselves into global players in the past four decades prove that it can be done. Their approach: Focus on countries and regions that offer an opportunity that multinationals don't find attractive and local companies can't adequately address, and then penetrate this middle ground in ways that won't immediately trigger a response. Given the size of their home market and their limited opportunities in the Middle East, Israeli companies have not had many other options for pursuing growth. The stories of three Israeli companies--Netafim, Teva Pharmaceutical, and Amdocs--illustrate tactics for seizing the middle ground: Evade the giants, disguise yourself as a local, and focus on weak spots.

In his August 2012 earnings call, CEO Ron Johnson urged investors to be patient and stay the course with the revised JC Penney marketing strategy despite mounting negative financial indicators. The heart of the strategy was the "Fair and Square" approach to pricing. This was a switch from J.C. Penney's previous high-low pricing program to a new everyday low pricing policy that aimed to fit with a radical repositioning of the JC Penney business model and brand. However, with sales continuing to decline the Board fired Johnson in April 2013 and appointed Johnson's predecessor Myron E. "Mike" Ullman III as his successor. What would Ullman do to stop JC Penney's losses? Would he push forward with Johnson's "Fair and Square" vision; would he return to the former strategy; could he manage a hybrid strategy; or would he define a new path for the retailer to follow?

Rehired in April 2013, Myron E. "Mike" Ullman III was brought back to stabilize the retailer's business. Under Ron Johnson's "Fair and Square" program, sales had declined rapidly and quarterly losses and expensive capital investments had put severe pressure on cash reserves. Ullman decided to combine "Fair and Square" everyday low pricing and high/low pricing to reverse the negative trend. For example, to welcome people back to its stores, J.C. Penney ran deep discount sales for Mother's Day and Veteran's Day. By November 2013 the retail stores posted positive sales comparisons year over year, the first time since December 2011. However, margins remained low and Wall Street was wondering if J.C. Penney was sacrificing margin to drive store traffic. Would 2013 holiday sales be strong enough for J.C. Penney to begin building stronger margins? Would another strategy have been more effective? Did the board dispose of Johnson too quickly? Was it wise to bring back Ullman? Can J.C. Penney get back on its feet?

As he gets ready to release 2nd quarter 2012 results, Ron Johnson, the new CEO of department store J.C. Penney, is reconsidering the dramatic changes he initiated for the business model and brand image of his company. A new pricing scheme he put in place in February, dubbed "Fair and square", was a central component of the new strategy. The scheme initially had three pricing tiers and eliminated typical sales promotions in an attempt to simplify the shopping experience for consumers; thus moving J.C. Penney off its previous high-low pricing practice. Other components of the new strategy included a new store layout, the inclusion of several well-known brands, and having special lines designed by well-known designers. However, troubling first quarter results that continued into the summer months seemed to indicate that J.C. Penney shoppers, accustomed to receiving JCP Cash coupons and circulars advertising the week's specials, were slow to embrace the new pricing format and began leaving the retailer in droves. Under enormous pressure to turn things around as the all-important back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons were imminent, Johnson decided to make adjustments to the initial pricing scheme that were set to go into effect August 1st. Were these changes enough to turn things around? Should Johnson stay the course on the other elements of his repositioning efforts? Is Johnson's experience in setting up Apple stores helping or hurting him as he tries to achieve his goal of making J.C. Penney "America's favorite store?" (This is an abridged version of the original case, "J.C. Penney's "Fair and Square" Pricing Strategy", 513-036.)

In recent years design has emerged as a critical factor in the success of many new products. This case exercise provides a hands-on way to experience the design process and offers a structured approach for incorporating key considerations that can aid in effective design. Students are asked to generate ideas for the design of a new reusable travel coffee mug. Relevant information on the consumer coffee market and on existing coffee mugs is provided. To assist students in this task, they are presented with an approach employed by the design firm RKS and which has been called Psycho-Aesthetics (PA) by its pioneer Ravi Sawhney. The PA process involves in-depth market research and visualization, a lens to assess existing competitive offerings, the creation of potential customer personas, and imagining a "hero's journey." When combined, these analyses allow designers to conceive elements that will result in a new product or service that delivers a unique customer connection for a specific target market. The exercise gives students an example of a company that successfully used PA principles to design and launch a new reusable water bottle in the late-2000s. It then asks them to follow the PA process to design a reusable travel coffee mug. The exercise includes exhibits to help students visualize the market, and an appendix with a detailed explanation of the PA process.

In December 2012, Amir Peleg, founder and CEO of TaKaDu, reflected on how to position his young firm for the next fiscal year and beyond. The small Israeli startup had developed an innovative software system that used patented algorithms and statistical analysis to detect problems such as leaks, bursts, and faulty equipment within a water utility's infrastructure. Such problems caused significant water and energy loss at many utilities, led to service interruptions for consumers, and were only getting worse as the existing infrastructure aged. Since its founding in 2009, TaKaDu had attracted nine customers from around the world. However, as Peleg and his executive team debated how to allocate funding for the upcoming year, he needed to decide whether to focus on R&D to improve and add to TaKaDu's existing software and become the clear technology leader, or move ahead with its current offering and focus on getting new customers to penetrate the market as quickly as possible before competition intensified. Some in the company called for devoting the bulk of TaKaDu's resources to making the system more easily deployable, as deploying the TaKaDu service with a new customer could take up to two months. Peleg also wondered if the company should continue to pursue sales leads from anywhere in the world, or focus on one geographic market (and if so, what region should he choose)? An Australian water utility had made a public announcement it was accepting bids to implement a smart water network monitoring system and Peleg wanted to discuss if and how aggressively TaKaDu should bid on the contract with his management team. TaKaDu already had one Australian customer, was this the region to focus on?

Château Margaux, one of only five prestigious estates in the Bordeaux Medoc wine region to have been classified as a "first-growth", is facing a host of strategic decisions in early 2013. Up until this point the estate had been selling two red wines, a first wine whose retail price often exceeded $1000 a bottle, and a second wine whose retail price often exceeded $200 a bottle. Owner Corinne Mentzelopoulos and her management team were now preparing to launch a new third wine made from the estate's production not used to make the first two. They have to decide whether the best go-to-market strategy is to sell the third wine to the local Bordeaux merchants and relinquish commercialization to them or to devise a complete marketing plan for the new wine that includes: target market selection, positioning, quantity to release, pricing, channel structure and brand name. Mentzelopoulos was considering the optimal marketing for the third wine in light of bold moves by other first-growths, such as the purchase of vineyards in the Bordeaux region, global expansion, and deviation from the centuries-old tradition of selling wine in the futures market.

Riding the popularity of a great first product is easy; finding the next one is hard. Written by Elie Ofek and Jill Avery, this fictional HBR Case Study features expert commentary by Gauri Nanda and Ravi Sawhney.

Riding the popularity of a great first product is easy; finding the next one is hard. Written by Elie Ofek and Jill Avery, this fictional HBR Case Study features expert commentary by Gauri Nanda and Ravi Sawhney.

Riding the popularity of a great first product is easy; finding the next one is hard. Written by Elie Ofek and Jill Avery, this fictional HBR Case Study features expert commentary by Gauri Nanda and Ravi Sawhney.

This case tracks the new product development process undertaken by Gauri Nanda, the founder and CEO of Nanda Home, as she ventures to innovate beyond her initial product launches. Having achieved commercial success with her first product Clocky, a roll away alarm clock that owners interacted with in a way they found functionally and emotionally appealing, and after two extensions of the line, Nanda thought it was time to design, develop and market another item that would solve an everyday problem with lifelike charm. She wanted to create a clock that would appeal to children and their parents by facilitating kids' going to sleep and waking up routines. However, there were several factors Nanda had to grapple with before she could commit to final manufacturing design and development. Did she conduct sufficient market research to verify the desire for the 'Clockiddie' concept and the features planned? Were her assumptions about parents and kids valid to suggest the product would be in high demand once launched? Could she keep a premium price point in a consumer market that was trending downward in willingness to pay? Should she cut back on differentiating features to reduce costs and price? Or could the product be engineered under current specifications to an acceptable cost of goods and retail price point? These decisions had to be made soon so that the product could be launched to meet the back to school buying period.

For centuries Lafite has been the most admired wine Estate in the world. How does Baron Eric de Rothschild protect this crown jewel in a conservative manner while DBR develops other Chateaux blending wine programs,and reaches out to new areas such as China and begins to take a more active interest in the world's number one market- the United States.

How should Eli Lilly further develop and market a new indication of its highly successful erectile-dysfunction (ED) drug, Cialis, without confusing Cialis's hard-won brand equity with physicians and patients? With the final stages of clinical trials for the new indication, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), soon to be carried out, the team had to make a decision soon. On its face, the market opportunity for a BPH indication, and its synergies with an ED drug, seemed enormous: both ED and BPH were age-related conditions, and data showed that half of men with ED had BPH symptoms. Moreover, the BPH indication would be taken in the same frequency and dosing as the once-a-day version of Cialis. However, market research had revealed significant challenges in introducing the BPH indication under the Cialis name. For example, although ED and BPH often co-existed, men perceived them quite differently. Some physicians also reacted negatively to the BPH indication. Impending competition from low-price ED generics, given that Viagra would soon be going off patent, underscored the importance of the BPH opportunity.

As a he gets ready to release 2nd quarter 2012 results, Ron Johnson, the new CEO of department store J.C. Penney, is reconsidering the dramatic changes he initiated for the business model and brand image of his company. A new pricing scheme he put in place in February, dubbed "Fair and square", was a central component of the new strategy. The scheme initially had three pricing tiers and eliminated typical sales promotions in an attempt to simplify the shopping experience for consumers; thus moving J.C. Penney off its previous high-low pricing practice. Other components of the new strategy included a new store layout, the inclusion of several well-known brands, and having special lines designed by well-known designers. However, troubling first quarter results that continued into the summer months seemed to indicate that J.C. Penney shoppers, accustomed to receiving JCP Cash coupons and circulars advertising the week's specials, were slow to embrace the new pricing format and began leaving the retailer in droves. Under enormous pressure to turn things around as the all-important back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons were imminent, Johnson decided to make adjustments to the initial pricing scheme that were set to go into effect August 1st. Were these changes enough to turn things around? Should Johnson stay the course on the other elements of his repositioning efforts? Is Johnson's experience in setting up Apple stores helping or hurting him as he tries to achieve his goal of making J.C. Penney "America's favorite store"?

In mid-2008, Shai Agassi, CEO of Better Place, is in the midst of planning a paradigm shift in clean transportation. In an attempt to wean the world from using gasoline-powered vehicles, his company is playing the role of innovator and integrator for new vehicles, charging spots, and battery switch stations. The effort also requires aligning various parties, from governments to auto manufacturers to consumers. The fledgling company has made good progress in both Israel and Denmark as the first two launch locations but faces a series of decisions on the best course of action going forward. Agassi must decide how best to market in these two countries given the likely adoption challenges once the infrastructure and cars are ready, as well as decide how quickly to begin pursuing other countries (and if so, which ones). A big part of the Better Place solution relies on a novel business model that needs to be evaluated for its attractiveness and feasibility.

Details Nike Football's marketing efforts in the lead up to and during the World Cup in South Africa (2010). Allows students to reflect on the implementation of the strategy and to think about the implications for Nike as it begins preparing for the World Cup in 2014.

In mid 2010 the Sealed Air Corporation has to decide on next steps for its novel video tracking technology (called VTID) after unsuccessful attempts to market it in three different industry settings. The company must determine whether its most recent target market, the quick-serve restaurant segment, is still worth pursuing or whether the company should look for a different application and market altogether. The company could also revisit the previous two applications, tracking and tracing processed meat and tracking employee safety practices. At the other extreme, after seven years of R&D and marketing efforts and millions of dollars in expenses, the company could cease attempts to commercialize VTID.

The Clorox Company needs to decide on the marketing strategy going forward for its three sustainable brands, Brita, Burt's Bees and Green Works. These brands had fared differently over the past 3 years and each presents multiple courses of action heading into 2011. Management also needs to assess the role the sustainable brands play in Clorox's overall Corporate Responsibility strategy and the implications they have for the other brands (such as Clorox Bleach, 409, and Hidden Valley). The company has set aggressive financial targets in light of its upcoming centennial in 2013. Students need to evaluate whether sustainability is an enduring trend that Clorox should embrace for future growth or whether focusing on its core brands, which currently represent 90% of sales, is a better approach.

Julie Bornstein, senior vice president of Sephora Direct, is seeking to double her budget for social media and other digital marketing initiatives for 2011. A number of digital efforts implemented in the past two years seem to be bearing fruit, and there is a desire to intensify Sephora's social media, online video, and mobile presence. Bornstein must justify the need for the additional funding, determine how best to allocate the money across the various platforms, and establish effective ways to measure return on investment (ROI) for digital marketing spending . She must also take into account that the funding requested will likely come at the expense of Sephora's traditional marketing programs. Importantly, Bornstein needs to begin thinking about a cohesive long-term strategy that clearly identifies the role digital platforms play and how they help Sephora maintain its leadership position in the prestige beauty care space. The constant emergence of new players, such as Groupon and Shop Socially, the growing power of social media platforms such as Facebook, and the way consumer behavior and user generated content are rapidly evolving in a digital era, make her task all the more challenging.