Professor profile
Marco Bertini is assistant professor of marketing at London Business School. Prior to LBS, he completed the doctoral programme at Harvard Business School.
1. What area of research are you currently working on?My prime area of research is in the psychology of pricing and promotions. More specifically a first branch of my research is on the use of pricing to stimulate engagement by consumers. A second area of research is on the effect of incentives on consumer behavior and perceptions (for example in promotions or product bundling).
2. A case study that you think is important. Why? One case that I use often is “Product team Cialis” (Harvard Business School, ECCH reference 5-505-060), which covers the development of the famous pharmaceutical by Eli Lilly and ICOS. The case is helpful in understanding how to leverage customer insight to create powerful marketing strategy.
3. A management book you think highly of (written by someone else). Why? Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely (HarperCollins, 2008). This book is square in my field of research, and is therefore inherently interesting to me. It develops some unusual thinking in understanding consumer behavior.
4. What is one of your well-liked teaching moments (case, discussion topic, …)? This is a difficult question, since I truly like teaching. I certainly like the class discussion that a case study stimulates, and the classroom dynamic that builds up. Perhaps one high point would be when the students are led to reach a consensus and agree on a certain point, but then realize the opposite argument might be true as well. This makes for great learning.
5. What was your most interesting consulting assignment? Why? I do quite a bit of consulting, so it is not easy to choose. Earlier I did lots of experiential interviewing, namely in the FMCG, pharmaceutical and luxury goods area. These one-on-one interviews using images lead to extraordinary insights on mundane-seeming products. This alchemy was quite magical.
6. If tomorrow you could occupy an executive function in any company, what function and company? Why? My immediate reply is “I am not interested. I like teaching.” However, perhaps one dream (that probably will not be fulfilled) would be to own a sporting goods store! I would definitely not want a position in an organization.
