nd volume of the Advances in Strategic Management series. The book, which I co-edited, is the first systematic survey of the interface between style and strategy. It offers insights into, among other things, how producers make style choices as well as how consumers and other audiences evaluate and react to those choices.
In Chapter 2, my co-authors and I detail our findings on the topic vis-à-vis the world of high-end timepieces. Laypersons (such as consumers) and professionals (such as watchmakers, journalists and museum curators) have different appetites for aesthetics. It follows that a key strategic challenge for firms is how to calibrate their product portfolio aesthetics to please both groups. This is an intricate balancing act in other industries, too, as managers try to harness aesthetics to win over audiences with diverse sensibilities amid the rise of