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- August 2019 (Revised March 2023)
- Case
Rand Fishkin at Moz (A)
In 2016, senior management at Moz, a venture capital–backed startup providing software tools for digital marketing professionals, must decide how to address a looming cash flow crisis precipitated by failed efforts to broaden its product line. Seattle-based Moz had... View Details
- August 2019
- Article
When and How to Diversify—A Multicategory Utility Model for Personalized Content Recommendation
By: Yicheng Song, Nachiketa Sahoo and Elie Ofek
Sometimes we desire change, a break from the same or an opportunity to fulfill different aspects of our needs. Noting that consumers seek variety, several approaches have been developed to diversify items recommended by personalized recommender systems. However,... View Details
- June 14, 2019
- Article
Social Media Should Be a Complement to Real Life. Not a Substitute
By: Arthur C. Brooks
- May 30, 2019
- Article
Twitter Is Showing More Ads Instead of Better Ideas
A social media company that doesn’t know much about its users needs to work harder on its business model. View Details
- May 28, 2019
- Other Article
How Russia Found a Disinformation Haven in America
By: Rawi Abdelal and Galit Goldstein
The Mueller Report established that “the Russians” undertook information operations campaigns to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Though this has been clear for a long time, Americans continue to discuss Russian information operations in the wrong way.... View Details
- May 2019 (Revised January 2020)
- Case
The Video-Streaming Wars in 2019: Can Disney Catch Netflix?
By: Anita Elberse and Monica Cody
Bob Iger, CEO of entertainment conglomerate Disney, thrilled investors with details about Disney’s upcoming foray into video streaming in April 2019. Disney’s move was only the latest in a series of actions taken by new and established entertainment companies in a... View Details
- May–June 2019
- Article
U-Shaped Conformity in Online Social Networks
By: Monic Sun, Michael Zhang and Feng Zhu
We explore how people balance their needs to belong and to be different from their friends by studying their choices of a virtual-house wall color on a leading Chinese social-networking site. The setting enables us to randomize both the popular color and the adoption... View Details
- April 2019 (Revised October 2019)
- Case
Sanjeev Kapoor: The Recipe for Success
By: Boris Groysberg and Mahima Rao-Kachroo
India's most recognized celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor has been an integral part of the country's food industry since 1993. As a celebrity chef, Kapoor enjoyed a 17-year run of his hit TV cooking show “Khana Khazana,” published more than 100 cookbook titles in multiple... View Details
- April 2019 (Revised December 2019)
- Case
Turnaround at Mattel, 2017
By: Ted Berk
Just nine months into her new role as chief executive of Mattel, the world's leading toy maker, Margo Georgiadis faces a set of unexpected, inter-related decisions in the fall of 2017. Mattel's performance had been lagging for a number of years, and Georgiadis had been... View Details
- April 2019
- Case
American Ballet Theatre
By: Anita Elberse, Tsubasa Nakajima and Melissa Rodman
Kara Medoff Barnett, executive director of American Ballet Theatre (ABT), widely regarded as one of the world’s premier ballet companies, faces several challenges. It is June 2018. Despite its prestige, the company’s $45 million annual budget and $22 million endowment... View Details
- March 2019 (Revised March 2020)
- Case
Choosing the Right Esports Business Model
By: David Collis and Alexander MacKay
Two esports entrepreneurs must choose on which business model to focus their time and money. After successfully launching an online esports coaching platform, a number of new opportunities emerge in the rapidly growing esports space that now has close to one billion... View Details
Keywords: Entrepreneurial Ecosystems; Business Development; Esports; Business Ventures; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Management; Strategy; Sports; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; North and Central America; Europe; Asia
- 2019
- Working Paper
How Rupert Murdoch Outfoxed Larry Tisch: Ten Enduring Lessons from the Negotiations that Wrested the NFL from CBS
A remarkable 1993 negotiation rocked the world of American football with aftershocks that have directly shaped today’s entertainment and media landscapes and even our polarized politics. In December of that year, Rupert Murdoch’s fledgling Fox Network unexpectedly... View Details
- February 2019
- Case
Halliday's OASIS
By: Scott Duke Kominers and Nicole Tempest Keller
Wade Watts has won control of the OASIS – a futuristic, immersive virtual reality game world. He must decide on rules, rights, and marketplace design, balancing the founding principles of the OASIS with the platform’s potentially negative externalities. View Details
- Article
The Right and Wrong Way to Do ‘CEO Activism’
By: Aaron K Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel
CEO activism—where leaders take public stands on controversial social and political issues that aren’t related to their company’s bottom line—has become increasingly common. CEO activism has attracted favorable media attention, but has also resulted in backlash and... View Details
- February 2019 (Revised December 2019)
- Case
The Bankruptcy of Cumulus Media
By: Emily McComb
Keywords: Bankruptcy
- January 2019 (Revised February 2024)
- Teaching Note
Hubble Contact Lenses: Data Driven Direct-to-Consumer Marketing
By: Ayelet Israeli
Teaching Note for HBS No. 519-011. As its Series A extension round approaches, the founders of Hubble, a subscription-based, social-media fueled, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand of contact lenses, are reflecting on the marketing strategies that have taken them to a... View Details
Keywords: DTC; Direct To Consumer Marketing; Health Care; Mobile; Attribution; Experimentation; Experiments; Churn/retention; Customer Lifetime Value; Internet Marketing; Big Data; Analytics; A/B Testing; CRM; Advertising; Marketing; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Media; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Digital Marketing; Acquisition; Growth and Development Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Consumer Behavior; Social Media; E-commerce
- January 2019 (Revised February 2020)
- Case
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
By: Anita Elberse and Melissa Rodman
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) develops and presents scripted hero-versus-villain storylines featuring its wrestlers at hundreds of live events—on several weekly television shows, on its own over-the-top streaming service, and on social media—to millions of... View Details
- January 2019 (Revised October 2019)
- Case
Glossier: Co-Creating a Cult Brand with a Digital Community
By: Jill Avery
Glossier’s proclaimed strategy was “born from content; fueled by community.” The digital-first, direct-to-consumer beauty brand had experienced rapid growth, with sales up 600% in 2017 and a customer portfolio that grew by threefold. But, its founder, Emily Weiss, was... View Details
Keywords: Brands; Brand Management; Brand Communication; Retailing; DTC; Influencer; Startup; Internet Marketing; Big Data; Crowdsourcing; Growth and Development Strategy; Social Media; E-commerce; Internet and the Web; Digital Marketing; Consumer Products Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Retail Industry; United States; North America
- January 2019 (Revised October 2020)
- Technical Note
Brand Storytelling
By: Jill Avery
Marketers have long appreciated the value and power of storytelling. Stories fill brands with resonant and relevant meaning and empower brands to serve as critical elements in the lives of consumers. Mastering the art of brand storytelling is an increasingly important... View Details
- Article
Health as a Way of Doing Business
By: Howard Koh, Sara J. Singer and Amy C. Edmondson
For too long, the worlds of business and health have been mired in a checkered, sometimes contentious, history. Millions of deaths worldwide can be attributed to risk factors including tobacco use, alcohol and drug misuse, and suboptimal dietary intake linked to... View Details