Publications

25 Feb 2020
News

Gotta Dance

harnesses Goldberg’s creative talents as a Broadway performer and Horowitz’s business savvy to produce videos that entertain even as they deliver a (subtle) marketing message. A mini-musical for the dating... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

August 2021
Case

Wymsee

By: Julia Austin, Sarah Mehta and Tom Quinn

Wymsee was a company that aimed to develop a mobile application (app) that would allow television audience members to identify and purchase clothing or accessories worn by characters in the program they were watching, with the Wymsee founders taking a percentage of... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Plan; Business Startups; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Technological Innovation; Knowledge Acquisition; Product Positioning; Opportunities; Adaptation; Mobile Technology; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)

21 Mar 2016
Lessons from the Classroom

When Your Classmate is an NBA Superstar (or Fashion Model, or Movie Actress)

It’s one thing to look at the entertainment business from an executive’s point of view. It’s quite another to see it through the eyes of a professional basketball player, supermodel, or actress. That mix of perspectives is exactly what... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Entertainment & Recreation; Entertainment & Recreation; Entertainment & Recreation; Entertainment & Recreation

Web

The Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports - Course Catalog

How can entertainment businesses best approach the management and marketing of creative talent? In particular, how should companies invest in and capture value from "superstars" and the teams to which they... View Details

March 2011
Teaching Note

The CW: Launching a Television Network

By: Anita Elberse

Teaching Note for 507050. View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Product Launch; Television Entertainment; Telecommunications Industry

May 2012
Article

To Zap or Not to Zap: How to Insert the Brand in TV Commercials to Minimize Avoidance

By: Thales S. Teixeira, Michel Wedel and Rik Pieters

Huge amounts of money are spent on TV advertising. In an environment of rising per-viewer rates for advertisers and increased skipping past ads by consumers, it is necessary for advertising managers to understand the determinants of commercial avoidance. In order to... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Television Entertainment; Advertising; Decisions

Find at Harvard

March 2021
Case

Sky Deutschland - Bidding for Sports Rights (A)

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Sascha L. Schmidt, Renate Imoberdorf and Sebastian Koppers

Carsten Schmidt, CEO of Sky Deutschland, needs to prepare for the auction of German soccer rights. Much was at stake. Not only was soccer the most widely watched sport in Germany, the company had long advertised that only Sky showed “every game, every goal.” In... View Details

Keywords: Sports; Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Intellectual Property; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Sports Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Germany

August 1988 (Revised November 1989)
Case

Reebok International Ltd.

By: John A. Quelch

Reebok executives are reviewing the company's advertising and promotion programs for the second half of 1988. These include sponsorship of the 1988 Summer Olympics and a rock concert tour organized by Amnesty International. In addition, Reebok is launching a new... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Music Entertainment; Advertising Campaigns; Sports; Advertising Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry

May 2017 (Revised November 2019)
Case

The Dubai International Film Festival

By: Rohit Deshpandé and Alpana Thapar

This case follows the conception and emergence of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF). In an already crowded and highly competitive industry, Abdulhamid Juma was attempting to define and establish a unique brand positioning for DIFF. Committed to its vision,... View Details

Keywords: Brand Positioning; Underdog Brand Building; Business Models; Non-profit; Managing Multiple Stakeholders; Film Entertainment; Brands and Branding; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Decision Making; Growth and Development Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

May 2008 (Revised September 2009)
Case

Radiohead: Music at Your Own Price (A)

By: Anita Elberse and Jason Bergsman

In October 2007, the British band Radiohead caused a stir when it announced it would allow customers to decide how much to pay for its new album, released exclusively as a digital download and available only from the band's own website. The pricing plan represented a... View Details

Keywords: Music Entertainment; Price; Marketing Strategy; Distribution; Problems and Challenges; Online Technology; Music Industry

January 2011
Supplement

BBC America Showreel, Fall 2007

By: John A. Quelch

HD-TV ad clips of Fall 2007 television show line up from BBC America. View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Television Entertainment; Brands and Branding; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United Kingdom; United States

13 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Rescuing Products with Stealth Positioning

its market penetration—like that of rivals Microsoft (with the Xbox) and Nintendo (with the GameCube)—has been limited by a narrow customer base of mostly males in their late teens and twenties. Sony's goal is to make the PlayStation a... View Details

Keywords: by Youngme Moon

March 2012
Article

The New Science of Viral Ads

By: Thales Teixeira

It's the holy grail of digital marketing: the viral ad, a pitch that large numbers of viewers decide to share with family and friends. Several techniques derived from new technology can help advertisers attain this. In our research, two colleagues and I use... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Information Technology; Research; System; Marketing; Emotions; Television Entertainment

Find at Harvard

10 Mar 2021
News

Elevator Pitch: Game Time

Video Embed Animation by Drue Wagner and Troubadour Image + Sound Concept: Tilt Five is an entertainment system that uses augmented reality (AR) glasses, a game board, and a wand controller to engage players in tabletop and video games in... View Details

Keywords: AI; virtual reality; gaming; technology; entrepreneurship; startups; Arts, Entertainment; Arts, Entertainment

12 Dec 2016
HBS Case

Business Lessons from Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson

his wallet and saw he only had seven dollars left. That stuck with him, and it has fueled him ever since. “The power in the entertainment industry is shifting to the superstars, and the smartest among those stars are finding ways to... View Details

Keywords: Re: Anita Elberse; Entertainment & Recreation; Entertainment & Recreation

21 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

Music Downloads: Pirates—or Customers?

industry consider peer-to-peer services as marketing tools rather than the enemy? Should online pricing be different from in-store pricing? What happens when broadband makes it as easy to illegally download an entire CD as an individual... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Entertainment & Recreation; Entertainment & Recreation

August 2001 (Revised September 2002)
Case

Sony PlayStation2 (A)

By: Rohit Deshpande and Seth Schulman

In early 1999, the president of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc., had to determine the appropriate U.S. launch strategy for the next-generation video game player, Sony PlayStation2. Despite the success of the original PlayStation1, new competitors and an uncertain... View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Globalization; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Risk and Uncertainty; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

September 2017 (Revised June 2019)
Case

The ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament

By: Anita Elberse and Saskia Van Rheenen

Should the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament gamble most of its player budget on superstar player Rafael Nadal, even after the event’s previous two editions saw Nadal and Roger Federer pull out at the last moment due to injury, leaving the tournament without any... View Details

Keywords: Superstar; Talent; General Management; Marketing; Sports; Media; Entertainment; Talent and Talent Management; Negotiation; Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry