Publications

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15 Dec 2015
News

The Year in Ideas 2015

From social media to the grocery store to the corner office and all the way to the stratosphere, the research and entrepreneurial adventures HBS faculty, doctoral students... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna, Christine Lejeune, Dan Morrell, and April White

September 2011 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Brightcove, Inc. in 2007

By: Andrei Hagiu and David B. Yoffie

Brightcove, a technology and services provider to content owners in the Internet television field, aimed to become a media distribution company in its own right. On October 30, 2006, it relaunched its Website—and, in effect, its business. With its new, consumer-facing... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Diversification; Digital Platforms; Business Strategy; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Distribution; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

01 Dec 2017
News

2017 in Media: Courting the Cord-Cutters

When the phenomenon of cord-cutting— dropping a cable subscription in favor of one or more online streaming services—started attracting media attention a couple of years ago, the TV industry didn’t respond... View Details

Keywords: Laura Martin (MBA 1983) , entertainment and internet analyst, Needham & Company

April 2007
Case

Schibsted

By: Bharat N. Anand and Sophie Hood

In 2006, newspaper firms in developed markets were severely threatened on three fronts: the growth of online news, online classified advertising, and free newspapers. Schibsted, however, had managed to cope with these challenges successfully, and had become something... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Product Launch; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Adaptation; Competitive Advantage; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Scandinavia

18 May 2015
Research & Ideas

Advertisers Get Serious About Playing With Their Brands

many Facebook friends as possible. "Coke was proud to say it had more followers than any other brand," Deighton says. "But that lost favor." Next, online marketers deemphasized treating social media as a View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Advertising

June 2014
Case

Going Social: Durex in China

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and Aaron Smith

When Reckitt Benckiser (RB), a leading consumer goods company, first entered China, it encountered significant challenges. RB's strategy relied on selling high margin products supported by cost-effective advertising and distribution, but the highly competitive Chinese... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Multinational Firms and Management; Internet and the Web; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; China

March 2020
Case

Hotstar

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Kairavi Dey

Hotstar was an online video streaming platform owned by Star India Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Walt Disney Corporation. Since its launch in 2015, the platform had grown to offer over 100,000 hours of TV content, movies in nine Indian languages... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Television Entertainment; Disruption; Business Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; India; Mumbai

November 1978 (Revised December 1979)
Case

Federal Express (C)

The Marketing Director for Federal Express, a fast growing freight airline specializing in small packages, must select a strategy to achieve a big sales increase for one of the company's services. First he must decide on the relative emphasis to place between... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Sales; Air Transportation Industry; Air Transportation Industry; United States

March 2003 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Bertelsmann AG

By: Bharat N. Anand, Michael G. Rukstad and Christoph Kostring

On July 28, 2002, Bertelsmann announced the firing of its CEO, Thomas Middelhoff, in a move that surprised industry observers, analysts, and many employees. Bertelsmann, a privately held company headquartered in Germany, was one of the largest global media... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Corporate Strategy; Entertainment; Media; Change Management; Integration; Resignation and Termination; Private Ownership; Initial Public Offering; Business Units; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Germany

November 2022
Background Note

The Future of E-Commerce: Lessons from the Livestream Wars in China

By: Ayelet Israeli, Jeremy Yang and Billy Chan

This note explores the emerging multi-billion dollar commerce trend of livestream commerce. Livestream commerce is the sale of goods or services directly to consumers via live shows on digital platforms (such as social media or e-commerce platforms). It is a form of... View Details

November 2023
Case

Team Liquid: Fueling the Business of Fandom

By: Youngme Moon and Kerry Herman

In 2023, the co-CEOs of Team Liquid, one of the world's most prominent Esports organizations, are deciding whether and how to evolve their business model to include (1) a greater focus on enterprise revenue; and (2) more direct-to-consumer activity. Team Liquid has one... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Focus and Relationships; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Revenue; Organizational Culture; Business and Community Relations; Video Game Industry

March 2020
Case

Aereo

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Jacey Taft

Aereo aimed to disrupt television program distribution by providing consumers access to local broadcast TV programming using offsite antennas, cloud-based DVRs, and an Internet connection. With Aereo, consumers could “cut the cord” and avoid the high cost of a cable TV... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Failure; Lawsuits and Litigation; Internet and the Web; Media; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

2020
Working Paper

Aggregate Advertising Expenditure in the U.S. Economy: What's Up? Is It Real?

By: Alvin J. Silk and Ernst R. Berndt

The two components of the advertising industry—the creative sector that develops and produces messages, and the communications sector that transmits messages via various media—have each been greatly affected by advances in creative design and communications... View Details

Keywords: Economy; Advertising; Spending; Media