Publications

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; Advertising Industry; Advertising Industry

06 Dec 2021
News

Case Study: Let’s Dance

board chairman role to begin working on a related venture, a mutual bank to support lending to local food and farming businesses.) The changes slashed errors in half and doubled their packing speed.... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries

October 2007
Case

iPhone vs. Cell Phone

By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind

The launch of Apple's iPhone marked a pivotal new chapter in the story of mobile music (the uniting of digital music players with mobile phones). The iPhone combined an iPod music player, a cell phone, and a mobile Internet device, along with a camera and other... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Music Entertainment; Product Launch; Partners and Partnerships; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Communications Industry; Communications Industry

March 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Pandora Radio: Fire Unprofitable Customers?

By: Willy C. Shih and Halle Alicia Tecco

Pandora Radio is at a crossroads. Founder Tim Westergren has just been told by a well known VC to get rid of his unprofitable customers in order to get his costs down, but Westergren is not sure that such actions are consistent with his company's business model.... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Satisfaction; Music Entertainment; Venture Capital; Profit; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Internet; Media and Broadcasting Industry

September 2024
Case

Barbie: Reviving a Cultural Icon at Mattel (Abridged)

By: Elie Ofek, Ryann Noe and Sarah Mehta

The 2023 release of live-action film Barbie, and its accompanying marketing blitz, incited a worldwide Barbie craze. Suddenly Barbie was everywhere, a celebrated icon reinstated at the forefront of cultural conversation. This goodwill stood in contrast to decades of... View Details

Keywords: Gender; Intellectual Property; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Public Opinion; Business Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

31 Aug 2011
Research & Ideas

Improving Fairness in Flight Delays

People who fly the friendly skies with any regularity have no doubt experienced the not-so-friendly feelings that come with missed connections, canceled flights, and general delays. Angry, powerless, they join the rebooking queue or camp... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Entertainment & Recreation; Entertainment & Recreation

October 2005 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Strategic Inflection: TiVo in 2005

By: David B. Yoffie, Pai-Ling Yin and Barbara Mack

In the late 1990s, TiVo pioneered the digital video recorder (DVR), a new consumer electronics category. By 2005, the company was the clear leader in technology and installed base. It had also built extraordinary loyalty among its customers. However, TiVo lost a half... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Competition; Partners and Partnerships; Information Infrastructure; Television Entertainment; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

March 1998 (Revised October 1998)
Case

Paint-Pen, Inc.

Presents the background and some details on a possible acquisition opportunity--a manufacturer of ballpoint paint pens for the hobby and crafts industry. Forces students to peel the layers of this initially unattractive opportunity to find potential sources of value. A... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Entrepreneurship; Acquisition; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry

February 2005
Case

L. Londell McMillan (A)

On the plane back to New York City, L. Londell McMillan focused on the music on his headphones, the latest offering from his friend and long-time client, Prince Rogers Nelson--the artist known as "Prince." McMillan and Prince had spent several days contemplating a... View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Music Entertainment; Product Marketing; Music Industry

10 Nov 2011
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Making Lincoln Center Cool Again

the same numbers of two decades ago. Levy's genius, says Harvard Business School's Allen S. Grossman, was in not only recognizing the problem, but also bringing together resident organizations and board members to start solving it. “I... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Entertainment & Recreation

01 Mar 2006
News

The Producers

United States’ most visible, influential export. But given its uncertainties, what would drive HBS alumni to enter an industry characterized in the best of times as “the business of rejection”? * * * * * In Hollywood, the spotlight... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries; Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries

14 Jul 2010
News

The Concerts in the Chapel

One of the cultural amenities of life on the HBS campus is the availability of free music concerts in the Class of 1959 Chapel. Designed by Moshe Safdie in 1992, the chapel and its adjoining clock tower were funded by members of the MBA... View Details

Keywords: Keith Larson; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries

01 Sep 2004
News

American Dream

Standing in a swirl of tourists that includes a gaggle of teenage girls, clusters of road-weary families, and a nun in full habit, Ted Hustead (OPM 30, 2001) appraises a mechanized Tyrannosaurus rex as it raises its enormous head, roars,... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries

01 Dec 2017
News

3-Minute Briefing: Wei Zhang (MBA 1999)

Above: Zhang and the popular “Tao Doll” figurines that represent Alibaba’s e-commerce platform. (photo by Christina Gandolfo) I joined Alibaba in 2008 as part of its strategic investments team. I never thought that one day we would have... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

09 Jan 2020
Blog Post

Navigating Grey in the Ever-Evolving Tech Community

getting to know others, both current students and alumni, in the industries I was most passionate about. Coincidentally, there was also a lot of overlap with the Tech Club (of which I was also a member)... View Details

November 2015
Case

Wynton Marsalis & Jazz at Lincoln Center

By: Rohit Deshpandé

Under the leadership of artistic director Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) hosts performances and education events year-round for audiences in New York and across the United States. Despite the popularity of JALC's events, however, the U.S. audience for... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Management; Music Entertainment; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Music Industry