Publications

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2012
Article

The Unbundling of Advertising Agency Services: An Economic Analysis

By: Mohammad Arzaghi, Ernst R. Berndt, James C. Davis and Alvin J. Silk

We address a puzzle surrounding the shift from bundling to unbundling of U.S. advertising agency services and the slow pace of change over several decades. We model an agency’s decision as a tradeoff between the fixed cost to the advertiser of establishing a... View Details

Keywords: Bundling; Unbundling; Advertising Agency Services; Fixed Cost; Higher Media Prices; Volume; Diversification; Advertising; Change; Advertising Industry; United States

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September 2020
Case

Chip and Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Network

By: Anita Elberse and Julia McNicholas

Chip and Joanna Gaines, who have shot to fame as stars of the hit television show Fixer Upper, are preparing to launch their own television network. It is April 2019, a year since the home-renovation show Fixer Upper’s fifth season on cable channel HGTV ended, and more... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Television; Superstars; Innovation; Creative Industries; Talent; General Management; Celebrities; Television Entertainment; Entrepreneurship; Joint Ventures; Innovation and Invention; Marketing; Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Research Summary

Overview

When information is digitized, it can be aggregated and shared nearly instantly. I am interested in how this acceleration in the aggregation and availability of information, via digitization, affects firms and firm strategy. Platforms have emerged as marketplaces for... View Details

Keywords: Market Platforms; Social Media; Information Disclosure; Platform Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Intellectual Property; Information; Technology Platform; Information Industry; Information Industry; Information Industry; Information Industry

2013
Working Paper

Where do the Most Active Customers Originate and How Can Firms Keep Them Engaged?

By: Clarence Lee, E. Ofek and Thomas Steenburgh

In this paper, we study how firms offering Web services can acquire and develop an active customer base. We focus on two basic questions. First, how does the method of customer acquisition affect the way customers use the service to meet their own needs and to interact... View Details

Keywords: Customer Engagement; Adoption Routes; Hidden Markov Models; Search; Word-of-Mouth; Digital Media; Customer Relationship Management; Internet and the Web; Mathematical Methods; Consumer Behavior; Entrepreneurship; Marketing Reference Programs; Web Services Industry

Forthcoming
Article

The Effect of a System for Sharing Best Practices Within Pre-existing Peer Networks

By: Shelley Xin Li and Tatiana Sandino

Peer networks, such as enterprise social networks (ESNs), can facilitate knowledge transfer across employees. However, such systems can also lead to information overload or difficulty in finding useful information. We examine data from a natural field experiment where... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Best Practices; Enterprise Social Media; Management Accounting And Control Systems; Social and Collaborative Networks; Communication Technology; Knowledge Sharing; Sales; Social Media; Retail Industry

10 Dec 2014
News

Front-Row Seat

Photographed by Melissa Golden David Bradley was painting a picture with words. The owner and chairman of Atlantic Media had gathered about 400 staffers in a small Kennedy Center theater near the company’s... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; digital media; Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices; Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices

September 2006 (Revised January 2007)
Background Note

Where to Get Your News and Information: The Digital Disruption

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Nancy Bartlett

What is the response by traditional news and information deliverers (newspapers and television networks) to declining audiences as media consumption moves to the digital medium? Provides a view of the news industry in mid-2006 and discusses the impact of an... View Details

Keywords: News; Media; Emerging Markets; Internet and the Web; Disruption; Perspective; Advertising; Journalism and News Industry

Find at Harvard

01 Apr 1997
News

How Green Is the Valley: HBS Students Explore Booming California Industries

equally interested and perhaps equally inexperienced in high technology, are carrying such enthusiasm even further. Rather than wait for Silicon Valley to come to the School, two student organizations - the CMC (Communications, View Details

Keywords: Daniel Penrice

28 Sep 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Digital Interactivity: Unanticipated Consequences for Markets, Marketing, and Consumers

Keywords: by John A. Deighton & Leora Kornfeld

July 2016
Case

Spotify

By: Anita Elberse and Alexandre de Pfyffer

In November 2014, Spotify's chief content officer Ken Parks learns that record label Big Machine Records has requested the immediate removal of superstar artist Taylor Swift's entire catalogue from Spotify's music streaming service. Is it time for Spotify to reconsider... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Marketing; Superstar; Music; Entertainment Marketing; Media; Digital Technology; Creative Industries; Product Portfolio Management; General Management; Management; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Open Source Distribution; Creativity; Music Entertainment; Product Marketing; Music Industry

September 2014
Case

Havas: Change Faster

By: Karim R. Lakhani and Michael L. Tushman

As of 2013, Havas was the 6th largest global advertising, digital, and communications group in the world. Headquartered in Paris, France, the group was highly decentralized, with semi-independent agencies in more than 100 countries offering a variety of services. The... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Agency; Open Innovation; Commercials; Digital Media; Digital Transition; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Advertising Campaigns; Acquisition; Change Management; Disruption; Transformation; Advertising Industry; Advertising Industry

November 1998 (Revised August 1999)
Case

Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications

By: Paul W. Marshall and Jeremy Dann

Mickey Maurer is a successful entrepreneur who retired in the late 1980s and then reentered the business world with the purchase of two media companies. In the radio industry he faces competition from large national players. In his publishing enterprise, Maurer... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Competition; Business Growth and Maturation; Entrepreneurship; Management Teams; Media and Broadcasting Industry

January 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Case

ByteDance: TikTok and the Trials of Going Viral

By: William C. Kirby and John P. McHugh

In 2020, TikTok became the most valuable start-up ever. The short-form, video-sharing social media platform emerged as the crown jewel of the Chinese technology firm ByteDance, realizing 850 million monthly users and an estimated worth of $180 billion. However, a... View Details

22 May 2017
Lessons from the Classroom

A Luxury Industry Veteran Teaches the Importance of Aesthetics to Budding Business Leaders

former MTV VJ) Sian-Pierre Regis, founder of the online publication Swagger and a frequent pop culture contributor to CNN Headline News and Men’s Journal; Michelle Goldman, a partner at the venture capital... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Beauty & Cosmetics; Apparel & Accessories; Auto; Tourism

August 2012 (Revised October 2015)
Case

LinkedIn Corporation, 2012

By: David Yoffie and Liz Kind

Since its inception in 2003, LinkedIn had become a leading Silicon Valley institution with a brand name that was recognizable throughout the U.S. and in many countries overseas. As of March 2012, LinkedIn was the world's largest professional network on the Internet... View Details

Keywords: Social Networking; Media; Technology; Strategy; Growth Management; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Social and Collaborative Networks; Brands and Branding; Social Media; Service Industry; Service Industry; California

March 2020
Case

Minneapolis Star Tribune

By: Joseph L. Bower, Elizabeth Hansen and Michael Norris

In the summer of 2019, Mike Klingensmith, CEO of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Twin Cities metro region’s largest newspaper, reviewed subscription trends and plans for future experimentation. The newspaper industry across the U.S. had suffered a steep decline for... View Details

Keywords: Financial Performance; Industry Evolution; Business Earnings; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Journalism and News Industry; Minnesota

August 2012
Background Note

Marketing Communications

By: Thales S. Teixeira and Thales S. Teixeira

This note identifies the main issues involved in the effective management of the marketing communications process. It first defines the purpose of communication. Then it classifies the tools available to communicate with consumers. In the sequel, it elaborates on how... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Communication; Advertising; Promotion; Social Media; Digital Media; Viral Advertising; Marketing; Communications Industry; North and Central America

February 2017
Case

Clear Channel (A): The Rise, 1972–2003

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

At the end of 2003, Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a diversified media group with revenues of $8.9 billion, could claim leadership positions in all three of its main businesses. Clear Channel Broadcasting was the largest radio-station operator in the world, with... View Details

Keywords: Clear Channel; Clear Channel Outdoor; Radio; Outdoor Advertising; Concert Industry; Lowry Mays; Federal Communications Commission; Regulation; Regulations; Regulatory Environment; JCDecaux; Media; Growth Management; Consolidation; Competitive Strategy; Fair Value Accounting; Advertising; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Growth and Maturation; For-Profit Firms; Entertainment; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Public Equity; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Government Legislation; Business History; Laws and Statutes; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Channels; Industry Structures; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Opportunities; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Wireless Technology; Valuation; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States; Texas