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• Case | HBS Case Collection | July 2020

  Paris Saint-Germain: Building One of the World's Top Sports Brands

  Anita Elberse and David Moreno Vicente

  In March 2020, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the president of French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain (‘PSG’) sees his team clinch a spot among the last eight clubs to compete in the UEFA Champions League. Established in 1970 and initially a club with only moderate success, PSG’s fortunes changed when Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) acquired the club in 2011. QSI overhauled the roster of players—by, among other measures, buying Kylian Mbappé and, in a record €222-million transfer that shook the soccer world, Neymar—and professionalized the club’s management, renovated the stadium, developed a new training ground, redefined the PSG brand, and pursued a series of high-profile collaborations. The investment seems to have paid off, on and off the field: since the acquisition, PSG has amassed six French league titles and has risen to fifth place in the ranking of Europe’s highest-grossing soccer clubs. But the biggest prize the club’s owners are eyeing, the Champions League, has so far eluded PSG. Does the club have the right strategy to break the hegemony of Europe’s long-standing soccer powerhouses? And are Al-Khelaifi and his team of executives on the right path toward their goal of establishing PSG as one of the world’s top three sports brands?

  Keywords: Sports; soccer; football; entertainment; media; superstars; Talent; talent development; globalization; marketing; strategy; general management;

  Citation:

  Elberse, Anita, and David Moreno Vicente. "Paris Saint-Germain: Building One of the World's Top Sports Brands." Harvard Business School Case 521-006, July 2020.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | July 2020

  Live Nation and Pharrell Williams

  Anita Elberse and Kate Christensen

  “We’re in business together, and whether we lose a few million dollars or make a few million dollars, let’s do this. If you think you can pull it off, I’m behind you.” Michael Rapino, chief executive officer of Live Nation, the world’s leading live entertainment company, expresses his support to Pharrell Williams, one of the music industry’s biggest stars, and his long-time manager Ron Laffitte. It is December 2018, and Williams just pitched Rapino an idea for a music festival in Virginia Beach, Something In The Water. Williams is engaged in many endeavors – he is not only a chart-topping musician, but also a fashion designer, film and television producer, brand builder, and business consultant – that are brought together in his company, I Am Other, which is in a joint venture with Live Nation. Although Live Nation generally does not shy away from making big bets on its artists, Williams’ festival idea is risky and has an unusually aggressive time table. Is Rapino right to lend his support to Williams’ proposed festival? Are partnerships like the one it had formed with Williams’ company I Am Other the way forward for Live Nation? And how can the company that dominates the live music space best continue to create value for artists and their managers?

  Keywords: music; entertainment; media; superstars; Talent; joint ventures; labor economics; marketing; strategy; general management;

  Citation:

  Elberse, Anita, and Kate Christensen. "Live Nation and Pharrell Williams." Harvard Business School Case 521-005, July 2020.  View Details

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• Article | Harvard Business Review China | July 2020

  Lessons from Chinese Companies Response to COVID-19

  Das Narayandas, Vinay Hebar and Liangliang Li

  China was weeks ahead of the rest of the world in dealing with the pandemic and its fallout. To understand what's next, the authors conducted a series of 20 in-depth, in-person interviews, as well as a large-scale survey of more than 350 senior executives to ascertain the Chinese corporate world has adapted, innovated, and survived--and even thrived--in these extremely uncertain and trying times. They identified 11 lessons for leaders in the rest of the world.

  Keywords: Management; Innovation and Management; Asia;

  Citation:

  Narayandas, Das, Vinay Hebar, and Liangliang Li. "Lessons from Chinese Companies Response to COVID-19." Harvard Business Review China (July 2020), 118–125.  View Details

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