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  • September 2014
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Victors & Spoils: 'Born Open'

By: Karim R. Lakhani and Michael L. Tushman
  • Format:Multimedia
  • | Language:English
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Abstract

Victors & Spoils (V&S), located in Boulder, Colorado, was the first advertising agency built on open innovation and crowdsourcing principles from the ground-up. V&S was co-founded in 2009 by John Winsor, Claudia Batten and Evan Fry, all former members of the advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky (CP+B). V&S crowdsourced creative ideas for its ad campaigns through Agency Machine, its proprietary online platform. CEO John Winsor wanted to change the way that advertising was done, a difficult task in an industry entrenched in traditional models. The case follows Winsor as he prepares to scale his business and must determine the best way to do so. He has an offer from Havas, a leading global advertising company interested in acquiring V&S, which would give V&S access to unprecedented resources. However, Winsor and the V&S team have concerns about how their innovative processes may be affected by partnering with a large, traditional company.

Keywords

Advertising Agency; Marketing; Crowdsourcing; Open Innovation; Growth; Acquisitions; Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Digital Marketing; Acquisition; Innovation and Invention; Advertising Industry; United States

Citation

Lakhani, Karim R., and Michael L. Tushman. "Victors & Spoils: 'Born Open'." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Case 415-701, September 2014.
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About The Authors

Karim R. Lakhani

Technology and Operations Management
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Michael L. Tushman

Organizational Behavior
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Related Work

    • October 2014 (Revised April 2015)
    • Faculty Research

    Victors & Spoils: 'Born Open'

    By: Karim Lakhani and Greta Friar
Related Work
  • Victors & Spoils: 'Born Open' By: Karim Lakhani and Greta Friar
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