Publications
Publications
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- 2023
- Working Paper
A Welfare Analysis of Gambling in Video Games
By: Tomomichi Amano and Andrey Simonov
In 2020, gamers worldwide spent more than $15 billion on loot boxes, a lottery of virtual items built into video games. Loot boxes are contentious, as regulators worry that they constitute gambling. In contrast, video game companies maintain that loot boxes are...
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- February 2023
- Case
Roblox: Virtual Commerce in the Metaverse
By: Ayelet Israeli and Nicole Tempest Keller
In 2022, Roblox had 58.8 million daily active users, including over half of all children and teens under the age of 16 in the United States. Roblox, a free-to-use “co-experience platform”, allowed users to come together in immersive 3D experiences to socialize, work,...
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Keywords:
Entertainment;
Games, Gaming, and Gambling;
Market Design;
Marketing;
Brands and Branding;
Marketing Channels;
Marketing Strategy;
Business Strategy;
Economics;
Economy;
Economic Systems;
Advertising;
Advertising Campaigns;
Digital Platforms;
Markets;
Price;
Innovation and Management;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
United States;
California;
North America;
South America;
Asia;
Europe
- September 2022
- Case
The Pokémon Company: Evolving into an Everlasting Brand
By: Tomomichi Amano and Masaki Nomura
Super Bowl 50, the fiftieth annual championship game of the American National Football League played in February 2016, featured 52 commercials, and brands spent more than six million dollars each for a 30-second commercial slot. Surprisingly, the commercial that...
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- September 2022
- Case
Wordle
After sourdough bread, countertop chive gardens, and vaccine selfies came a pandemic-era trend that everyone seemed to be in on: one daily chance to guess a five-letter word and crow about your success on social media via little green and yellow squares. From a...
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- August 2022 (Revised March 2023)
- Exercise
How Should Netflix Add an Ad-Supported Tier?
By: Elie Ofek and Olivier Toubia
In the summer of 2022, it became clear that Netflix would introduce an ad-supported tier alongside its existing subscription plans in the near future. Speculation abounded as to the details of the new tier: How many minutes of advertising would it include? What picture...
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- August 2022 (Revised March 2023)
- Case
Pricing at Netflix: The Sequel
By: Elie Ofek and Amy Klopfenstein
This case continues the themes discussed in "Pricing at Netflix" (Case 521-004). Following the conclusion of the original case, Netflix developed new, high-profile original content, added millions of subscribers, and introduced another price increase in January 2022....
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Keywords:
Marketing;
Advertising;
Marketing Strategy;
Entertainment;
Film Entertainment;
Television Entertainment;
Finance;
Strategy;
Competition;
Competitive Strategy;
Business Strategy;
Adaptation;
Internet and the Web;
Customers;
Customer Satisfaction;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
North and Central America;
United States
- May 2022
- Case
The NFL’s $110-Billion Media Rights Deals
By: Anita Elberse and Elizabeth Warner
On March 18, 2021, Brian Rolapp, chief media and business officer at the National Football League (NFL) presented the results of a months-long effort to renegotiate rights deals with the NFL’s current partners in television—the media conglomerates behind the networks...
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- February 2022 (Revised February 2023)
- Case
TikTok in 2020: Super App or Supernova? (Abridged)
By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Dan Maher and Dan O'Brien
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, was launched in 2012 around a simple idea—helping users entertain themselves on their smartphones while on the Beijing Subway. In less than a decade, it had become one of the world’s most valuable private companies, with investors...
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- February 2022 (Revised October 2022)
- Case
P.T. Barnum: Changing the World
By: Robert Simons and Shirley Sun
This case describes the life of P.T. Barnum, widely considered to the be the father of modern advertising and marketing. Barnum showed his genius for business early, selling lottery tickets and confections from his father’s store. He went on to found a famous museum of...
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- January 2022
- Case
FIFA and The World Cup: The Future of Football
By: Anita Elberse, Oliver Band and Howard Johnson
Should FIFA host its biggest event—the FIFA World Cup—every two years instead of every four, as it has been doing since the event’s inception in the 1930s? In September 2021, Gianni Infantino, the president of the International Federation of Association Football...
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Keywords:
Sports;
Soccer;
Football;
Entertainment;
Media;
Talent Development;
Globalization;
Marketing;
Strategy;
General Management;
Governance;
Decision Making;
Governing and Advisory Boards;
Problems and Challenges;
Brands and Branding;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry
- August 2021
- Case
Wymsee
By: Julia Austin, Sarah Mehta and Tom Quinn
Wymsee was a company that aimed to develop a mobile application (app) that would allow television audience members to identify and purchase clothing or accessories worn by characters in the program they were watching, with the Wymsee founders taking a percentage of...
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Keywords:
Business Model;
Business Plan;
Business Startups;
Film Entertainment;
Television Entertainment;
Technological Innovation;
Knowledge Acquisition;
Product Positioning;
Opportunities;
Adaptation;
Mobile Technology;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
United States;
New York (city, NY)
- May 2021 (Revised May 2022)
- Case
Headspace vs. Calm: A Mindful Competition
By: Ayelet Israeli and Anne Wilson
By 2021, the mindfulness app wars reached their apex. Over 2,000 meditation apps were available to consumers, but two apps, Headspace and Calm, dominated the space, jointly holding about 70% of the total market. Headspace had established itself as the approachable...
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Keywords:
Marketing Communication;
Integrated Strategy;
Brand;
Brand ＆ Product Management;
Brand Communication;
Brand Differentiation;
Brand Building;
Brand Management;
E-Commerce Strategy;
Ecommerce;
App;
App Development;
Applications;
COVID;
COVID-19;
Pandemic;
Pricing;
Pricing Strategy;
Subscription Model;
Subscription;
Partnerships;
Strategic Partnerships;
B2B Vs. B2C;
B2B;
Health ＆ Wellness;
Wellbeing;
Digitization;
Commoditization;
Mobile App;
Mobile App Industry;
Mobile Healthcare;
Mobile Marketing;
Digital Brand;
Digital Health;
Consumer Health;
Apps;
Online Business;
Online Competition;
Online Community;
Online Entertainment;
Entertainment And Leisure;
Meditation;
Marketing;
Marketing Communications;
Brands and Branding;
Price;
Strategy;
Competition;
Competitive Strategy;
Competitive Advantage;
Partners and Partnerships;
Health;
Well-being;
Mobile and Wireless Technology;
Communication;
Communication Strategy;
Disruption;
Consumer Behavior;
Digital Marketing;
E-commerce;
Applications and Software;
Health Industry;
Technology Industry;
Communications Industry;
United States;
North America;
United Kingdom
- April 2021
- Article
Homing and Platform Responses to Entry: Historical Evidence from the U.S. Newspaper Industry
By: K. Francis Park, Robert Seamans and Feng Zhu
We examine how heterogeneity in customers’ tendencies to single-home or multi-home affects a platform’s competitive responses to new entrants in the market. We first develop a formal model to generate predictions about how a platform will respond. We then empirically...
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- March 2021
- Supplement
Sky Deutschland Analysis: Results
By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Sascha L. Schmidt, Renate Imoberdorf and Sebastian Koppers
Carsten Schmidt, CEO of Sky Deutschland, needs to prepare for the auction of German soccer rights. Much was at stake. Not only was soccer the most widely watched sport in Germany, the company had long advertised that only Sky showed “every game, every goal.” In...
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- March 2021
- Case
Sky Deutschland - Bidding for Sports Rights (A)
By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Sascha L. Schmidt, Renate Imoberdorf and Sebastian Koppers
Carsten Schmidt, CEO of Sky Deutschland, needs to prepare for the auction of German soccer rights. Much was at stake. Not only was soccer the most widely watched sport in Germany, the company had long advertised that only Sky showed “every game, every goal.” In...
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- March 2021
- Supplement
Sky Deutschland - Bidding for Sports Rights (B)
By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Sascha L. Schmidt and Sebastian Koppers
Carsten Schmidt, CEO of Sky Deutschland, needs to prepare for the auction of German soccer rights. Much was at stake. Not only was soccer the most widely watched sport in Germany, the company had long advertised that only Sky showed “every game, every goal.” In...
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- March 2021
- Case
Astralis Group: Determining a Brand Strategy
By: Benjamin C. Esty, Mette Fuglsang Hjortshoej and Emilie Billaud
After launching a Danish esports company in July 2019, and going public in December 2019 with multiple brands associated with different games, the Astralis leadership team was contemplating a shift to a single, corporate brand. While the original arguments for...
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Keywords:
Brand Strategy;
Esports;
Video Games;
Corporate Scope;
Positioning;
Ecosystem;
Brands and Branding;
Strategy;
Business Ventures;
Business Startups;
Entrepreneurship;
Ethics;
Sports;
Competitive Strategy;
Value Creation;
Diversification;
Games, Gaming, and Gambling;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
Denmark;
Europe
- February 2021 (Revised March 2022)
- Case
TikTok in 2020: Super App or Supernova?
By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Dan Maher and Dan O'Brien
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, was launched in 2012 around a simple idea – helping users entertain themselves on their smartphones while on the Beijing Subway. In less than a decade, it had become one of the world’s most valuable private companies, with investors...
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Keywords:
Business Model;
Business Startups;
Business Organization;
Change Management;
Disruption;
Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues;
Global Strategy;
Health Pandemics;
Innovation Strategy;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Growth Management;
Brands and Branding;
Marketing Strategy;
Marketing Channels;
Network Effects;
Digital Platforms;
Product Design;
Product Development;
Partners and Partnerships;
Opportunities;
Social Issues;
Mobile and Wireless Technology;
Internet and the Web;
Value Creation;
United States;
China
- 2021
- Working Paper
Consuming Contests: Outcome Uncertainty and Spectator Demand for Contest-based Entertainment
By: Patrick J. Ferguson and Karim R. Lakhani
Contests that are designed to be consumed for entertainment by non-contestants are a fixture of economic, cultural and political life. In this paper, we examine whether individuals prefer to consume contests that have more uncertain outcomes. We look to...
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- December 2020
- Case
Tencent: Combining Technology and Culture
By: Elie Ofek, Billy Chan and Dawn H. Lau
Tencent, one of the largest Internet conglomerates in China, had a vision to become a "Tech+Culture" firm. With dominant market shares in online games and social networking, it had built a vast Internet-based entertainment ecosystem, and was now focused on cultural...
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Keywords:
Media Franchise;
Marketing;
Market Entry and Exit;
Product Launch;
Strategy;
Culture;
China