Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment

by Anita Elberse

Why the future of popular culture will revolve around ever bigger bets on entertainment products, by one of Harvard Business School's most popular professors

What's behind the phenomenal success of entertainment businesses such as Warner Bros., Marvel Entertainment, and the NFL―along with such stars as Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, and LeBron James? Which strategies give leaders in film, television, music, publishing, and sports an edge over their rivals?

Anita Elberse, Harvard Business School's expert on the entertainment industry, has done pioneering research on the worlds of media and sports for more than a decade. Now, in this groundbreaking book, she explains a powerful truth about the fiercely competitive world of building a business around blockbuster products―the movies, television shows, songs, and books that are hugely expensive to produce and market―is the surest path to long-term success. Along the way, she reveals why entertainment executives often spend outrageous amounts of money in search of the next blockbuster, why superstars are paid unimaginable sums, and how digital technologies are transforming the entertainment landscape.

Full of inside stories emerging from Elberse's unprecedented access to some of the world's most successful entertainment brands, Blockbusters is destined to become required reading for anyone seeking to understand how the entertainment industry really works―and how to navigate today's high-stakes business world at large.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Film, Music, Economics, Cultural, Management

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2013

About the author

Anita Elberse is the Lincoln Filene Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.

An award-winning teacher and scholar, Professor Elberse develops and teaches a course covering the businesses of entertainment, media, and sports, titled Strategic Marketing in Creative Industries, which ranks among the most sought-after courses in the School’s curriculum for MBA students, and chairs the Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports executive education program. She also holds various leadership positions at the School: among other roles, she serves as the chair for Convening and Special Events. In her research, Professor Elberse primarily aims to understand what drives the success of products in the entertainment, media, sports, and other creative industries, and how firms can develop effective marketing strategies for such products. She is acclaimed for her work on digital-media strategies. Professor Elberse has conducted case studies on dozens of entertainment companies, personalities, and other entities. Many of these are described in her first book, Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment.

Reviews

[Nick Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Immediately previous to reading this book, I read a book about death row inmates that was pretty depressing. This non-fiction study of the economics of entertainment (especially in the context of massive spending on a small number of 'blockbusters' - be they films, pop stars, books, sports stars or other) I found even more of a downer.

It was an interesting subject, and the author clearly knows her stuff. Examples chosen are explored in detail (slightly too much in places, IMHO, as I did get a little bored) but essentially are just reinforcing the same points. I found much of the exploration of how changes in the new 'digital' age are forcing media powers to adapt from their traditional approaches rather enlightening, but overall it left me a little saddened. This isn't really the fault of the author or the book, it's just the fact it all reinforced the impression that the music, books, films, TV, sports and media we all consume is dictated to us by the most efficient promotion machine - and that even in the modern era where digital media might be expected to provide more freedom of choice, this still isn't really the case.

[Nadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Мені такі книжки подобаються!

Тут багато даних / цифр про різні кейси з індустрії розваг (кіно, спорт, музика, книжки, розважальні заклади тощо). Вона написана з точки зору економістки: тому тут повно лексики про витрати, прибутки, бюджети, ліцензії, контракти, бізнес моделі, інвестиції, просування і тд. В цілому це гарний опис, як влаштовані ринки розваг в США / Європі.

PS. Компанія Нільсен тут згадана сотні разів )))

[Ian Bost · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 Stars = "It was OK."
There were some parts of this I found interesting, but I think I was hoping for a deeper analysis of the background dynamics of the increasingly "winner-take-all" nature of the media landscape (and beyond). Perhaps this is borne out of a nagging personal frustration that the "long tail" share of the market has shrunk, rather than grown, despite the increasing availability of "empowering" digital technologies. I can't help but link this to the purported "hollowing out" of the middle class in the US and elsewhere and the increasing gains in income and wealth for the upper classes.
As for the author's analysis of the winner-take-all dynamic, it seems to boil down to our limited capacity for paying attention to things--most of us just nibble and graze on the "top content."
I got the sense this book is aimed at business readers, and is fact arguing for the validity of making bold blockbuster bets, rather than trying to understand the "why" in any profound way. Fair enough, and duly noted.

[A. Bowdoin Van Riper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blockbusters is a book about the business of entertainment: about risk and reward and the bottom line. It argues that investing vast sums of money in blockbusters and superstar performers is, contrary to intuition, a rational and profitable business strategy. Christine Elberse presents the argument crisply, and illustrates it with case studies that draw in an astonishing range of performers: LeBron James, Lady Gaga, Tina Fey, Maria Sharapova, David Beckham, Maroon Five, Tom Cruise, and Dewey, the Library Cat among them.

I picked up this book because I’m part of one of the industries it covers (publishing) and write about two more of them (movies and television). Her business-driven analysis actually worked best for me, however, in the case studies that I knew the least well. Applied to, say, the nuances of running an elite-level European football club, her approach felt like an entertainment-industry version of The Tipping Point or the essays in Freakonomics: an intriguing, counterintuitive analysis of a complex system. Applied to areas to areas where I have a professional and emotional connection, however, it was more frustrating than enlightening.

Elberse’s analysis treats entertainment-industry properties—books, films, musical acts, actors, athletes—as commodities, distinguished from one another by the money it takes to acquire them and they money they bring in. What’s missing is any sense of the nuances that distinguish one piece of entertainment (or one performer) from another: Tom Cruise’s amiable cockiness or Tina Fey’s quicksilver wit, the alien beauty of the computer-animated planet in Avatar or the comforting familiarity of the storyline in Star Wars. She is interested in the fact that John Carter tanked at the box office, but not (for the purposes of the book, at least) in the production and promotion-related details that caused it to tank. It is precisely those nuances and details, however, that people who care deeply about entertainment – fans and creators alike – live and breathe.

Being one of those people, I missed that stuff. I felt, by the time I put the book down, like I was reading an analysis of whether or not I should marry my sweetheart that approached the problem entirely in terms of the tax code: full of insight, but devoid of soul. Blockbusters is well worth the time of anybody seriously interested in the entertainment business, but it will appeal most to those who read the phrase with the emphasis firmly on “business.”

[Ezgi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Büyük bir ilgiyle okudum. 2000’lerin popüler kültürü nasıl şekillendi göstermeye çalışıyor. Bunu da hitler üzerinden yapıyor. Film, dizi, şarkıcılar, sporcular her biri hit olmaları, çıkış yapılmaları için çalışılıyor. Bu sürecin arkasındaki karar mekanizmasını ele alıyor kitap. Yaşanan dönemi anlamayı ve takip etmeyi çok önemli buluyorum. Bu kitap da değişmeye başlamış olsa da dönemin izini sürüyor.

Ticari olarak hitlerin getirilerini karşılaştırdığı kısımları sevdim. Bir starla, büyük bütçeli tek bir film yapmakla star olmadan düşük bütçeli birçok film yapmanın getirisi neredeyse aynı oluyormuş. Ama reklamların boyutunu tamamen değiştiren iki girişim olduğu için büyük yapımcıların neredeyse içgüdüsel kararlar aldığını anlatıyor.

Filmler kadar spor dünyasını anlattığı kısımları da çok sevdim. Spor yazılarını düzenli takip etmeye çalışıyorum. Bence finansla ilgilenen herkesin yapması gerek. Yazar Federer ve Sharapova gibi iki tenis ikonunu seçiyor. İkisi de kendini markaya dönüştüren sporcular. Federer’e dek hiçbir tenisçi böylesi bir çıkış yapamıyor. Kariyerini çok iyi yönetiyor. İşbirlikleri ve eventlerle sporculara bakışı değiştiriyor. Futbolda da Real Madrid’i seçiyor. Florentino Perez ile bambaşka bir kimlik edindiğini söylüyor. Bilmediğim için epey ilgimi çekti. Perez’in dünyanın her yerinden yıldız getirme stratejisini karşılaştırıyor. Futbol kulüpleri altyapısına güveniyor o döneme dek. Ama Perez Galacticos ile yıldızlarla başarı kazanmayı bir yöntem olarak görüyor. Sonuçlara bakınca yanılıyor da sayılmaz. Ama maddi olarak sürdürülebilirliği tartışılıyor.
Kitabın en sevdiğim iki kısmı sinema ve spordu. Kalan kısımları da gayet iyiydi. Popüler kültürle ilgilenen herkesi tatmin edecektir.

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Blockbuster” is an entertainingly written description of the state of entertainment businesses today. The author, an Ivy League researcher, has investigated the actions and results of a variety of businesses, including publishing, movies, television, professional sports, and even nightclubs. What she found is that the focus on the big blockbuster for these companies continues, and this strategy beats the strategy of spreading bets across a larger number of “product” opportunities. The book includes a number of detailed case studies in a variety of areas of entertainment, such as Real Madrid’s star-centered strategy, Saturday Night Live’s employment contract, Radiohead’s internet album distribution, and Jay Z partnering with many companies including Microsoft on promoting his book.

Tidbits taken from "Blockbuster":
- While technology has made “the long tail” possible, blockbusters, those extremely popular bits of entertainment, are what makes the big money.
- With a blockbuster, like a hot book, movie, record, or sports team, there are always ancillary ways to make additional money. For sports teams, sell players or start farm clubs. For media, there’s licensing and sequels and line extensions and trying new distribution methods and unbundling/repackaging. And in the case of “Saturday Night Live” some predatory employment contracting. Partners tend to be required.
- As the entertainment marketplace can be fickle, entertainers tend to be conservative with money when starting out, becoming more risk seeking after they have built a base. This contrasts to other occupations like lawyering, where lawyers can take risks (say investing) with their earnings when starting their career, knowing that a steady paycheck will likely be in the cards for them.
- The book ends by exposing blockbuster thinking beyond entertainment, including nightclubs and Apple products, Burberry and Red Bull, making media events to sell product.

To me, this kind of book describes a change in the business environment that perhaps hasn’t been widely noticed (I know I hadn’t thought about it, although I’m not in the industry so that’s probably why). Based on the research and the case studies, there is a huge roll for technology to be used to find new ways to monetize entertainment properties. In addition, because the making of a blockbuster can involve many moving parts in many areas, the use of partners with expertise in those areas is becoming more of a requirement. The example of Jay Z’s book promotion, including a national treasure hunt and hidden clues throughout the internet, illustrated his needs for technology partners like Microsoft as well as event and PR planners.

I found the book easy to listen to and it kept my attention throughout. This is not an academic book in tone, it is much more a pop science or pop business book, which surprised me given the author’s history. Given the non-academic tone and interesting variety of topics, I think the audiobook was a good choice compared to reading.

[Matt Zar-Lieberman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am generally leery of books where the author posits a provocative wide-ranging thesis. Its probably largely Malcolm Gladwell's fault. So naturally I approached Anita Elberse's Blockbusters with some trepidation. She makes the claim that focusing on high-stakes major campaigns is essential to succeeding in today's entertainment industry and she employs a plethora of examples and research from movies, sports, books, music, and television to support her case. While it can be a bit dry at times, Blockbusters is a very informative and often fascinating examination of the current and future state of the entertainment industry and the increasing importance of tentpole products and campaigns.

Elberse is a professor at the Harvard Business School who understandably brings a wealth of knowledge regarding the industry. She also has experience researching topics such as the economic effects of the unbundling of songs from albums on the music industry (bad for record labels). Elberse has built up quite an impressive list of contacts (she actually just co-wrote an article with Sir Alex Ferguson), which greatly enriches the book. Blockbusters is able to glean insights from major players such as Maria Sharapova's agent and Alan Horn, the former president of Warner Bros. Rather than speculating on the strategies behind campaigns, Elberse is able to pick the brains of decision makers.

The book's main concept is an intriguing and seemingly counter-intuitive approach to entertainment. Essentially, the strategy of hedging bets with a diverse portfolio of products is not the path to profitability for entertainment entities. They should instead promote a few projects and bet big on their success. Elberse illustrates this point with a huge amount of well-argued statements backed up by data and examples, often with commentary from major players. Her book is wide in scope and ranges from Youtube to major opera houses and Argentinian soccer, yet she manages to explore all subjects in considerable depth. She is also refreshingly objective, acknowledging the drawbacks and inherent risks of the blockbuster strategy and why smaller-scale projects are still valuable (largely to facilitate the continued success of blockbusters). She explains the impact of blockbusters on producers and stars, and her chapters on endorsement deals are especially enlightening. I really enjoyed learning about the rationale behind athletic sponsorships for star athletes, such as when Elberse describes how Lebron James weighed three endorsement deals with different compensation models and King James' thought process behind his decision. And as would probably be expected by a new book, Blockbusters explores how recent technological innovations such as original content on Netflix and YouTube and speculates how they will impact the blockbuster model in the future.

Despite the author's academic background, her book is largely readable and suitable for mainstream audiences. Her target audience seems to be the kinds of people who are at least slightly interested in following entertainment trends in places like the Wall Street Journal and Economist. Some basic business knowledge would be nice to get the most out of Blockbusters but there are no complicated formulas or anything and she explains everything in a clear fashion that a layman can understand. She is more concerned with communicating the conclusions resulting from her complicated statistical analyses rather than how she derived them. While the epilogue looks at ways to apply her blockbuster thesis to other fields, this is (mercifully) not the kind of book with workshops every chapter detailing how to apply these lessons to your job. The book is meant to inform and entertain, and it largely succeeds on both counts.

At times Blockbusters reads like a case study, which is fine as far as imparting information goes but it doesn't always make for the most captivating reading material. Sometimes the book drags as she explains the nitty-gritty of particular financial details, but it is generally readable and many of the book's conclusions are fascinating. She is able to pack a ton of information and insight into the book and it improved my understanding of the entertainment business more than any other book.

In Sum

Anyone interested in learning about the current state of the entertainment industry and how it is being affected by technological innovations will get a lot out of Blockbusters. Elberse is able to combine the expertise of an academic with the clarity and eloquence of a journalist. She definitely subscribes to a higher burden of proof than many other books based on supporting a major thesis but even if you remain unconvinced about the blockbuster strategy you can still derive quite a bit of enjoyment and knowledge out of the book. Blockbusters ultimately maintained my interest through most of its pages and is worth seeking out for those interested in the topic.

7/10

[Roberto · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're into the entertainment industry, the creator industry, this is a must read. Especially if you're in the VC industry! This is where the Pareto Principle truly rules.

[Boudewijn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book describing the business behind the world of entertainment, media, and sports companies and their 'blockbuster' strategies. Repetitive at times, it gives a good insight why companies use 'blockbuster' strategies in the entertainment area.

Read in Dutch

[Kamran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anita delves into the details of the "blockbuster" strategy used by entertainment giants. It's all about splurging big bucks on a handful of projects—whether they're movies, star athletes, or video games. This flies in the face of conventional risk management which preaches diversification like gospel. But Anita argues that this isn't applicable to entertainment businesses. Why? Because in the world of entertainment, the audience is fickle, trends come and go faster than you can say "action," and here's the kicker: a smash hit can easily make up for a string of flops. Finally, for a book on entertainment maybe the writing could have been more entertaining but the book is informative nonetheless!

[Amy Neftzger · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author consolidates and synthesizes 10 years of research to dissect and evaluate the "blockbuster" strategy that most entertainment companies use in marketing their products. She uses examples from book publishing, the film and music industries, and professional sports. If you work in one of these fields, I highly recommend this book. The author provides data supporting the blockbuster strategy and explains why the "long tail" theory of purchasing behavior doesn't work as well as originally hypothesized.

The short summary is that the Entertainment industry is built on blockbusters and no company can survive in these industries without them.

[Anneke Visser-van Dijken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lees mijn recensie over dit boek op mijn blog, https://surfingann.blogspot.nl/2016/0....

[Daniel Sepúlveda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Puntaje: 5 Estrellas.

Muy pocos saben que me apasiona el negocio del entretenimiento. Todo lo que tenga que ver con musica, cine, deportes y literatura me gusta mucho. Pero no hablo del producto como tal, sino de todo el negocio que está detrás.

Anita Elberse es tal vez uno de los más grandes y reconocidos expertos en la materia. Una profesora de MBA de Harvard que ha enfocado su investigación en el mundo del entretenimiento y que se dedica a elaborar casos de estudio sobre todo lo que te puedas imaginar en el entretenimiento. (Actualmente compré tres casos de estudio que estoy muy ansioso por leer!).

Admiro mucho el conocimiento de Elberse y honestamente espero conocerla algún día y trabajar junto a ella.

Dejando todo mi fanboylismo a un lado, Blockbusters nos describe como las estrategias rompetaquillas se han convertido en parte importante de todas las secciones que conforman el negocio del entretenimiento. Desde las películas hasta los libros. Con casos y ejemplos en cada una de estas áreas, Elberse explica los distintos elementos y aspectos que componen estas estrategias y las razones por las que estos casos han sido altamente exitosos.

Recomiendo mucho este libro a quienes estén interesados en aprender sobre la industria del entretenimiento. Y no solo el libro, los casos que ella publica. Pueden comprarlos en la pagina de Harvard Business Publishing!

[Bookish207 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book through an Early Reviewers program. Having read a lot of business books in my time, I was pleased that this one was written well and entertaining!

The premise of the book put forth by the author (a professor at Harvard Business School) is that of the "blockbuster" strategy used by most entertainment companies in marketing their content. Why might a movie studio put most of its money behind three key movies rather than equally among the movies the studio is releasing? Because, according to Elberse, this strategy works!

As a researcher, I'm always looking for the data, and it's clear that the author did her research (10+ years of it) and she lays out the facts without being didactic.

A good business read, and I can imagine if you're in big media (which I'm not) this book would be of even more interest to you. For me, it's a solid 3 stars.

[Stefan S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book although a little dated. The media environment has changed significantly since this was published in 2013. I liked the last paragraph where it ties this to the broader business community (winner takes all) and wish more time had been spent on broader changes to the economy, not just media, that make blockbusters more successful. Well-researched but slightly dry and repetitive. It took me three months to finish 260 pages...

[MacKenzie Green]

The thesis of the book is to prove the higher returns of taking a blockbuster strategy, but I don’t think this book fulfills its thesis.
Elberse is far from a media futurist but she’s got some good points.
I particularly liked the conversation around brand partnerships, digital media democratizing consumer choice, and some of the case studies.
Overall I was underwhelmed by the book, but it did its job.

[Glenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I give this book 2 stars, it definitely isn't a bad book. There's a great flow through the book filled with great hands-on examples linked to the theory behind it. If you're into marketing or just like business books, this could be a good one for you.

I got this book recommended through a podcast and had high expectations. I liked the first 3 chapters, but just didn't like the following chapters. It just wasn't a book for me.

[Dasha Velasquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great analytics

Incredibly analytical and deep dive into entertainment industry, its processes and what makes the hits stand out. Anita had put together a complex study of how companies, record labels and other industry players are breaking through overwhelming media field to present the product and to insure its success. Highly recommended to those who are interested in entertainment, development of the sphere and current trends

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Мені було дуже цікаво читати, бо 1) мені цікава розважальна індустрія і маркетинг, 2) і я феноменальний новачок, тобто майже все було новим. Класні паралелі між всіма індустріями і інсайти від виконавців кампаній, а найцікавіше- їхні конфлікти.
По видавництву: у Книголава, який видав український переклад, багацько одруків :( але все одно добре, що є ліцензійний переклад

[morgan rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a very interesting read. i’m so curious what a sequel would be like considering how much has changed in the 10+ years since this was published (i.e., the over-saturation of streaming services in music and movies/tv, the push to completely digital everything, corporate greed lol). i also genuinely have zero recollection of jay-z’s memoir so that was quite the eye opener.

[Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those who love economics and freakonomics, this a book up your alley. It can be dense at times for people not as enthusiastic about these subjects, but there's a ton of cool information and was generally captivating throughout.

[Franck Vinchon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Promising vision with expected articulation

I believe since a long time that entertainment is a great source of inspiration for all brands - I may have expected a deeper approach to articulate how it might work and understand the pitfalls to overcome. Nice read for sure

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although a bit dry at points, many of her predictions from 2013 have become reality. So worth the read. Would love to see an updated version with so much happening in the last seven years. Solid research and ideas spread over movies, music, and sports to prove theroies. Masterful.

[Siddharth Raman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked it because of the real world examples broken down in simple language. Found this to be quite a breezy read. Given this is slightly dated, it was interesting to get a sense of the author’s perspective on digital technologies from 5-6 years ago.

[Ryan Dickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book incredibly insightful. Some of the content is out-dated as it was written in mid-2010s. Many of the concepts and ideas discussed are applicable to today!

I’ll definitely be bringing in idea from Prof. Elberse’s book into my arts marketing course this upcoming spring.

[Steven Yenzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Accessible and interesting. I learned a lot.

[Jinling · Rating 4 out of 5]

The case studies were well written but there wasn't much discussion to conclude the book.

[Joyce Meijs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goede inzichten in de marketing strategieën rondom sport, muziek, films, en mode. Goed geschreven en erg interessante feiten die aan de hand van voorbeelden worden benadrukt.

[Diego Leal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since i am passionate about Media and Entertainment i found this book very informative. Great business cases regarding motion pictures, music and sports.

[Kit · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's good, but dated. A lot has changed since COVID, in terms of content , but the basic economics for the major players hasn't evolved