Heat F LeBron James’ marketing strategy has been one of several case studies involving pop culture figures in Harvard Business School’s "wildly popular" “Strategic Marketing in Creative Industries” course, according to a front-page piece by Shira Springer of the BOSTON GLOBE. By making James a case study, the course “provides a compelling lesson in what can determine success or failure in the volatile world of celebrity marketing.” LRMR CEO Maverick Carter, James’ business manager and childhood friend, said, “When Harvard Business School approached us for a case study, it was a ‘wow’ moment.” Springer reports James and his business partners “happily cooperated with the research process, giving access and candid assessments of marketing choices, making the case study something of a page-turner.” The James case study “focuses on three video game endorsement offers he received in late 2008.” But the decision among EA, 2K Games and Microsoft Xbox Live is “really an avenue for exploring compensation models and the career life cycle of professional athletes.” Carter said James was “amazed" at the final product, “amazed that it happened and amazed to be doing it." Carter added contributing to the case study made him “understand, even more, how much collaboration with the right people is valuable." Springer notes other topics in the course include singer Lady Gaga, La Liga club Real Madrid, tennis player Maria Sharapova, the NFL, actor Tom Cruise and rock band Radiohead. Harvard Professor Anita Elberse, who teaches the course, saw a “potential counterpoint” from the James case to the Sharapova case, as Sharapova and her agency “represent the more traditional model for top athletes and securing endorsements” (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/17).
