Presentacion de caso

Case #6-0028

Nolej Studios: Growing a Creativity-Based Business
On a picturesque New York City fall afternoon in September 2007, Alejandro Crawford got a phone call offering what every growing business wants—potential new business. Strangely enough, as CEO and co-founder of the digital advertising firm Nolej Studios (Nolej), Crawford wasn’t sure if he should be excited. After struggling forfour years to get his interactive advertising agency off the ground, the company was now starting to gain momentum and presence in the industry. The potential client, an interactive toy company, approached Nolej with specific service needs that lay outside of the services that Nolej had provided in the past. Nolej had focused on delivering brand image elements, brochures, websites, and onlineinteractive demos for clients. However, the toy company was requesting character creation, business model development, and user-experience design—all new service areas for Nolej. If they provided these services, Nolej would begin to look more like a fullservice agency and less like a niche player. This change in focus could open up new market opportunities, but could also open Nolej up to morecompetition. Complicating this decision was an internal debate among Nolej management as to whether they could provide the additional services at a high level of quality and creativity. The toy industry was outside their usual target audience, and Nolej’s limited experience in that made some unsure that the completed project would meet Nolej’s high standards. Crawford wanted to be sure the client would besatisfied, but also wanted the work to reflect favorably on Nolej, in the hopes it would attract new business. Furthermore, the client’s desired level of control over specific details of the project was stronger than that of most of Nolej’s previous clients. Several of the design staff thought that the level of specificity was too confining, and that they needed to be given more creative space toprovide top-notch service innovation and value. Finally, taking on a project of this relative magnitude would require Crawford to hire more employees or contract more freelance workers to meet the deadlines. Crawford had told the potential client he would get back to them by the next day on the details of the proposed project. As he leaned back in his chair, he laughed at the thought that hemight turn down lucrative work—but he was seriously considering it.

This case was written by Center for Digital Strategies MBA Fellow Ashley Martin and Professor Alva Taylor of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, with guidance from Professor Hans Brechbühl. It was written as a basis for class discussion and not to illustrate effective or ineffective management practices. Version: May 5, 2008.© 2008 Trustees of Dartmouth College. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint, contact the Center for Digital Strategies at 603-646-0899.

Nolej Studios: Growing a Creativity-Based Business

Case #6-0028

Firm History
Nolej is a privately held interactive advertising agency headquartered in New York, New York. Crawford wrote the business plan while an MBA student at the Tuck Schoolof Business at Dartmouth, and launched the business following his graduation in 2003. Originally a music and film production company, the current interactive advertising agency model was implemented in 2005. Their first project was creating electronic press kits for IMG Artists, a talent agency promoting performance groups Cirque du Soleil and Antigravity; IMG Artists is still a client today. In2007, Nolej had eight full-time employees and was turning $150,000 in quarterly revenues, with projected annual revenues of $1 million by the end of 20081 (see Exhibits 2, 3). Competing in the interactive agency space, Nolej prides itself on its outstanding creative talents and excellent project management. Crawford said, “To hold the attention of consumers, we must earn it. To do this requires...