The prime event in research on the economic side of filmed entertainment, the Mallen Conference, will this year be co-chaired by MCM professor Thorsten Hennig-Thurau, together with Jannis Funk from Film University Babelsberg, Olav Sorenson (Yale), and Abraham Ravid (Yeshiva New York). The conference, which celebrates the 20^th anniversary of the conference series, will be hosted by the MCM in conjunction with Film University Babelsberg and the DFG Research Group 1452 “How Social Media is Changing Marketing” in Potsdam and Berlin from September 26-29.

Thought leaders and emerging scholars from around the world gathered at the University of Missouri for an enriching two days of collaborative learning and innovation. The inaugural Marketing Strategy Consortium brought together 44 fellows representing six countries, as well as doctoral faculty and researchers from leading universities from across North America and Europe.

On February 1^st, Anne Coughlan visiting from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University held a Brown Bag Seminar for doctoral students of the MCM and gave interesting insight into her joint project with Manfred Krafft and Julian Allendorf “High Flyers: An MOA Analysis of Top-Performing Direct-Selling Distributors”.

The next episode of our new video format MCM Spotlight is "live"!  In more or less (but rather more) 100 seconds, our interview partners share their fresh perspectives with a large audience of marketing students, scholars, and managers.

On November 16 and 17, Manfred Krafft traveled to Norway, following an invitation by his colleagues at BI Oslo. In BI‘s research seminar, he presented a study on the interplay of music and light in a retail context. Almost all 35 members of BI‘s marketing department attended Professor Krafft‘s presentation and contributed to a very lively discussion. Several colleagues used the visit of Manfred Krafft to discuss their ideas for future research as well.

On November 9th and 10th, Dr. Thorsten Henig-Thurau and Dr. Ann-Kristin Kupfer attended the 19^th Mallen Economics of Filmed Entertainment Conference in New York City. The prestigious event, which combines scientific presentations and discussions with industry guests, was held in cooperation by the New York University, Yeshiva University and Yale University. Dr. Ann-Kristin Kupfer presented scholarly insights on the management of complex brand portfolios, using the case of the Marvel universe.