Blue Man Case Study
9-810-108
REV: JANUARY 6, 2012
BHASKAR CHAKRAVORTI
JANET KRAUS
SHIRLEY M. SPENCE
Blue Man Group: Creativity, Life and Surviving an
Economic Meltdown
1
Sometimes when we look at where Blue Man Group has gone; we just sort of scratch our heads. And we think about how we started, basically just the three of us saying, “Why don’t we get bald and blue and do stuff?” — Chris Wink, co-founder with friends Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton
Monday evening on July 7, 2008, Chris, Matt and Phil were slumped around a conference table littered with leftover sushi boxes, and sales and financial reports. Their CFO had just left the room. It was clear they were in a red ink-black ink situation; they could go under. It was frightening to think about, after twenty years of living and breathing Blue Man. What would happen to the Blue Man community, their coworkers and friends? What about the Blue School? What about them and their own families? The issues they were worried about extended well beyond the Blue Man Group enterprise, but the business was where they needed to focus their attention right now. Without the ability to forecast and tremendous uncertainty in the economy, they would have to assume the worst and make some dramatic changes.
By 2008, Blue Man Group sales had climbed to approximately $90 million,2 and employees numbered approximately 580. CMP had become known as much as the heads of a performance arts empire as creative geniuses. The three co-founders bought out their original producer early on to gain creative control, but over the years had been involved in numerous production partnerships and other collaborations. They were far from done, however, working on a growth strategy aimed at expanding beyond live productions to become the global leader in “multigenerational entertainment that’s smart and cool,” with a long list of exciting projects.
The Blue Men made their formal debut in 1988 by staging a “funeral for the 80s” in New York
REV: JANUARY 6, 2012
BHASKAR CHAKRAVORTI
JANET KRAUS
SHIRLEY M. SPENCE
Blue Man Group: Creativity, Life and Surviving an
Economic Meltdown
1
Sometimes when we look at where Blue Man Group has gone; we just sort of scratch our heads. And we think about how we started, basically just the three of us saying, “Why don’t we get bald and blue and do stuff?” — Chris Wink, co-founder with friends Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton
Monday evening on July 7, 2008, Chris, Matt and Phil were slumped around a conference table littered with leftover sushi boxes, and sales and financial reports. Their CFO had just left the room. It was clear they were in a red ink-black ink situation; they could go under. It was frightening to think about, after twenty years of living and breathing Blue Man. What would happen to the Blue Man community, their coworkers and friends? What about the Blue School? What about them and their own families? The issues they were worried about extended well beyond the Blue Man Group enterprise, but the business was where they needed to focus their attention right now. Without the ability to forecast and tremendous uncertainty in the economy, they would have to assume the worst and make some dramatic changes.
By 2008, Blue Man Group sales had climbed to approximately $90 million,2 and employees numbered approximately 580. CMP had become known as much as the heads of a performance arts empire as creative geniuses. The three co-founders bought out their original producer early on to gain creative control, but over the years had been involved in numerous production partnerships and other collaborations. They were far from done, however, working on a growth strategy aimed at expanding beyond live productions to become the global leader in “multigenerational entertainment that’s smart and cool,” with a long list of exciting projects.
The Blue Men made their formal debut in 1988 by staging a “funeral for the 80s” in New York