Harlequin Enterprises: The MIRA Decision
Harlequin Enterprises: The MIRA Decision
Jimmy Billard
Hannah DeCelles
Mackenzie Farwell
Gaetana Gianfriddo
Katlyn Nicholson
18/10/2012
Harlequin Enterprises: The MIRA Decision
Problem Identification
Harlequin, a popular publisher of women’s romance novel series, is concerned with whether or not they should shift into the market of single-title books. Harlequin is generally known for their popularity in the publishing of romance series however, given the halt in growth of market share for series and the continuous growth of single title women’s fiction novels, Harlequin is considering moving into this new market of Women’s Fiction with the introduction of their single-title program, MIRA.
Analysis
The romance market size
in the North American Market accounts for 1.2 billion dollars and women make up 100% of this market. With the growing popularity of single title covers, women are now becoming more interested in novels concerning general fiction, mystery and Sci-Fi as well. Since Harlequin is already well established in the market as romance novel sellers, it is possible for them to capitalize on the single title romance novel sales, a growing market. From 1985-1990, single-title romance books from other publishers increased from 72 million to 112 million as opposed to romance series, which only increased from 12 million to 14 million during the same time frame. The growth rate of the romance series novels is growing very slowly or remaining constant. In order to gain more market share, Harlequin will need to consider re-positioning themselves. One advantage they will have as a company is their strong brand and consumer loyalty. Harlequin began a similar project in 1986, The Worldwide Library, which aimed to enter the single-title market, but the product line was too broad and no one knew what genre they were specialized in. The project was abandoned by 1988. This time around, Harlequin still plans to release MIRA in the general category of Women’s fiction, instead of learning their lesson and specifying one or two genres. Also, introducing single-title books means that MIRA is required to live from book-to-book, with failing novels putting a serious strain on the company’s costs until the next release.
Decision
The opportunity for Harlequin to expand and thrive in this new single-title book market definitely exists, and if done properly will change the face of the company for the better. Changes must be made to the current strategy to avoid the catastrophic mistakes made by The Worldwide Library. Instead of attempting to reach three- four different sub-genres of women’s fiction, Harlequin must stick to their core competency of romance novels. The company already has an established network of romance authors from previous series that have expanded into single-titles, so ensuring romance single-titles as MIRA’s main genre should not be too difficult. In terms of expansion costs, running their series novels along with MIRA should ensure that the company is diversified enough not to be in serious trouble if a single-title fails. Also, costs would not be too extreme as the inclusion of single-title lines would need no additional charges to indirect overhead. Harlequin is definitely positioned well for this new market, and should pursue this opportunity.
Jimmy Billard
Hannah DeCelles
Mackenzie Farwell
Gaetana Gianfriddo
Katlyn Nicholson
18/10/2012
Harlequin Enterprises: The MIRA Decision
Problem Identification
Harlequin, a popular publisher of women’s romance novel series, is concerned with whether or not they should shift into the market of single-title books. Harlequin is generally known for their popularity in the publishing of romance series however, given the halt in growth of market share for series and the continuous growth of single title women’s fiction novels, Harlequin is considering moving into this new market of Women’s Fiction with the introduction of their single-title program, MIRA.
Analysis
The romance market size
in the North American Market accounts for 1.2 billion dollars and women make up 100% of this market. With the growing popularity of single title covers, women are now becoming more interested in novels concerning general fiction, mystery and Sci-Fi as well. Since Harlequin is already well established in the market as romance novel sellers, it is possible for them to capitalize on the single title romance novel sales, a growing market. From 1985-1990, single-title romance books from other publishers increased from 72 million to 112 million as opposed to romance series, which only increased from 12 million to 14 million during the same time frame. The growth rate of the romance series novels is growing very slowly or remaining constant. In order to gain more market share, Harlequin will need to consider re-positioning themselves. One advantage they will have as a company is their strong brand and consumer loyalty. Harlequin began a similar project in 1986, The Worldwide Library, which aimed to enter the single-title market, but the product line was too broad and no one knew what genre they were specialized in. The project was abandoned by 1988. This time around, Harlequin still plans to release MIRA in the general category of Women’s fiction, instead of learning their lesson and specifying one or two genres. Also, introducing single-title books means that MIRA is required to live from book-to-book, with failing novels putting a serious strain on the company’s costs until the next release.
Decision
The opportunity for Harlequin to expand and thrive in this new single-title book market definitely exists, and if done properly will change the face of the company for the better. Changes must be made to the current strategy to avoid the catastrophic mistakes made by The Worldwide Library. Instead of attempting to reach three- four different sub-genres of women’s fiction, Harlequin must stick to their core competency of romance novels. The company already has an established network of romance authors from previous series that have expanded into single-titles, so ensuring romance single-titles as MIRA’s main genre should not be too difficult. In terms of expansion costs, running their series novels along with MIRA should ensure that the company is diversified enough not to be in serious trouble if a single-title fails. Also, costs would not be too extreme as the inclusion of single-title lines would need no additional charges to indirect overhead. Harlequin is definitely positioned well for this new market, and should pursue this opportunity.