Taran Swan Case Study
Case Summary of Taran Swan at Nickelodeon Latin America
Taran Swan served as launch director and general manager of Nickelodeon Latin America. She had written the business plan, compiled a team and brought it through its first 18 months in the air. She unexpectedly had to return to New York and was faced with the decision of whether to appoint an interim leader in her place, and if so, who among her team members should she select?
Origins of Nickelodeon Latin America
Nickelodeon is a cable channel for kids 2-11 years old, which included a variety of programming (live, action, drama), not just cartoons. Launched in the US, Nickelodeon (Nick) became the most popular kids’ television channel and expanded internationally.
Each international Nickelodeon channel had its own on-air identity and slogan. The Latin America market did not look promising due to currency fluctuations and demographics. The channel looked elsewhere, and Swan helped launch the Germany channel in 1995 after replacing the ineffective launch director there, learning to make key decisions with minimal information. Soon after launch, they turned the channel over to local management.
Competition had begun to enter kids’ media, including the Cartoon Network (1993) and Fox Kids Network (1993). Swan felt now was the time to make a move into Latin America before the market became saturated. Based on her performance in Germany, she was appointed launch director.
Taran Swan
Swan liked Latin America because she saw an opportunity. Kids there only had the same old cartoon shows. She needed to prove her business plan was viable by securing a minimum distribution of 2 million households. Nickelodeon Latin America’s (the new venture) sister company MTV Latin America was doing poorly, so that wasn’t a good sign. But Swan’s plan called for sharing of resources with MTV Latin America, including personnel.
Working Toward Corporate Approval
Nickelodeon people have “orange blood” (reflection of
Taran Swan served as launch director and general manager of Nickelodeon Latin America. She had written the business plan, compiled a team and brought it through its first 18 months in the air. She unexpectedly had to return to New York and was faced with the decision of whether to appoint an interim leader in her place, and if so, who among her team members should she select?
Origins of Nickelodeon Latin America
Nickelodeon is a cable channel for kids 2-11 years old, which included a variety of programming (live, action, drama), not just cartoons. Launched in the US, Nickelodeon (Nick) became the most popular kids’ television channel and expanded internationally.
Each international Nickelodeon channel had its own on-air identity and slogan. The Latin America market did not look promising due to currency fluctuations and demographics. The channel looked elsewhere, and Swan helped launch the Germany channel in 1995 after replacing the ineffective launch director there, learning to make key decisions with minimal information. Soon after launch, they turned the channel over to local management.
Competition had begun to enter kids’ media, including the Cartoon Network (1993) and Fox Kids Network (1993). Swan felt now was the time to make a move into Latin America before the market became saturated. Based on her performance in Germany, she was appointed launch director.
Taran Swan
Swan liked Latin America because she saw an opportunity. Kids there only had the same old cartoon shows. She needed to prove her business plan was viable by securing a minimum distribution of 2 million households. Nickelodeon Latin America’s (the new venture) sister company MTV Latin America was doing poorly, so that wasn’t a good sign. But Swan’s plan called for sharing of resources with MTV Latin America, including personnel.
Working Toward Corporate Approval
Nickelodeon people have “orange blood” (reflection of