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On 15 and 16 September 2008, the British artist Damien Hirst broke all rules of the art market. He bypassed conventional distribution channels - dealers and gallery owners - by directly partnering with Sotheby's auction house - and with their help successfully sold more than 200 pieces of his works. Sotheby's auctioned art works which were less than 2 years old, which was another break from tradition. Hirst earned more than GBP110 million from the auction - in the midst of a global economic crisis and on the same day that the Lehman Brothers Investment house collapsed. The case study 'Damien Hirst and the contemporary art market' provides an overview of Hirst's career as an artist and the circumstances that supported his success. The case study enables students to develop a good understanding of the elements of a strategic innovation, and how an individual (or organization) can shake up an established industry merely by framing and answering the fundamental strategic questions 'Who is the customer', 'What do I offer this customer', and 'How do I create value for the customer - and ultimately myself' differently. The case provides detailed information on the structure and size of the global art industry, a market that was estimated by The Economist to account from some USD50 billion in sales in 2008, down from USD65 billion at its peak in 2007.