Marvel Case Report †Marketing Essay

1. Key Problems/Opportunities: †¢Marvel’s product line is limited to primarily the superhero genre. This makes diversifying more difficult. †¢Marvel competes not only with DC Comics but also with other types of films (such as action, suspense, thriller, horror, sci-fi, etc.). When people go to the movies for entertainment, they don’t typically just go to watch comic book hero movies. Therefore, Marvel faces competition from a wide range of genres (and production companies like Paramount that produce different genres of movies). †¢Marvel can turn each comic book character into its own brand and capitalize on additional streams of revenue through licensing. Toys, T-shirts, watches, and video games based on popular comic book characters are all products that can help augment Marvel’s revenue. †¢Not all characters are of equal worth to Marvel. Spiderman and X-Men are much more valuable brands than Daredevil and the Punisher. 2. New Information: †¢Marvel continues to have mixed success with its character lineup. Elekra only grossed $56.7M worldwide while Iron Man grossed over $585M worldwide (http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/ ?id=elektra.htm; http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=ironman.htm). †¢ Marvel Entertainment’s competitive landscape has become even tougher. Not only must Marvel’s lineup compete with DC Comic’s Superman and Batman, but also comic book heroes like Transformers and G.I. Joe (interestingly, Marvel used to own the rights to Transformers and G.I. Joe but sold those rights to Hasbro) (http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread. php?t=265502). †¢Marvel has been able to keep the X-Men franchise afloat with X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men: First-Class (though it does seem to be weakening some) (http://boxofficemojo.com/ showdowns/chart/?id=vs-xmen.htm). †¢Disney purchased Marvel for $4 billion in 2009 (http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/31/news/ companies/disney_marvel/index.htm). 3. Recommendations: †¢Not every Marvel movie is a blockbuster. In fact, some of them are flops. While Marvel would certainly experience growth in focusing on production and distribution more, it risks stretching itself beyond its core competencies. While successful movies could prove to be very profitable for Marvel, lackluster movies could prove to be financially detrimental if Marvel also produced and distributed all of its films. †¢Marvel must learn to manage its growth. It cannot forever rely on its cash cows Spiderman and X-Men. However, new generations equate to new potential markets. Reintroducing classic characters to new generations could translate into recurring revenue streams. †¢Marvel should leverage its growth on one hand and not stretch itself too much beyond its core competencies on the other. Getting more into production could prove to be financially beneficial for Marvel. On the other hand, I would recommend leaving the distribution to those companies that specialize in that and are large enough to be able to diversify without it harming their business. Marvel’s core competency is in developing its characters and storylines. While Marvel could expand their core competencies to include production, doing so too much to include distribution might destroy Marvel’s core competencies. †¢Marvel has thousands of characters. It should strategically develop some of its highest-potential characters. However, this has also backfired (ex: Daredevil and Elektra). It worked with Iron Man and seems to be working with Thor though. †¢Marvel can continue to create new streams of revenue by aggressively seeking licensing opportunities and even international licensing agreements. Licensing can be extremely profitable, especially when attached to a lucrative film franchise.