Marvel Enterprises
A plan for sustained growth
Based on Marvels current market position, it needs to
answer two key questions about its future position
Marvel Enterprises is the
number 1 comic book publisher
and licenser in the US, ahead of
closest competitor, DC Comics.
There has been slow to virtually
no growth in publishing.
Marvel has experienced an
increase in sales and
profitability, and now needs to
position itself for future.
2
Should Marvel focus on
its core heroes or
introduce its lesser
known heroes?
Should Marvel invest in
more capital-intensive,
but potentially more
profitable projects?
We recommend Marvel focus on introducing other heroes
and investing in more capital-intensive projects
1
2
Should Marvel focus on
its core heroes or
introduce its lesser
known heroes?
Should Marvel invest in
more capital-intensive,
but potentially more
profitable projects?
Profitability
Brand Equity
Growth Potential
1. Build Marvel Universe by introducing new heroes with known heroes.
2. Invest in capital-intensive projects, specifically, movie production.
3
Licensing has led to Marvels rebound and
rapid growth
1939
1990s
1998
2003
Introduction of Licensing
15% increase in
market share
20x increase in
stock price
Customers can be segmented by 3 main
product categories
Publications
Males
13-23 yrs
Established
Readers
Toys
Boys
4-12 yrs
Collectors (20%)
Motion Pictures
Mass audience
Beyond
publications
Competitors span across the different
businesses
Publications
DC Comics (35%)
Smaller industry
distributors
(25%)
Toys
Bandai
Hasbro
Mattel
Movies
Warner Brothers
Pixar
(Incredibles)
Business Model
Publishing
Toys
Marvel
Licensing Motion Films
Licensing Other Products
Marvel owns
Marvel does not own
Currently, the motion picture segment is growing the
fastest, but we only retain 7% of sales
Breakdown of Revenue
and CAGR (01-03) by Business
Percentage of Total Revenue
Marvel Retains from Box Office Sales
97%
7%
21.09% 22%
24.51%
12%
14.56%
93%
Publishing
Toys
Licensing - Movies
Marvel has to capitalize on the movie production and distribution process.
8
The Marvel Universe is our greatest strength
Spider-man
Deadpool
Fantastic
Four
Hulk
Iron Man
X-men
The Marvel
Universe
Elektra
Marvel needs to be a masterbrand, not a house of brands.
9
Marvel wants to seize the opportunity to
capitalize on Motion Films
Publishing
Toys
Marvel
Motion Films for Core
Heroes
Licensing Motion Films for Noncore Heroes
Licensing Other Products
Marvel owns
Marvel does not own
10
Lesser known heroes who find success in movies will
become the future core heroes and be produced by Marvel
Lesser known heroes
Core heroes
If successful
Licensing Phase
Production Phase
11
Marvel can leverage existing equity of core heroes
to introduce new content with lesser-known heroes
Criteria
Production
Licensing
Gross sales
> $250 m
< $250 m
Characters
Core heroes
Team = Core +
Lesser known
Audience
Mass market
Comic book fan
base
Goal of movies
Introduce audience Discover potential
to Marvel Universe core heroes
12
The toy market is highly competitive and
driven by volume
Percentage of Marvel Toy Sales vs Industry
19%
19%
Marvel Toys
35%
Margins
Marvel is making high margins in a competitive market by licensing.
13
Publications are not growing at a sustainable rate, but can
contribute as R&D to rising demand for online products
Marvel
Specialty
Stores
Consumers
E-Comics
Marvel is making high margins in a competitive market by licensing.
14
Based on the potential profits Marvel can retain by producing
and distributing films, it should produce
683
Licensing Profits (millions)
296
Potential Production Profits
(millions)
221
68
4.76
122
104
95
57.54
21
6.65
7.28
28.5
16.94
0.07
Projected Profit (04):
Projected Profit (04):
$1.1 b
$0.5 b
15
Medium
High
Acquire studio and talent
Introduce lesser known heroes into core hero movies
Develop e-comics
Creation of new characters via publications
Low
Own all movie productions
Develop toy production capability
Time
16
Thank you! Questions?
17
