1. Includes a link to the article.
http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14376422
2. Includes a short summary of the article.
Walt Disney buys Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in what they will hope will be a successful merger of their companies. Disney hopes to have 'something for everyone' and attract new customers with their new addition of Marvel characters.
3. Identifies the topic(s) from our syllabus that the article covers.
1.7 Growth and Evolution
4. Applies one business tool/theory/technique to the organization.
1.7 Growth and Evolution
Walt Disney had just brought Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion on August 31st. This merger was a good move as mentioned in the article (“Marrying Marvel’s characters with Disney’s talent for making money from successful franchises is a good idea”), but I personally believe that it is too late a move. In my opinion, Disney should have merged with Marvel Entertainment at an earlier date when comic-book movies were initially on the rise.
However, by buying Marvel Entertainment, Disney is saying that it is interested in having access to Marvel’s stash of 5,000 established characters, a good reason for the merger since it will now allow them to attract more age groups (especially the pre-teen and teen boys) and thus expand financially. Disney now has the right to use these characters as they wish. Not only that, but by buying out another entertainment company, Disney will eliminate competition (it already has Pixar joined with it).
Like Stan Lee says in the article, "the Disney-Marvel merger will prove “a terrific deal which will be extremely beneficial to both companies. The synergy between them is perfect.”"
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ReplyDeleteHello Josephine,
ReplyDeleteInteresting article (in my opinion, as I’m a fan of marvel creations.)
If we back track 40-50 years from the present, the article indicates that Stan Lee (who was the originally the former president of Marvel Comics) indicated interest in converting Marvel into a company similar to Disney during the 1960s. With this in mind I disagree to Josephine’s opinion that their merge between Disney and Marvel “is too late a move”. I think one has to consider their maturity of marvel before a large acquisition of an entertainment establishment like such. (A little background information) Marvel as a comic book producer and publications was founded in 1939, which is approximately 20 years short of Stan Lee’s hopeful decision in expanding the company. In terms of time, 20 years of growth although great, did not indicate that outstanding of a job for Marvel. It was not until the mid 1960s did the company start to create the more established comic characters such as the Fantastic Four. Considering that this was the beginning of their road to creating the most versatile comic book characters of all, this period in time was definitely too early or a big media conglomerate like Disney to acquire it.
Personally, I feel that Disney has given a healthy amount of time for Marvel to grow independently before buying them out for $4 Billion Dollars. In recent years, Marvel has really given an excellent impression in the minds of the audience, and this is not speaking in statistical terms. Movies that have significantly influenced the minds of both the young and the aged include the Spiderman series, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Hulk, Ironman are just a few that most movie goers know about. Seeing that Marvel is much more established at present, Disney has created a smart move in which to acquire the company at the appropriate time. As you’ve also said within your reflections, Marvel has stashed more than 5000 established characters, which again proves that they’re very mature in their works which is definitely one of the attractions that seem to have captured Disney.
Thanks for the write-up; I hope I’ve given you another approach to this article.
Brian
Hi Josephine, cool article.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brian's comment above, that this wasn't a late merger at all. I believe that this is in fact one of the best times for this merger. I believe that Disney was wise in purchasing Marvel at this later date. This allowed time for Marvel to develop its own brand, its own recognition and identity in the market (4.3 Business and Management). As the article suggests, Marvel adds a shadowy, darker side to Disney's array of cuddly characters. If Marvel was purchased by Disney years before, would Marvel still have the room to develop this identity, or would it have conformed to Disney's style?
Moreover, I think that $4 billion is an absolutely reasonable price. I took the effort to do a little research on how much revenue Marvel really receives. From the 3 Spiderman movies alone, it has generated $2,496,346,518
of box office revenue. Although this is not the gross or net profit, it can be seen that from one line of Marvel alone, it already generated $2.5 billion USD revenue. Thus, I think that a $4 billion USD acquisition is reasonable.
Moreover, now that Disney has purchased Marvel, it has the rights to 5000 characters worth of intellectual property. This can hold unlimited potential to generate sales for Disney.
I believe that Disney has made an extremely wise move, forming a merger that is welcomed by both sides, both Marvel and Disney. Perhaps this merger can make it more competitive in the entertainment industry with companies like Hasbro, Nickolodeon, and Dreamworks all wanting a piece of the action?
What are your thoughts? :)
Cheers,
Calvin
oh, i forgot to cite where i got the box office values, here are the sites below:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=spiderman.htm
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=spiderman2.htm
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=spiderman3.htm
Sources Cited for Background Information on Marvel
ReplyDelete1. "Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. -- Company History." Connecting Angel Investors and Entrepreneurs. Web. 17 Sept. 2009. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Marvel-Entertainment-Group-Inc-Company-History.html.
Thanks.
Hi Josephine! This is a cool article.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that this merger between Walt Disney and Marvel Entetainment at this moment is not a bad timing. By allowing more time before acquiring Marvel Entertainment, it has allowed Marvel to develop further. This as a result has benefited Disney in gaining more market share and also as the article mentioned about having diversification which increases their competitiveness within the industry.