STRENGTH
One of the greatest strength that Marvel has that its characters are being brought to life through the modern work of art in the cinema business. The idea or the inception is generated by Marvel whereas the final product is developed by multiple production houses such as Sony is producing Spider-Man, which not only generates brand recognition for Marvel but it also celebrates the love of the character on the big screen, and as it is said that once a person watches the movie then it is certain that he will buy products regarding that characters.
This gives Marvel the second most important strength that is the cost advantage, it costs nothing to develop a character but once it is done then all Marvel needs to do is that it has to reap royalties from it. Companies will contact Marvel requesting them to allow them to use of their characters for their toys, food, merchandise, movies, television, etc. Therefore, all Marvel needs to do is to see who is paying the most for using their developed characters.
WEAKNESS
DC comics still hold the lead over Marvel regarding the market share, which makes them the second best because their characters have a greater appeal than that of Marvel. Super Man and Bat Man have a much larger fan following then that of Spider Man.
If Marvel needs to enhance its market share then it needs to develop characters that will have greater appeal than the characters of DC comics.
In order to do that, Marvel needs more constructive people and a more constructive environment that will improve its supply chain and its management. Moreover, the company should have confidence and focus on quality rather than quantity as Marvel already has 4700 characters in its library.
The damage that was done to the brand by, Ronald Perelman has to be worked up and rebuild. Development of a brand is not a one day process as it takes time and lot of effort. In addition, it requires consistent good performance with something that people have never seen before, something that amazes them beyond their level of expectations and builds a strong brand.
OPPERTUNITIES
To develop a character great technology is not required and all that is required is a great touch, which makes them unique and different than the ones before. It is innovation because it is certain that people want something to relate to and if the company can develop something like that which the target market can relate to then it will make the people pay good money for it.
With the storm of the internet not many people prefer reading comic books as the target market has shifted towards online versions of everything including comics, so Marvel can pursue this market and publish its comics on personalized websites on the web.
The other strategy can be to acquire talent take over publications and bring them under the name of Marvel, which can even allow Marvel to expand their product range.
THREATS
The market is diversifying and new companies enter the market everyday becoming new competition for Marvel. Dreamworks animation and Pixar producing animated movies, which are creating massive appeal that makes their merchandise sales animation more attractive to children; whereas the target market for Marvel is very large but the market is diversifying and Marvel needs to keep on updating itself so as to stay in the business.
DC comics is the biggest threat to Marvel as it is the biggest competitor and the market leader if Marvel wants to establish itself in the long term and it needs to figure out strategies, which can overtake DC comics.
Finally, the economic downturn of 2008 has affected every industry and it had a major impact on the US. Therefore, if there is a reduction in the buying power of the people then they will only focus upon the necessary items and will reduce and expenses regarding entertainment.
FINANCIALS
There is a dramatic increase in net sales of the company, which clearly shows that the turnaround strategy has brought dividends to the company. In addition, there was a 50% increase in sales from $231 million to $347 million from 2000 to 2003.....................................
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