marvel comics turnaround - Turnaround Management Association

Marvel Comics Turnaround Team 2
Marvel Today
PART V: CONCLUSION
While critics are still skeptical of the stamina of Marvel’s recovery, the success of Marvel
today proves that it undertook the right turnaround strategy. The stock market agrees: it sailed
through the three-year bear market unscathed, rising more than 250%. 22 Marvel seems to have
learned that it needs to adapt to changing in consumer preference quickly. Marvel’s products are
fashion products that depend a lot on the success of movie and popularity of characters- which is
difficult to predict. Therefore, ability to adapt to change and continuous innovation is crucial for
Marvel.
Marvel’s new business model also reduces risk and capital expenditures. Marvel combines
its creative content and talent with the capital, expertise, experience and distribution strengths of
its industry-leading partners to create Marvel character-based entertainment projects, consumer
products and services. Through this model Marvel is able to pursue a much broader array of
projects which bear little or no financial risk while creating high-margin licensing income streams
and strategically important consumer exposure.
Another benefit from bankruptcy is that Marvel records of an asset on its balance sheet for
Federal tax net operating loss (NOL) carry-forwards. Marvel expects to exhaust this NOL asset
and begin paying Federal taxes sometime in the second half of 2004.
Marvel continues to focus on its core competency by expanding its licensing business
internationally to Europe and Asia. To that end, in November, 2003, Marvel hired Bruno
Maglione of Unversal Studios to head up Marvel International. Bruno stated, “Marvel possesses
one of the greatest character catalogues in the entertainment world and one which is enjoying a
resurgence thanks to the box office success of Marvel character movies. The Company has only
22 “Marvel's profit sense is tingling as superhero films prevail.” USA TODAY, May, 2003.
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