Marvel is Crushing the Box Office in 2011

     While other movies are at the box office fade to black and lose its luster, Marvel Entertainment have been making blockbuster after blockbuster. The Iron Man series continues to be a success with Iron Man 2 and following behind Iron Man 2 is Thor for the Spring 2011 Debut.  The 2011 summer movie will be none other than Captain America. And if you can’t see where this is going, Marvel will also be making the movie “The Avengers “ which includes Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and possibly the Hulk!

     Not only are they leaving no prisoners at the box office, they have a history of keeping great stocks in the past. Their rise to success was all done because they have over 5000 comic characters at their disposal. Marvel decided to make movies off of the same characters that made them money in comic books in the past. This idea was a great success, especially when the started adding advanced digital effects and action packed scenes.  Add a little star power like Nicolas Cage who starred in Ghost Rider or Robert Downey Jr. who played the leading role in Iron Man 1 & 2 and you have a formula for success. Disney acquired the company in 2009 and they have been growing stronger since then.

          I think that Marvel has found the formula to capture the kid in all of us by recreating the stories of the comics that we know and love. This kind of marketing is great as well as rare because their product can appeal and be identified by to the young and old. The movies they made have also rekindled their merchandising. From Fighting and adventure video games   to the roots of comic book sales, Marvel’s movies is an essential part to the re-kindling of their brand.

      

Source:

 http://marvel.com/news/story/3493/marvel_movies_assemble

http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3AMVL

Looking For a Way to Fund Your Projects?

 

     Recently people have been coming to me with great marketing and business ideas.  Everything was perfectly set in place . They have their target audience, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, location, return of investments, cost, etc. They are only missing one element. Funding is one of the most challenging goals for anybody’s project. It’s difficult to find an investor who believes in your dream enough to shut up and put their money on the line for your efforts, until now.

     Kickstarter.com is a website where a lot of today’s small business owners, creative minds and individuals with a dollar and a dream finds their outlet for funding in the areas of  music, film , photography, and  any project that deals with the arts in a convenient, simplified manner. People place their project on kickstarter.com with a brief description of their vision and/or campaign. Then people that are interested make pledges to that project. In return the investor receives a keepsake or item of value from the event or project. The project must reach their funding goal within a certain amount of time or the funds or goods to the investors do not transfer.

     For instance, lets say I’m seeking funding for a short film and I need to raise $3000 dollars within 45 days. I would simply do the following:

1. Go to kickstarter.com

2. Follow the tutorials and place my project for display on the site

3. Give something back to the investors in return for their pledge (in this case, a copy of short film on DVD for a $10 pledge, a copy of DVD signed by the director for a $20 pledge and so forth).

4. Pray that I make my $3000 goal within the goal time frame that I placed on kickstarter.com.

If I make or exceed my goal then up to  10% of the goal goes to kickstarer.com to   transfer the goal funds into my paypal, or checking account and I send the DVD’s out to the investor’s that pledged on my project . If I don’t make my pledge goal then no DVD’s or funds are exchanged and I owe nothing. 

     This website is effective because of the all or nothing approach that they use which is ideal for the individual that wants to fund a project but has no capital of their own. Millions of dollars have been pledged to various projects on kickstarter.com, which places this website on the top of my list in regards to marketing any projects of the arts. 

Source: kickstarter.com