Disney and Marvel?

Don’t get me wrong, I love Marvel, but I’m confused with the combination of the Disney family values and the edgy, spandex-clad, buxom breadth of sexuality and violence that Marvel generates.  I definitely see a brand disconnect here.

Disney seems to be diverting from their core competency to skirt the need to be truthful and relevant (let alone innovative) to their audience (very unlike them). A move that both I and Jonathan Salem Baskin, over at Baskin Dim Bulb blog and I think may be a bit like cheating – or strip mining as Mr. Baskin calls it. His analogy is dead on.

It feels like strip mining to me.

I wonder what comes next. I’m surprised that the biggies haven’t started producing “updated” (i.e. twisted and exploited) versions of the classics; Moby Dick and hundreds of other greats and near-greats at public domain, so the cost of content would be free, and any kid who paid some attention should recognize the characters. Wouldn’t realizing, say, Nicholas Nickleby only with supernatural powers (or a robot white whale) be somewhat of a competitive barrier to another version coming to market?

Where does it end?

Okay, I may be targeted for death by all of the Mikey Mouse fan-boys out there, but rather than buy the biggest superhero and fantasy comic entertainment brand out there, why wouldn’t Disney just do it themselves? Disney created the road map to character entertainment.  If they wanted to get into the superhero biz, why not just call the creative department, the illustrators and story board artists and say “GOOFY SMASH…  RooAAaar….” (envision silly Hulk/Dog-thing here)?  Did they take the easy way out?  Isn’t this kinda’ like having Poindexter take your mid-terms for you?

Marvel has managed to create, foster and perpetuate some of the most well known characters, books, movies and fans that any brand could ever want. But even Stan Lee, the glorious creator of X-Men and Spider Man, seems to be wringing his hands, waiting for the check from Disney (with ALL THOSE ZEROES). Have Stan and the other creature creators at Marvel sold out?

What happens from here?  What does Disney Land / World look like in the future?  Do we expect the brass at Disney corporate to start censoring Wolverine?  Will Jean Gray need to be illustrated wearing shawls or over-sized sweaters, from now on (gasp)?

Food for thought.

Until Next time…

Keep Cooking (Incredible Branding Powers)!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

For $800 million, Amazon gets the opportunity to plug their Teflon-esque business model in to the Gen-Y Juggernaut that is Zappos. (AdAge article here)

My question – Will Amazon take ques from Zappos’ incredibly engaging (and successful) social media strategy and start working in a system for creating conversation around the products THEY sell?

• reviews of books with “live” discussions?
• conversations on service?
• community-building around the Amazon name… ?
• engagement as a tour-de-force in social media circles?

And Zappos – talk about a distribution partner.  I’m sure that the $1 Billion they’re expected to do in 2010 will be adjusted accordingly, knowing the incredible power that’s now at their disposal.  Remember, it says “Powered by service™” right beneath their logo…  How, besides distribution and the INCREDIBLE influx of cash and public relations can Zappos take advantage of the union?

Not a bad deal at $800 Million…  For either party.

I’m interested to see how this changes things.  I see Amazon, although the bigger entity, benefiting from this more than Zappos.  What do you think???

Food for thought.

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

P.S. – this would be The Brand Chef’s 100th Post…  Although I had something else planned for this momenous milestone, I thought this conversation would be more interesting…  Be watching for my 101st post!