KA-CHING! SPIDER-FANS' ARDOR MEANS MARKETING PROFITS A-PLENTY.Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer Spider-Man's web isn't just covering movie theaters, it's catching dollars from comic shops to cereal aisles to fast food drive-up windows. In less than a week, ``Spider-Man'' has netted $144.1 million at the box office, and he's spun his marketing web in every conceivable direction. From Webslinger cellular phones from Cingular to a sugary sug·ar·y adj. sug·ar·i·er, sug·ar·i·est 1. Characterized by or containing sugar: sugary foods. 2. Tasting or looking like sugar. 3. cereal from Kellogg's to sneakers sneakers Noun, pl US, Canad, Austral & NZ canvas shoes with rubber soles sneakers npl (US) → zapatos mpl de lona; zapatillas fpl from Payless Shoesource Payless ShoeSource is a discount footwear retailer that was founded in 1956 in Topeka, Kansas. Shaol Pozez and his cousin Louis Pozez founded and operated Payless Shoes. In 1961, it became a public company as Volume Shoe Corporation. , Marvel Enterprises Inc. has slapped Spidey's name onto a slew of products. He's also managed to pull customers back into comic shops, lifting sales on all fronts. No one knows what the potential payoff is for merchandising tied in with ``Spider-Man.'' Though it was sure to be a success, no one expected it to break the box office records it has. And so it is with product tie-ins, but for comparison's sake, consumers in 1999 spent about $2 billion on paraphernalia PARAPHERNALIA. The name given to all such things as a woman has a right to retain as her own property, after her husband's death; they consist generally of her clothing, jewels, and ornaments suitable to her condition, which she used personally during his life. related to ``Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.'' ``Spider-Man'' is poised to do at least as well. ``It's doubled the market, from new titles to graphic novels, cards, toys, everything,'' said Joe Gozum, owner of the Chamber of Comics in Van Nuys. ``Even if he's just on the cover, people will buy it.'' And unlike many fantasy and sci-fi characters, Spider-Man's bringing back women and children into stores, owners reported. While kids once were comics' biggest fans, the market has shifted to adult enthusiasts, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Derth Obbink, owner of The Flip Side Flip side In the context of general equities, opposite side to a proposition or position (buy, if sell is the proposition and vice versa). in Woodland Hills. But as hype surrounding the ``Spider-Man'' movie has grown, Obbink sees a growing trend of younger interest. ``It's a solid step,'' he said. ``With 'The Hulk' and 'Daredevil' movies on the way, and maybe one with a Superman-Batman team-up, it's starting to drag kids away from their video screens. Marvel's updating the stories, too, so the kids don't have to read 400 issues to understand them.'' The comics giant now has four full-fledged Spider-Man titles, with four miniseries and a ``Spider-Girl'' spinoff Spinoff A new, independent company created through selling or distributing new shares for an existing part of another company. Notes: Spinoffs may be done through a rights offering. . The flagship, ``The Amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. Spider-Man,'' has enjoyed a dramatic renaissance, largely due to the addition of hot writer J. Michael Straczynski. The character's appeal is timeless, said Cat Jercan, manager of DJ's Universal Comics in Studio City. ``He's never really had that much luck with girls, he's just a simple guy,'' Jercan said. ``He's always had some sort of hardship that everyone can relate too. He's not rich like Iron Man, he's just some guy down the street, doing the best to make world a better place.'' That boy-next-door feel has made him attractive in a number of categories, appealing to kids and corporate giants alike. ``When we were talking about the movie, we wanted to integrate ourselves into it, but bigger than that, we wanted to tie into a property with very broad appeal,'' said Chris Penrose, executive director of national promotions for Cingular Wireless. ``It's been around for 40 years, but it appeals to the young, hip crowd. Those are both of the demographics The attributes of people in a particular geographic area. Used for marketing purposes, population, ethnic origins, religion, spoken language, income and age range are examples of demographic data. that we want.'' The name alone isn't enough to guarantee big sales, however. According to Ken Grow, owner of Gregory's Toys of Encino, movie tie-ins have lost some of their marketing cache, a lesson retailers learned painfully with ``Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace'' three years ago. ``Twenty years TWENTY YEARS. The lapse of twenty years raises a presumption of certain facts, and after such a time, the party against whom the presumption has been raised, will be required to prove a negative to establish his rights. 2. ago, something like this was guaranteed to sell, but there's so many movie tie-ins now, it's been spread thin and people aren't as interested,'' Grow said. ``It takes a quality product, and Spider-Man definitely is one.'' If marketers can build on the brand's colorful history, it could be a perennial favorite, said Tony Cherbak, a partner with Deloitte & Touche's consumer products group. ``This was awfully pop, so there may be sequels, which will allow it to stay in the consumer's eye,'' he said. ``It has to continue on in some sort of medium - the Disney and Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . characters kept on in cartoons, which stayed in front of kids. Eventually those kids turn into parents themselves, then they introduce the characters to their children once again. The longevity of the character inspires an association, which turns into real value over the years.'' Fans agree Spider-Man will stick around for some time. ``Spider-Man's not a fad,'' Gozum said. ``With or without the movie, he's been around forever. Spider-Man, Superman Superman invincible scourge of crime. [Comics: Horn, 642–643] See : Crime Fighting Superman superhero under guise of Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter. , Batman, all the established names will always sell.'' CAPTION(S): 4 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Crawling to a kitchen cupboard near you soon, it's the Spider-Man cereal from Kellogg's Tina Burch/Staff Photographer (2 -- color) Fearless comic book comic book Bound collection of comic strips, usually in chronological sequence, typically telling a single story or a series of different stories. The first true comic books were marketed in 1933 as giveaway advertising premiums. guy Joe Gozum holds up some of the Marvel Comics series starring Spider-Man. (3 -- color) Even shoes have been in the running for tie-ins. (4) Joe Gozum, owner of Chamber of Comics in Van Nuys, shows off a Spider-Man figurine available at his shop. Evan Yee/Staff Photographer |
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