Enchantress, Deathlok, Nightcrawler and Ant-Man-coming soon to a cell phone near you.
Those characters, as well as more familiar Marvel comics stars like Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, are going mobile. Publisher Mforma Group Inc. is scheduled to announce a licensing agreement to create a vast portfolio of content from Marvel Enterprises Inc. beginning this week with offerings from the new Wesley Snipes film “Blade: Trinity.”
With the deal, Mforma locked up rights to produce wireless content based on more than 5,000 Marvel characters as they appear in movies, television, video games and comic books, with the exception of The Punisher family of characters. The Bellevue, Wash.-based company will co-publish some titles with veteran game-developer Activision based on rights Activision had acquired from Marvel previously.
“Wireless entertainment has been talked about for several years now, but we have really seen the industry starting to break into the mainstream in this past year, and we expect that trend to continue into 2005 and beyond,” said Bruno Maglione, president of Marvel International.
The agreement caps a big year for Mforma. In addition to raising at least $63 million in two rounds of financing during the summer, the company has acquired several development studios and established a subsidiary to tap the booming mobile market in China.
As the announcement underscores, carrier relationships are fast becoming the most valuable commodity in wireless data. Robert Tercek, Mforma’s executive vice president and head of strategic planning, said the developer’s agreements with more than 100 carriers in 40 countries were crucial in landing the deal.
“What those companies (like Marvel) crave is distribution,” Tercek said. “They want to know that their brands can be turned on to every market in the world, every phone in the world.”
With the exception of a handful of corporate giants like Disney, which have created in-house wireless content divisions, entertainment companies around the world are striking deals to get their branded content on handsets.
“The thing about wireless gaming is that the average development cost for a game is around $200,000,” said Schelley Olhava, a program manager in the consumer gaming market at consultancy IDC. “If you have the capital, you can probably do that yourself, but the problem is getting the relationships.”
Developer THQ Wireless secured an impressive partnership of its own last week, announcing a multi-year deal to produce content based on the “Star Wars” film series. THQ plans to develop and distribute images, games and ringtones-including the Imperial Death March-from all six films in the series, including “Revenge of the Sith,” due out next year.
“We definitely think that one of the drivers for wireless game adoption will be the availability of branded content-familiar content and characters,” said Olhava. “Deals like this are starting to be struck.”
Mforma’s agreement presents an opportunity to tap a slew of big-budget films based on Marvel characters slated for the next few years. “Elektra,” starring Jennifer Garner, is scheduled for a January release; a movie based on the Fantastic Four is due next summer; and a “Hulk” sequel will follow.
Also on the agenda: “Spider-Man” and “X-Men” offerings. Titles featuring noted superheroes Captain America, Silver Surfer and Dr. Strange are rumored to be in the planning stages as well.
The deal grants Mforma rights globally with the exception of Japan, where Marvel has already established partnerships with local aggregators.
In addition to the conventional offerings of games and ringtones, Marvel Mobile subscribers will be encouraged to form fan clubs and participate in chat rooms, creating virtual communities that will create unique interactive marketing opportunities, according to Matt Edelman, Mforma’s senior vice president of publishing.
“The Marvel community is a massive one of committed fans age 4 to 54,” said Edelman, who negotiated the agreement. “The chance to build that community and allow (fans) to interact on mobile creates a different level of community … than has ever been available before.”
Specific offerings and pricing structures will vary by carrier, Edelman said.
In addition to the revenues wireless data services generate, carriers embrace popular branded content for marketing potential. Tie-ins with professional sports leagues, cartoon characters or feature films can be invaluable-particularly when they’re accompanied by million-dollar advertising campaigns.
“It’s pretty tough for a carrier to articulate the value of those services,” said Mforma’s Tercek. “When Marvel comes out with a synchronized marketing campaign for a movie, Mforma will be populating the carrier decks with games and content. The carrier gets the benefit of all that marketing. There’s a tremendous benefit of association with a brand consumers really feel an affinity toward.” RCR
