Saylor University Speaker Series: Professor Melinda Salzer

Okay, so hello and welcome everyone. We welcome you to today's session and today's session is a special one, very interesting one, and we all are very excited about it. Those who are new and wondering that what am I talking about to them, let me just tell them that we are starting with Saylor University speaker series. Where we uh we we are inviting professors to share their industry experience and believe me, they are the true amalgamation of industry and academia. So, nobody else can be a better person than them to, you know, share their experience and how you see the theory that you study in your courses to see their real-world application. And [clears throat] without ruining the further excitement or, you know, wasting more time, I invite Professor Melinda Selzer here and I can introduce her, but I think I won't be able to do justice to her credentials. So, Professor Melinda, over to you and we're >> Oh, thank you, Varuna. Um so, hello everyone and and thank you all for joining us today. We're very excited that you're here and that you're a part of Saylor University. So, a little bit of my own background. First of all, I've been with Saylor for about 15 years working on a variety of courses throughout throughout that time. I also have a background a strong background in marketing. I have an MBA in marketing from from St. John's University and I've worked in advertising. I've worked in licensing, which is really going to be part of the focus of my of my presentation today. So, let me get started with that and then give you a little bit of um a little bit more background of the kinds of work that I did at Marvel, but also as I go through the presentation to really see how a variety of marketing concepts are are applied, were applied, and how they relate to to all of the marketing strategies and all of the activities that Marvel has has participated in over the years. So, let me let me first share my screen with you. And hold on a moment. Um Nope, hold on a moment. I'm sorry. That is not >> Uh looks like Professor lost her connection, but just stay there. She'll be joining us shortly. Uh you are on mute. Uh >> I'm sorry. Immediately we're having uh we're having glitches. I'm so sorry. >> No problem. >> Let me just pull up the the presentation and make sure I think the issue I had was I was having trouble sharing my screen. There we go. Okay, I think we're in business now. So, so sorry for those for those glitches. So, I again, I worked at Marvel Comics working in the licensing department, but what I'm going to do is I will take you through the history of Marvel and how they how they really took the comic books from from basic entertainment in comic books to the blockbuster that it is today. And throughout this again, I will talk about some of the marketing strategies that you will see being applied as well as my experience there in licensing. So, let's start with the fact that marketing really impacts every aspect of any businesses operations. And as we go through the presentation, I'd like you to really think about uh the the um Oh my goodness. I'm sorry. What did I do? I Can you hear me, Farina? I just wanted to check and make sure that >> Yes, yes. And we can also see the presentation. >> Yes. Okay, good. I'm going to leave it like this because every time I try to click on something to make it different, I seem to make a mistake here. So, I do want to apologize. Let's see if I can full screen. Ah. Here we go again. Um My apologies. So, again, I want to uh emphasize that the marketing aspects that impact every operations business. And some of the some of the strategies and marketing concepts that you'll see throughout the presentation will include some basics like the the four P's of marketing, uh target marketing, uh market segmentation, consumer behavior, uh marketing research, growth and expansion strategies, as well as the overall use of technology that we have seen over time. So, so please keep those things in mind and I will certainly point them out to you as we go through the presentation. >> Uh Professor, you can uh send your presentation to me if you prefer that. I can send it from here. >> Um can you see the presentation now? >> Yes, we can. And now you are on the next slide, yep. >> All right, let's let's do that. I Again, my apologies for the for the technical difficulties. I was so anxious to make sure that everybody could see everything and I kept hitting the wrong thing. So, uh as long as you can all see the screen, I will continue from here. Uh Everyone, if I if I encounter any more uh technical difficulties, I'll send it to you. >> Yep, sure. >> Okay. So, now let's talk about the the Silver Age for Marvel. And that was really 1961 to '63, where we first really became introduced to Stan Lee, who was the editor and the creative director of of Marvel. Uh Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and and a whole variety of original bullpen of writers and illustrators. And they really created what we see as the modern type of hero that we see today. And in the earliest days of of comic books, the the characters and the um the heroes were really uh much more two-dimensional. And Stan Lee and his his group of writers really saw uh the need for creating heroes that really were um much more three-dimensional and more in line with how um how the readers could identify with the characters. And, you know, here we see um really marketing in action, where the goal was to make sure that consumer needs were being met. And in this case they were the readers. So, let's talk about the Marvel Universe. And this is where we really look at how we kind of suspend disbelief and and go with the Marvel Universe as this separate entity. Uh and what this really is is um again, fictional, but it's a fictional universe where all of the Marvel characters exist. And some of the earlier ones and some of the ongoing ones that we've seen, Spider-Man, X-Men, Wolverine, Captain America, of course, Fantastic Four, Guardians of the Galaxy, and many of the newer super superheroes that we have seen over time, and they all live in the Marvel Universe. But, of course, like any universe, we can't just have heroes, we have to have villains, in this case supervillains. Um early ones, Doctor Doom, Magneto, and other anti- antiheroes who also live in the Marvel Universe. And this is what creates the friction between the characters and enables the storylines to advance and develop. Now, there is also the Marvel Multiverse. So, we have the Marvel Universe, but also alternative worlds in which the Marvel characters live. So, we really see continued expansion of the whole Marvel world. And uh just to give you a couple of them, and there are many more than these, um Earth 616, which is the prime universe, uh 1610, which is the Ultimate Marvel, which really gave the characters the modern look. And again, if we look at that as applying marketing strategies, all companies need to update their products, make sure that their products are are more relevant, and that's what the Ultimate Marvel does is to make sure that all of the characters are evolving with modern times. Of course, we've seen Marvel heroes fall. There's time travel, and of course, we're looking at the Marvel Universe of the future. And as with all marketing strategies, it's not enough just to um exist in what you're doing right now, but to look at the future. How can we grow? How can we expand? How can we more competitively uh address the other players in the marketplace? So, just a little bit about some of the earlier comics, um 1961 was really the start of the Marvel Universe. Uh again, the characters were were being uh presented as being three-dimensional, and this is really when uh Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were were put on the on the comic book um map. Now, we I talked earlier about characters being three-dimensional. In 1962, Bruce Banner, who was the Incredible Hulk, became a tortured hero. Becoming the Hulk was a was was problematic for him, and it really kind of gave um really a new look at what happens to characters through time. 1963, readers were able to identify with Peter Parker, and again, we were able to see other sides of a superhero that again, they weren't just two-dimensional, but had other characteristics, flaws, like everybody, and it made it uh made the character more um more identifiable for the readers. Um 1963, the X-Men. So, initially, they were feared uh by society. They were considered the outsiders because people didn't quite understand them yet. And so, this was kind of the early early days of so many of the of the story lines that we have seen evolve through the years. Now, let's move on to to what licensing is all about. So, my job at Marvel Comics was to um work with different companies to license the Marvel characters so that those companies could put those characters on their products. And so, when we formulated those arrangements, the licensees, those were the companies, would have the right to include the characters on their products. And my job was to work with those with those companies to develop them as licensees and to write the contracts. To really evaluate the terms of the license. These things included the percentage of sales, which are called royalties. We had to have design approval, the length of the contract, and so on. And it was very important when it came to design approval, because any of the scenes that were featured on the products really had to align with the storylines that were going on in the in the comic books. And so, one of the ways for me to do that was to make sure that I was reading the comic books and and being current on the storylines that were going on. So, each week my my mail this is when we were getting lots of real mail. My mail would bring all of the recent and the current comic book issues. And so, I would have to read them and and my supervisor was was kind of funny. He said, "You know, this is the only job where I can come into your office, see you reading a comic book and say, 'Oh, I'm sorry to disturb you while you're working.'" So, that was really it was quite fun and it was a it was a very nice environment to work in. But again, I had to be on top of the the storylines to make sure that the designs were current. I would also have to make sure that copyrights and trademarks were honored and protected. So, licensees couldn't just put anything on, you know, they couldn't recreate the characters in any way. We had to make sure that they were representing the characters based on their on their copyrights and trademarks. And it really turned out to be a wonderful win-win for both parties, because the manufacturers would be able to sell more products because the comic books were so popular and it also created more revenue for Marvel as well as generating greater awareness for for the for the characters in the storylines. Now, one of the other things related to this was length of contract. So, we also had to make sure that the companies were marketing the products properly, that they were representing them properly, and that their sales levels were appropriate and sufficient for us to continue that relationship. And so, while it was a win-win for both parties, we had to make sure that the Marvel characters weren't being misrepresented in any way. So, we would we would limit the length of contracts until we knew that a manufacturer was was doing all the right things and also making sufficient levels of sales. Some of the items here and you could see them on the screen. This is just a very small representation of of some of the products and some of the companies that we worked with and created lunch boxes and pajamas and toys and games, LEGOs as you see, you see wrapping paper there. One of my licensees was Hallmark and Hallmark would create wrapping paper and greeting cards that that featured the the Marvel characters. And we also had a company that produced jigsaw puzzles. And of course, to make sure that all the all the products were up to snuff, they would send us the products and so that the jigsaw puzzle company would send me the puzzle and I would have the puzzle out on my desk. And periodically people would come in and and we would be doing work and we would be working on the puzzle. So, it was a nice environment, but we worked hard to make sure that everything was done properly and that all strategies were were being implemented effectively. Okay. Now, for your entertainment, uh there were years ago there was an early Spider-Man cartoon and I do have the opening of that for you. And Varuna, uh should you share that or do you think I should give this another try? >> Okay. Uh for that you need to stop sharing so that I can share my screen and I'll play the >> Okay. Um stop sharing. >> [snorts] >> Let me see. Um maybe I should end >> If your video tab is open at your screen, you can give it a try if that works. >> All right. Let's try that. It is open but it's not letting me do it. Um It's not giving me a share screen. Should I just end show and then No? I'm sorry, Varuna. I lost you. >> Uh you can you can stop sharing. >> I'm I No, hold on. >> Okay. Let me let me see. >> Yes, I'm sorry. >> No problem at all. These things aren't easy. >> I just I don't know I don't see the stop share. That's my issue. >> my screen now? Because I I took over your uh screen. >> No, I don't I No, I still see my screen. It says for for your entertainment. >> Okay. Okay. Uh >> Um Uh >> Let me see. screen No. >> The button is right at the bottom, the present screen. So, there you can stop presenting. This will give you an option to stop presenting and then I can share my screen. >> Where is that? >> Uh it's it's on the Google Meet link. When the tab that you have open [clears throat] for the Google Meet. Not the presentation. You'll have to go at the original tab where the meeting is going on. >> So, I don't see that on my screen. >> Uh okay. >> Well, if I end show, I can always come back to it. What do you think? >> Mhm. >> All right, let's try that. No, that's not what I wanted to do. >> Oh, let me see if I can remove you as host. So, if that >> Okay. >> Yeah. Okay. Uh thank you, Rose. I think yeah, I was able to took over a professor's screen. So, let me do that again. Okay. I hope my screen is visible now. >> I Yes, I see it. So, let me just give a little a brief introduction for that. >> Okay. >> All right. So, again, this was the early introduction for the Spider-Man um Spider-Man cartoon and what I'd like you to look at as you as you look at this is really think about how long ago this was and how how really innovative the technology was to create this animation. And um you know, really kind of set up the whole image of Spider-Man and of course as we see Spider-Man's evolution through the world through the years, we can see how it's changed, but I thought that you would enjoy seeing this early introduction to the Spider-Man cartoons. >> Okay, so I will play it now. >> [music] >> Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider [music] can. Spins a web any size, catches thieves just like flies. Look out, >> [music] >> here comes the Spider-Man. Is he strong? >> [music] >> Listen, bud, he's got radioactive blood. Can he swing from a thread? Take a look overhead. Hey, there, there goes the Spider-Man. >> [music] >> In the chill of night at the scene of a crime, like a streak of light, he arrives [music] just in time. Spider-Man, Spider-Man, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. [music] Wealth and fame, he's ignored. Action is his reward. To him, life is a great big game. Wherever there's a hang-up, you'll find the Spider-Man. >> Aveeno skin relief [music] body wash. Doesn't >> So, I hope you all enjoyed that. Uh thank you. >> [laughter] >> Okay, so net now next up, let me give you a little introduction to this. So, um first of all, um Stan Lee passed away in in 2018 at the age of 95. And um in 2023, there was documentary released um about him. And what I have for you to show you today is the trailer, the the introduction to that um to that uh documentary. And if you are interested in watching it, it is available on Disney Plus. And we'll we'll talk a little bit later um about why it's available on Disney Plus, but >> you are on mute, uh Professor. I can't hear you. >> Um I actually Is that only with me? Hm. Sean, can you confirm if you're able to hear the Professor? Sean, we can't hear you. Or anybody else in the call? Uh >> Oh, we can hear you. >> We can hear you. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Okay, so we can continue. Okay. >> [laughter] >> All right. Well, I'm glad that you can hear me. Thank you, Rose, for confirming that. Uh anyway, just like again, uh so this is the um the um introduction to the documentary that was released again in in 2023 about Stan Lee. And um Farhana, hopefully you can hear me. And if you would play that um that introduction to the video to the documentary, that would be great. >> I'm so sorry, uh Professor. I can't hear you. I don't know what's the issue here. Um Just show a thumbs up if you want me to play the second video. Okay. Okay. >> The great F >> Ladies and gentlemen, that's a camera wrap on the creator of Iron Man, Stan >> Hi. >> [music] >> I'm Stan Lee, editor of the Marvel Comics Group of superhero comic magazines. We didn't have any [music] money. It was during the depression, but I would read everything I could get my hands on. And man, [music] I felt as though I could go anywhere. What I tried to [music] do was write the kind of stories I would want to read. >> [music] >> Our superheroes are the kind of people that you or I would be if we [music] had a superpower. It's really a religious crusade, I like to think. >> Stan was always an upbeat person. [music] I never saw him angry. >> There are [music] so many bad things in the world that if you can entertain somebody for a while, it's a good thing. >> [music] >> If you really want to change things and make them better, you've [music] got to plunge in. >> [music] >> Thank you. Thank you. So, if anyone is interested in that, um again, it's it's uh available on Disney Plus. And just there was supposedly um kind of a final chapter about about Stan Lee uh that was supposedly soon to be released uh quite a bit of information that I read said that it wasn't getting produced then it was getting produced so I'm not really sure I couldn't find anything definitive about this but you know feel free at some point if you're interested to look it up and certainly the first the first documentary is available. So you know I hope you enjoyed that and hope that you'll enjoy seeing a little bit of the you know the the background of of Stanley and just as an aside he did come into the office periodically when I worked there and it was really it was very exciting to meet him and just to be in his space. He was really very upbeat and creative and and very warm and welcoming to everyone so that was that was really quite a highlight of of working at Marvel not to mention that periodically some of the Marvel characters would actually show up so on any given day we'd be in the office and all of a sudden Spider-Man would be appearing in the office and Captain America and you know it just kind of obviously stopped work for for that period of time. Yeah it was it was really it was a lot of fun to be working there but again we really worked hard and we made sure that that everything was done you know to really present the the Marvel the Marvel brand in a positive way. Verona hopefully you can hear me at this point wonderful if you could just show the the link to the to the Marvel YouTube channel just to give an idea of how extensive the content that's available online is for everyone. >> Yes sure I'll do that. So is that the first video I have to play? >> Uh no, you don't have to play any of the videos. I really just wanted to to show everyone um if you could just scroll down a little bit on that if you're able to. >> Yeah. >> Um just to really show that the amount of content that um that Marvel has on YouTube. And really, you know, when we talk about marketing strategies and we talk about the power of social media and YouTube certainly is uh a major force when it comes to that and you can see how much there is available for everyone to just look at on on YouTube. So, um you know, I I would encourage you if if you're interested just to explore this and and to look at the different options, the different entertainment options that are available. And you can see uh as we're going through the number of views that all of them are getting. So, you know, it's not just there, it's popular among their fans and followers and um really can give you an idea of how um you know, how they're really embracing technology to communicate and and to really, you know, we talk about market target marketing to reach new segments of the marketplace uh and younger and younger consumers to get them involved in in the Marvel universe uh because they are on social media. So, um you can see all of that. Okay. Um thank you, Varuna. I appreciate that. I appreciate your help uh with this. >> No problem. So, shall I stop presenting here? >> Um yes, and then I'll take um sharing again. >> Okay, so let me give you the rights. Yeah, you're added as a co-host. >> Okay, let let's hope I can get back to where I want to be. Uh I should have sound. Okay. Um I want to turn on the Ah, excellent. Okay, here we are. All right, now, big changes. You know, we talked I talked earlier about um one of the marketing strategies related to growth and expansion. So, here was a huge one for for Marvel. And in 20 uh 2009, Disney bought Marvel. Now, that was a very, very big deal. Uh it included all of the rights to every single Marvel Entertainment property. So, it included every single thing that that Marvel had created at a cost of $4 billion. Now, what's interesting about that is that um um the earnings estimated at 13 billion to 18 billion. So, we're really talking about a very profitable investment for Disney. Now, what this also did for Marvel is it gave them um wider distribution. So, and so, you know, acquisition as a marketing strategy by Disney uh was very um lucrative. It also gave Marvel much more exposure uh and much more distribution. So, the impact of the distribution. So, this really um became the birth of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where um everything was starting to be on the big screen. Um stories and narratives were intercon- interconnected. So, you would have start have crossover of so many of the stories, so many of the characters uh in on in on a larger scale. But, of course, as with all big productions, there were risks associated with it and they did suffer and continue to suffer periodically some growing pains uh when it comes to that. But, what this also did at the launch of the Disney of Disney Plus created um a new outlet and for existing for new and existing Marvel content. So, earlier when I talked about the Stan Lee documentary being available on Disney Plus, this was um it's available there as a result of the acquisition of Marvel by Disney. Uh there's been a greater focus on the park attractions again, cross-media expansion, um but the higher quality, you know, as with all uh expansions, it didn't quite translate immediately um as effectively and for box office numbers. And they were hoping for greater numbers, but they're continuing and we'll talk about um some of the um newer things that they're doing in a few moments. Also, um greater um use of um AI to create short-form and interactive content. Now, one of the issues with um using AI for creative um content is that very often, you know, when again here we talk about consumer behavior, consumer demands, is a lot of people um are not happy with the use of AI for create for creative content. Uh they feel that it loses a little bit of the um the personal personal connection with the creators, and that's especially true uh with Marvel where um the characters and the story lines are so integral integral and related to the the artists, the creators, the original Stan Lee, the the Kirbys of the world. And so, it's it's important to make sure that there's a balance between what's being done by AI and what's actually being done by by actual um artist and writers. Okay, so let's talk a little bit about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Um and really again as I talked earlier, you know, a shift into crossovers between storylines, how the com- how the characters were intertwined, interconnected, but also a greater reflection of what was really going on in society um in the world uh you know, local on a global level as well. And so the storylines started reflecting war, politics, um social issues and higher levels again as as a way to to meet the needs of consumers and the demands of consumers of what we wanted from our our entertainment content. So a couple of the early um big screen uh uh productions were Iron Man in 2008, The Avengers in 2012, um Captain America, Spider-Man in 2017, Captain Marvel in 2019, Thor in 2022, and most recently in 2025, The Fantastic Four. Now, let's talk a little bit about um the the um the evolution of the characters to movies and other media. And again, uh as I mentioned earlier, it's important to make sure that you keep up with the times, that things are current um and and Marvel and Disney have have not, you know, ignored the fact that the digital age is really so essential and so important. And and more and more comics are being consumed on apps and and mobile games certainly rule. So we're we're talking about interaction uh with with the characters and and the users. Um Marvel Snap enables fans to build their own decks and heroes and to do battle. So again, interaction. This is um a a direct result of technology and the integration of technology to have that interaction with your fans. Um and And as I mentioned, the digital space keeps everything new, it keeps everything fresh, it keeps everything modern, and also as a way to attract younger consumers who are so focused on the digital space. Now, to keep the this as current as possible, here's some news for 2026. Uh Disney, Marvel, and Webtoon are partnering to launch a new global digital comics app and app and platform. And so again, when we talk about uh you know, gaining new markets, we talk about global expansion, which is very important. Um what's what's interesting about this is going to feature 35,000 titles. Think about the amount of of content that's created to to develop 35,000 content uh titles, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and classic Disney comics. So what's interesting is that users can access traditional common comics um Webtoon formats, and again, all in one subscription, which is a newer relatively newer marketing strategy to keep customers loyal and keep customers using your products and services. But what's also interesting about this is the fact that the traditional comics are available. And one of the marketing strategies that we see um more and more these days is a focus on nostalgia. And many companies are using nostalgia in their marketing campaigns, in their marketing strategies, in their marketing messages because people seem to have you know, a sense of you know, things were better at a different time. Oh, in the in the in you know, in past years it was like this. So we're we're looking at nostalgia as a way of of comfort to address some of the global social political issues that that so many of so many of us are facing, and so we look at nostalgia as a way to overcome that. And and Marvel is certainly um addressing that by being by enabling the the traditional comics to be available and accessible to consumers. Also in development a new web comic series based on Disney Disney and Marvel franchises of for global fans. Again, ways of expanding the marketplace. Okay. So let's take a look at today's licensing industry. So certainly has grown tremendously from the time that I was working there. In 2025, the brand licensing market was at 314 billion dollars. That means that all of that revenue was coming from companies that were um, making connections, um, making contracts, working with other companies to put those brands, characters, um, images, [clears throat] logos on other merchandise to sell. So again, 314 billion dollars and it's not stopping anytime soon. By 2030, which is really not that far off, uh, the licensing industry is is expected to grow to about 420 billion dollars. So think about the ways in which companies need to plan their strategies now. So look at what what licensees are going to be most lucrative for them. What what collaborations are going to represent their brands in the most effective and positive ways. So the things that are driving this growth, obviously, um, the digital world is making it so much easier, but there's also a demand by consumers. Um, and you know, due to increasing incomes and we look at if we look at economies and we say, well, you know, economies are in in difficult shape, people are still spending money on things. And so, um, licensing enables that that consumer demand to grow. Uh some of the market segments that we see really as the most popular when it comes to licensing or apparel, toys, accessories, home decoration, which I always find I'm kind of fascinating, uh as well as video games. And and of course there were so many others. And you likely have seen or purchased or owned many products that have been licensed uh by the main manufacturers. So, to look at some of the strategies for 2026, um again driven by by games and merchandise, um operating income um has reached $443 million with the global with the Marvel brand being close to um $60 billion in terms of value. So, we really see again the growth, um the benefits that Marvel has seen as a result of of the purchase by Disney. Um Disney is going to continue to increase content um with a very large budget of $24 billion in 2026 alone. So, we can really see the commitment there. Um again there's a shift towards even higher quality, but but reducing the number of new Marvel Disney Plus shows. And earlier, you know, I had mentioned like the at the initial um acquisition that there was a lot of um content being put out and some of it wasn't as as financially lucrative as they had hoped for. So, to make things to to reevaluate the strategy, still look at high quality, but fewer fewer releases. And again Marvel is a core component of Disney's performance at the box office. And in 2025 alone, almost um 200 uh 2.5 billion dollars in revenue. So, we really see, you know, how that has um increased. Okay. 2026 will also see some new releases from Hasbro um with Marvel action uh Marvel action figures. And what's great about this is that it they're actually figures and toys, and so it's not uh their focus isn't only on digital. It's it's about actual tangible products that that consumers are able to buy. And so there'll be some new new releases from uh Spider-Man uh and Avengers characters, and more collectibles from the Spider-Man Titan series and other Spider-Man um action verse assortments, which is what they call their um their figures. And again, as I mentioned earlier, there will be quite a few crossovers that will be prominent. Now, to to kind of give you a an earlier I mentioned so many of the marketing strategies, and and I hope that um I I um highlighted some of those throughout the presentation, but I also want to connect those to the courses the marketing courses that we have here at Saylor for you. And and here you can see a list, and uh you know, starting with marketing management. We talked about consumer behavior, and you can learn more about that uh through our course. Brand management. Of course, no marketing uh program would be complete without a focus on digital marketing and advertising. Sales management. International marketing, and and I think that we see that so much with with Marvel in their focus on the global uh marketplace. Uh business intelligence and analytics. Important to make sure that whatever you're releasing that you take the time to um understand how well it's doing and gets, you know, solid data from which to make your your business and strategic decisions. Uh again, data-driven communications, decision-making as I mentioned, and important to do marketing research so that you can understand uh what's going on in the marketplace, uh form formulate your strategies, and then apply them in effective ways. And that concludes my presentation. At this point, I'm happy to take any questions that anyone might have. Okay. Um Bruna, I'm hoping that you can hear me at this point. >> Yes, I can. >> Okay, that's wonderful. Uh does anyone have any questions for me or any comments or um anything? Oh, Rose, thank you. I appreciate that. >> Uh well, Professor, I have one question that just occurred to my mind. Uh during your tenure at Marvel's, were there any case for uh licensing infringement? Is that something that is very common or a rare thing that happens? >> So, that is That is a very good question. Um what I did have and and this is where, you know, this this really just comes down to general business ethics and our own values. I had um I had a clothing manufacturer who had come in to talk to me about licensing the characters and he said um we talked a little bit about it and he asked for some artwork so that he could create a couple of um you know, kind of models for us to look at, you know, not things that he would be releasing. And, you know, I checked to make sure that we could do that and I gave him some artwork and he did produce a couple of items that he brought in for me to evaluate. But then what he did was he tried to do a side deal with me >> Mhm. >> and not work directly through um through Marvel and asked me to just release more of the artwork and that he would sell the products and give me the kickbacks. And um I I I I can't even begin to tell you how offended I was by that. And look, we all know that there are people out there as you you know, your question about you know, infringement. This was clearly uh an example of infringement. So, I immediately went to the to my supervisor. I went to the legal department. I let them know immediately what was going on so that we can make sure that we can monitor the stores that he claimed that he was going to be selling them in to make sure that he wasn't doing that. And and we we monitored that very carefully and he didn't. But, that was really the most glaring um experience that I had with you know, licensing infringement and and also, you know, unethical business practices. Um so, that was it was actually you know, the people that I worked with at Marvel was so dedicated to what they were doing that it was it was very offensive uh for that to happen. Um but, thankfully we were able to make sure that that it was it was taken care of. So, thank you for appreciate that question and able to give you a real-life example of you know, something that happens. It was it was upsetting. >> Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for sharing your experience. It was wonderful and we really loved your presentation. It was really informative and and I think mainly it was nostalgic because no matter to what part of the country we belong, all of us have our own memory with Marvel's, reading these comics and now kids they are totally into Marvel's. So, this this was so much fun to listen to you. Really informative, very knowledgeable. I hope everybody got benefited with this session. And okay, and I don't see any questions in the chat box, too. No problem. But, thank you once again everyone for joining. Thank you, Professor, for being here taking out your time. We had glitches, but we made it, you know. And this was wonderful. We really We thoroughly enjoyed your presentation. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. It was my pleasure. >> Thank you. Thank you everyone once again for joining us and we'll see you next week with some more sessions and our usual graduate sessions, too. So, with this we wrap up. Bye, everyone. >> Thank you everyone. Bye-bye. >> Thank you, Professor. >> My pleasure. >> Thank you.