Credit: Mike Johnson & PWInsider.com
WWE held their annual stockholder's meeting in Stamford, CT this morning. Highlights from the company's presentation: WWE introduced all of the executives that were present for the meeting, including Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Kevin Dunn, Basil Devito, Triple H , George Barrios and Michelle Wilson, among others. Triple H was introduced as the "Senior Advisor to the Chairman's Office"
WWE's Chief Marketing Officer, Michelle Wilson, explained the company's vision for the "New WWE."
Wilson said that the company's management team got together towards the end of the year to look at ways to challenge themselves and find new opportunities. The changes are about fixing and growing their core business. They also wanted to find new business opportunities to grow WWE into being more than a "wrestling organization".
She noted they company will be known as WWE going forward. She said they will never take their eye off the ball of wrestling but they position themselves as KFC or Apple, branding themselves beyond their core product while also building the company in new ways.
Michelle explained they were going to develop a new talent development process and they were re-focusing on developing talent with Triple H going forward.
Wilson discussed the debut of WWE's Tough Enough, saying it's bringing 3 million viewers to the company outside of their core product and they are going to continue to create new programming outside of their normal base.
Wilson discussed their licensees, noting Mattel (toys), THQ (videogames) and they will continue to innovate on those levels. Wilson noted their new partners, including K-Mart, who are investing in their television product, live events and advertising within their own stores. M&M Mars has returned as a sponsor as well.
Wilson said they are looking for new opportunities. "Content will remain king." They will be using traditional means as well as new content providers, noting Netflix, Google and Amazon looking for content. She noted they will continue to seek out new ways to provide WWE programming going forward.
The WWE Network was brought up next. She said that the WWE Network was a natural evolution and they hope to launch in 12-18 months, "whether it be a traditional format or an alternative format, as I just mentioned."
Wilson said they want opportunities to use their core competencies, in production, licensing and marketing. Wilson said they could go out and identify other companies who's intellectual properties aren't being "leveraged and maximized" as much as they could be. She said they could put them through the WWE model, bringing more revenue to WWE.
Wilson also mentioned acquisitions in the content front. She noted it could provide growth here in the United States and internationally.
Wilson closed out with an announcement that they are excited to announce that the preliminary buys for Wrestlemania are up 30% domestically and they are "confident" they will break the one million buys mark.
After the board handled some internal business, Vince McMahon was introduced. McMahon joked that they had rotten tomatoes in the back in case any stockholder wanted to take aim at him for the dividend change and promised to stay at the end to accommodate any upset holders.
McMahon said the reason for the change was that they have a better way in returning shareholders' values than just paying a dividend. He said they have a better way that would be explained in terms of acquisitions and investing in themselves.
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Hud Settlement Statement
WWE held their annual stockholder's meeting in Stamford, CT this morning. Highlights from the company's presentation: WWE introduced all of the executives that were present for the meeting, including Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Kevin Dunn, Basil Devito, Triple H , George Barrios and Michelle Wilson, among others. Triple H was introduced as the "Senior Advisor to the Chairman's Office"
WWE's Chief Marketing Officer, Michelle Wilson, explained the company's vision for the "New WWE."
Wilson said that the company's management team got together towards the end of the year to look at ways to challenge themselves and find new opportunities. The changes are about fixing and growing their core business. They also wanted to find new business opportunities to grow WWE into being more than a "wrestling organization".
She noted they company will be known as WWE going forward. She said they will never take their eye off the ball of wrestling but they position themselves as KFC or Apple, branding themselves beyond their core product while also building the company in new ways.
Michelle explained they were going to develop a new talent development process and they were re-focusing on developing talent with Triple H going forward.
Wilson discussed the debut of WWE's Tough Enough, saying it's bringing 3 million viewers to the company outside of their core product and they are going to continue to create new programming outside of their normal base.
Wilson discussed their licensees, noting Mattel (toys), THQ (videogames) and they will continue to innovate on those levels. Wilson noted their new partners, including K-Mart, who are investing in their television product, live events and advertising within their own stores. M&M Mars has returned as a sponsor as well.
Wilson said they are looking for new opportunities. "Content will remain king." They will be using traditional means as well as new content providers, noting Netflix, Google and Amazon looking for content. She noted they will continue to seek out new ways to provide WWE programming going forward.
The WWE Network was brought up next. She said that the WWE Network was a natural evolution and they hope to launch in 12-18 months, "whether it be a traditional format or an alternative format, as I just mentioned."
Wilson said they want opportunities to use their core competencies, in production, licensing and marketing. Wilson said they could go out and identify other companies who's intellectual properties aren't being "leveraged and maximized" as much as they could be. She said they could put them through the WWE model, bringing more revenue to WWE.
Wilson also mentioned acquisitions in the content front. She noted it could provide growth here in the United States and internationally.
Wilson closed out with an announcement that they are excited to announce that the preliminary buys for Wrestlemania are up 30% domestically and they are "confident" they will break the one million buys mark.
After the board handled some internal business, Vince McMahon was introduced. McMahon joked that they had rotten tomatoes in the back in case any stockholder wanted to take aim at him for the dividend change and promised to stay at the end to accommodate any upset holders.
McMahon said the reason for the change was that they have a better way in returning shareholders' values than just paying a dividend. He said they have a better way that would be explained in terms of acquisitions and investing in themselves.
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Hud Settlement Statement