Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. (EPE): internationalization of a cult icon
More than 25 years after his death Elvis Presley has one of the most lucrative entertainment franchises in the world. Despite the sorry state of his affairs in 1977 the empire of Elvis has thrived due in large part to the efforts of the people who handled his estate after his grandmother died in 1980, including his ex-wife Priscilla Beaulieu Presley, his daughter Lisa Marie and Jack Soden, the CEO of Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. (www.elvis.com), the company that handles all the official Elvis properties. Priscilla Presley was involved in the masterstroke decision to open Elvis's mansion, Graceland, to the public in 1982. Graceland gets more than 600,000 visitors per year, according to EPE's website. Over half of Graceland's visitors are under the age of 35.

While visitors come from all parts of the world the majority still come from different parts of the United States. The Graceland tour costs US$25, which means that EPE makes US$15 million on those tickets alone, plus what it receives from photographs, hotel guests, meals and souvenirs. EPE's other revenue streams include a theme restaurant called Elvis Presley's Memphis; a hotel, down at the end of Lonely Street, called Heartbreak Hotel; licensing of Elvis-related products, the development of Elvis-related music, film, video, TV and stage productions, and more. Ironically, EPE gets very little money from Elvis's actual songs, thanks to a deal Elvis's infamous former manager, Colonel Tom Parker, made with RCA in 1973, whereby Elvis traded the rights for all future royalties from the songs he had recorded up to that point for a measly US$5.4 million - half of which he had to give to Parker.

In 2002, the twenty-fifty anniversary of his death was an international spectacle. A remix of the 1968 Elvis song ‘A little less conversation' became a global hit single and the CD ‘Elvis: 30 #1 Hits' went triple platinum. In mid-2004, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Presley's first professional recording, ‘That's All Right' was re-released, and made the charts around the world, including the top three in the United Kingdom and top 40 in Australia. In mid-October 2005, Variety named the top 100 entertainment icons of the twentieth century, with Presley landing in the top ten, along with the Beatles, Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, Marlon Brando, Humphrey Bogart, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Chaplin, James Dean and Mickey Mouse.

Until 2005 EPE was wholly owned by the Elvis Presley Trust/Lisa Marie Presley. In February 2005, the media and entertainment company CKX Inc. acquired an 85 per cent interest in EPE including its physical and intellectual properties. Lisa Marie Presley retained a 15 per cent ownership in the company and continued to be involved, as did her mother Priscilla. The pre-existing EPE management team remained in place as did the company's operations. Graceland is the second most visited private residence in the United States, behind the White House. Attendance ranges from a few hundred visitors on a weekday in the dead of winter to 2,000-3,500 visitors per day in the spring and early summer, to over 4,000 per day in July at the height of the travel season.

However, EPE's business extends far beyond the Graceland operation. It includes worldwide licensing of Elvis-related products and ventures, the development of Elvis-related music, film, video, television and stage productions, the ongoing development of EPE's Internet presence, the management of significant music publishing assets and more.

QUESTIONS

1. What are the main motives for the internationalization of EPE?

2. What can EPE do to maintain a steady income stream from abroad?

3. What are the most obvious assets for further internationalization of EPE?