an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . april 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message afg media o a morphsuits type private industry fancy dress costume founded 2009 2009 1 founder ali smeaton fraser smeaton gregor lawson headquarters edinburgh scotland united kingdom key people smeaton smeaton lawson products morphsuits morphsuits kids revenue 4.5 m 2 owner smeaton smeaton lawson number of employees 22 direct website www.morphsuits.com morphsuits is a company based in edinburgh scotland . 3 it distributes branded spandex costumes based on the existing skin tight garments which cover the entire body . the company offers over 80 different designs . the company was founded by brothers ali and fraser smeaton and their flatmate gregor lawson . 2 after a year of running the company the trio left their jobs at barclays procter & gamble and bt group . 3 expansion plans include children s sizes 2 4 recently introduced as morphkids and female targeted accessories . 2 morphsuits is a division of afg media which includes menswear line foul fashion and golf wear line royal & awesome . 5 6 they are working on a womenswear line . 7 contents 1 history 2 corporate 3 marketing 3.1 campaign issues 4 references 5 external links history edit three people in morphsuits jump for a photoshoot . according to the founders account they were inspired to create the company after either a stag weekend 3 or a one color costume party in dublin to which a friend of the founders was wearing a zentai bodysuit . at the event the friend became somewhat of a celebrity being bought drinks and posing for hundreds of pictures . 4 after researching the fancy dress market smeaton smeaton and lawson invested 1 000 each 6 redesigning the suit for better vision . 3 the original corporate website cost 300 . 4 a variety of materials thicknesses of materials and stitchings were tried . 8 fraser smeaton said in an interview that they conceived morphsuit as the name for their product because they believed everyone who wore them morphed into a more fun version of themselves . 3 beginning in may 2009 6 shipping of the first batch of 200 costumes was done from their flat . 4 6 balancing their day jobs and the company meant a lot of 2 a.m. finishes while running their business . as of august 2011 outsourcing had raised their indirect staffing to 200 . 4 as of late 2012 suits were manufactured in shanghai . 6 the company received a boost to its sales when the 2009 british lions tour of south africa at which eight fans wore red morphsuits was covered extensively by sports journalists and photographers . 9 many early mainstream appearances of similar suits in north america were not their brand the green men two fans of the vancouver canucks nhl team used super fan suits 10 as do hip hop group the body poets 11 12 while appearances on it s always sunny in philadelphia 13 predate either brand s founding . improper synthesis as of august 2011 there were 40 varieties 4 and 50 as of september 2011 . 9 morphkids a children s sized line was launched in the united states before any other market . the company sold 35 000 units in 48 hours . 14 around halloween 2012 a psychologist noted increased confidence and social skills in children wearing the outfits and an overall calming effect in children with autism . 15 as of april 2013 stated it expected morphkids to outstrip the parent brand four fold . 5 in october 2012 morphsuits launched their first licensed design featuring saban s mighty morphin power rangers ; 16 the company claims the costumes were the best selling item in their history . 17 with their investment from bfg they hoped to pursue the spider man license deeming licenses fundamental to the business s future success . 6 in 2013 morphsuits added animal planet morphsuits including a vampire bat with fabric wings connected to the arms and a cobra with a neck frill . other products include the head only lycra morphmask and megamorph an inflated suit with lycra over the head hands and feet . 6 uk based remix monkeys is a defunct dance clan which used morphsuits in their street dance routines corporate edit as of may 2011 it claims to be the world s largest fancy dress brand . 18 as of 2011 gregor lawson had worked in brand management for eight years . trained with fmcg marketing fast moving consumer goods at gillette and later procter & gamble he led marketing on pantene pringles and gillette . he left p & g in july 2010 . 18 lawson is brother of rugby union player rory lawson son of rugby union player alan lawson and grandson of rugby union commentator bill mclaren . 9 in their first year the company sold 20 000 costumes bringing in 1.2 million . 2 between january and october 2010 the company shipped 10 000 units to canada . 19 as of halloween 2010 they expected 6 million of business in the second year . 3 in the 2010 2011 financial year they did 4.5 m in sales . 2 they expect 10.5 m in revenue in the 2011 2012 fiscal year . 2 in october 2010 morphsuits gave 2011 estimates of 6 million ; by july 2011 they told the bbc of a year end estimate of 10 million . 2 the company sold an initial order of 100 000 morphsuits to retail chain party city . 2 9 the company expect sales of 309 980 in october 2012 . 20 fiscal year units sold revenue 2009 10 50 000 2 1.2 m 2 2010 11 250 000 2 4.5 m 2 or 4.2 m 21 as of 2011 the partners had no direct employees all jobs are outsourced . as of summer 2011 that included a chinese manufacturer warehouses in the united states united kingdom and australia and a customer contact centre in fife . 2 as of october 2010 fraser looks after the business commercial side gregor runs marketing while ali runs finance and logistics . 8 in 2012 mishal verjee was added as marketing director . 16 one september 2012 article cited afg in employing 21 staff at five sites worldwide but did not clarify if they were direct or outsourced . 6 the founding entrepreneurs have spoken publicly about their dislike for uk tax rules which make company owners pay 40 per cent on any sum taken out in dividends above 35 000 against only 10 per cent if they were to sell their business . they have suggested incentives to expand operations would be more beneficial than inducements to sell their company . 9 the company received overtures from private equity investors in 2011 since their ernst & young entrepreneur of the year awards nomination in scotland that year ; they have suggested the business has kept them too busy to consider any of the offers . 9 in february 2012 the company as afg media received a 600 000 loan from barclays corporate . 22 in july 2012 business growth fund invested 4.2 million in afg 5 the size of its stake was unannounced but their firm generally takes between 10 % and 40 % of the share capital . 23 the investment was meant to help product development the morphkids line and develop supply chain as the company looks to expand in the us europe mexico russia japan and china . 5 23 ralph kugler was introduced as chairman of the company s board 5 23 and duncan macrae also added to the board . 23 they have a low rate of product return at just 1 % which they credit to the limited sku stock keeping unit allowing them to ensure consistent quality of the product . 4 marketing edit the morphsuits branding is on each costume advertising the company . the company s facebook page has been a key element in their marketing with 250 000 fans as of halloween 2010 3 760 000 fans as of september 2011 . 9 the page reached one million likes on april 15 2012 . the company uses the page to run photo sharing competitions events and flash morph meetings . one competition included a design competition for halloween suits . 3 gregor lawson has spoken at seminars about technology and business about their use of facebook and e commerce . 21 much of their marketing strategy is based on fans ideas a process fraser smeaton calls scrum marketing ; suit designs potential sales outlets and competitions have all been dictated by its followers . 1 there are regional sales differences in the united kingdom the product is considered year round with a small jump in sales near halloween . in the united states sales are much more highly focused at the halloween season . 4 the company runs 13 localized e commerce websites . 21 black is the company s most popular colour . 4 the majority of morphsuits customers are men but the company hopes that a new morphsuit model with a built on tutu will expand female sales . 4 the brand has tried to distance itself from the term zentai and the concept of fetish usage . 19 being one of the earliest brands to court a general market the terms morphsuits and morphs are regularly applied to events related to any sort of zentai suit . 24 their term risks becoming a genericized trademark in the process ; one new zealand based newspaper refers to competing brand jaskins as a one of the main online morphsuit brands . 13 says gregor we now offer 23 different lycra suits and we have lots of copycat competitors but because we bought the name morphsuits no one can trade under that name but us . 3 campaign issues edit for a while the website s faq page listed the suits as legal globally . this response either ignored or overlooked anti mask laws such as those in france . references edit a b the joy of dex interview with morphsuits . nmk . london university of westminister . 13 december 2011 . archived from the original on january 9 2012 . retrieved 19 december 2011 . a b c d e f g h i j k l m n edinburgh firm morphsuits stretches global reach . bbc.co.uk . london uk . 23 july 2011 . retrieved 28 september 2011 . a b c d e f g h i loveless helen 31 october 2010 . friends morph into potential tycoons . financial mail women s forum . kensington london uk . retrieved 29 september 2011 . a b c d e f g h i j heugel abby 23 august 2011 . morphsuit mania . party and paper . sparta mi . retrieved 29 september 2011 . a b c d e brown tim 28 april 2013 . business growth fund invests 4.2 m in fancy dress morphsuits . the manufacturer . london . retrieved 7 may 2013 . a b c d e f g h williams hattie 16 september 2012 . how i made it greg lawson and fraser smeaton of afg media . the sunday times . london . archived from the original on 16 september 2012 . retrieved 8 may 2013 . subscription required help . dorsey kristy 19 march 2012 . interview gregor lawson fraser smeaton and ali smeaton ; creators of morphsuits . the scotsman . edinburgh . retrieved 3 november 2012 . a b morphsuits interview youtube a b c d e f g kristy dorsey ; terry murden 18 september 2011 . morphsuits trio urge tax changes to help growth .