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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2017 11:25:43 GMT -5
So we have often talked about ways to reach new fans for comics. How super-heroes in other media have outstripped their popularity in comic form, how loss of newsstands led to missing out on a couple generations of new readers to comics etc. We all know what the situation is, but what are some ways to overcome this-to reach new readers and turn them on to comics. It isn't about quality of content, because it's not a case of if you build it they will come. They're not coming no matter how good or bad the comics themselves are. People are not going to suddenly walk into a comic shop and start buying comics, so it's mor ea case of if Mohammad won't come to the mountain let's take the mountain to Mohammad.
One that I had if I were marketing for Marvel or DC would be to talk to the multiplexes where the movies are playing about setting up a little shop next to/near the concession stands where I could put out some product for sale to the movie goers. Start with things like some Funko Pops, Action figures, blind bags featuring the characters that will move enough and generate enough revenue to make the space pay for itself, but also have stacks of the cheap $1 True Believer reprints of comics for sale-Deadpool is playing have stacks of the New Mutants #98 True Believer comic. Spider-Man Homecoming is playing have 6 or 7 True Believer issues at $1 each, Star Wars is playing put a bunch of the $1 Star Wars True Beleiver issues etc. and a bunch of trades like the $5 trades they put in Wal Mart a few years back (or even their Timely Comics reprint attempts forma few years back) that collect 4-6 issues, a complete story on the cheap. Price them at a level where they are impulse buys not investments of entertainment dollars.
Inside each comic or trade I would include 5 things-a code to get a free 1 month trial of Marvel Unlimited, a coupon/code for 50% of a 1 year print subscription for a comic, and a Comic locator ad complete with a coupon for 25% off your purchase at a comic shop (where the shop owner could redeem the coupon back with Marvel to get the discounted money so it's on Marvel's dime not the retailer) and ad for Free Comic Book Day and an Ad for Halloween Horrorfest giveaways. The first three would be designed to give the purchaser incentive to make an additional purchase of actual comics and the means to do so as well as giving them a cheap entry point to get an actual comic to read for themselves or their kids, and the last 2 give them knowledge of opportunities to get more inexpensive ways to find an entry point into the comics themselves.
People aren't going to see a movie and suddenly decide to start buying comics on their own, but if you put the comics themselves and incentive/motivation to get more comics the comics themselves might become a gateway to more comics. At the very least it will get some comics into the hands of potential readers and provide some revenue for the publisher (and more revenue for the theatres too, they need incentive to do this too).
The industry cannot rely on potential customers coming to them. It's not happening. It hasn't happened. And it's not going to happen. It needs to reach out to the potential customers, go to places where those potential customers are, places where those interested in the characters can be given an opportunity to impulse buy into the medium and experience the characters in the comics themselves so that they can then have the opportunity to become customers.
Obviously movie theatre concessions are not going to bring a new generation of reader son their own, but a smart program of similar outreach programs could start to make a difference, ot create new readers and new customers. Because that's what it comes down to, comics are a business and they need to find new customers for their products. If their is competition for entertainment dollars (and their is) you cannot be complacent and wait for the customers to come to you. You have to go get them and be in the places where the customers are and give them a reason and the opportunity to get your products.
Obviously you have to have quality products to keep them there once you get them there, but you have to get them there first or it won't matter how good or bad your product is.
It doesn't have to be a publisher only drive thing either. Lots of publishers like Image, Dark Horse etc. do the $1 reprint sampler things and Image has a lot of the Vol. 1 trades as an intro price/loss leader, but you need to get those things where potential customers/readers are, having them in comic shops where new customers are rare and current customers are set in their ways won't cut it, so it can be an outreach by publishers, retailers or even Diamond if they ever got their head out of their own ass.
So, if you had the opportunity, how would you try to reach new customers/increase sales of your products if your products were super-hero comics?
-M
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2017 12:42:27 GMT -5
Tough question. I like your ideas listed above. For the DC TV shows DC should have a clip listing a website to go to get a discounted trade shipped to you based on that episodes/seasons storyline.
Those watching the TV shows are sort of exposed to the idea of comics as serial entertainment as opposed to the movies. Each weekly episode is an issue whereas the entire season is the trade/collection. Movies are more a graphic novel.
Get local creators into school art classes. Talk about what they do. Show their material. Get the younger generation engaged.
Bundle more comics with merchandise. I see tons of superhero T-shirts everywhere. This is an untapped market.
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Post by hondobrode on Aug 2, 2017 12:56:24 GMT -5
So we have often talked about ways to reach new fans for comics. How super-heroes in other media have outstripped their popularity in comic form, how loss of newsstands led to missing out on a couple generations of new readers to comics etc. We all know what the situation is, but what are some ways to overcome this-to reach new readers and turn them on to comics. It isn't about quality of content, because it's not a case of if you build it they will come. They're not coming no matter how good or bad the comics themselves are. People are not going to suddenly walk into a comic shop and start buying comics, so it's mor ea case of if Mohammad won't come to the mountain let's take the mountain to Mohammad. One that I had if I were marketing for Marvel or DC would be to talk to the multiplexes where the movies are playing about setting up a little shop next to/near the concession stands where I could put out some product for sale to the movie goers. Start with things like some Funko Pops, Action figures, blind bags featuring the characters that will move enough and generate enough revenue to make the space pay for itself, but also have stacks of the cheap $1 True Believer reprints of comics for sale-Deadpool is playing have stacks of the New Mutants #98 True Believer comic. Spider-Man Homecoming is playing have 6 or 7 True Believer issues at $1 each, Star Wars is playing put a bunch of the $1 Star Wars True Beleiver issues etc. and a bunch of trades like the $5 trades they put in Wal Mart a few years back (or even their Timely Comics reprint attempts forma few years back) that collect 4-6 issues, a complete story on the cheap. Price them at a level where they are impulse buys not investments of entertainment dollars. Inside each comic or trade I would include 5 things-a code to get a free 1 month trial of Marvel Unlimited, a coupon/code for 50% of a 1 year print subscription for a comic, and a Comic locator ad complete with a coupon for 25% off your purchase at a comic shop (where the shop owner could redeem the coupon back with Marvel to get the discounted money so it's on Marvel's dime not the retailer) and ad for Free Comic Book Day and an Ad for Halloween Horrorfest giveaways. The first three would be designed to give the purchaser incentive to make an additional purchase of actual comics and the means to do so as well as giving them a cheap entry point to get an actual comic to read for themselves or their kids, and the last 2 give them knowledge of opportunities to get more inexpensive ways to find an entry point into the comics themselves. People aren't going to see a movie and suddenly decide to start buying comics on their own, but if you put the comics themselves and incentive/motivation to get more comics the comics themselves might become a gateway to more comics. At the very least it will get some comics into the hands of potential readers and provide some revenue for the publisher (and more revenue for the theatres too, they need incentive to do this too). The industry cannot rely on potential customers coming to them. It's not happening. It hasn't happened. And it's not going to happen. It needs to reach out to the potential customers, go to places where those potential customers are, places where those interested in the characters can be given an opportunity to impulse buy into the medium and experience the characters in the comics themselves so that they can then have the opportunity to become customers. Obviously movie theatre concessions are not going to bring a new generation of reader son their own, but a smart program of similar outreach programs could start to make a difference, ot create new readers and new customers. Because that's what it comes down to, comics are a business and they need to find new customers for their products. If their is competition for entertainment dollars (and their is) you cannot be complacent and wait for the customers to come to you. You have to go get them and be in the places where the customers are and give them a reason and the opportunity to get your products. Obviously you have to have quality products to keep them there once you get them there, but you have to get them there first or it won't matter how good or bad your product is. It doesn't have to be a publisher only drive thing either. Lots of publishers like Image, Dark Horse etc. do the $1 reprint sampler things and Image has a lot of the Vol. 1 trades as an intro price/loss leader, but you need to get those things where potential customers/readers are, having them in comic shops where new customers are rare and current customers are set in their ways won't cut it, so it can be an outreach by publishers, retailers or even Diamond if they ever got their head out of their own ass. So, if you had the opportunity, how would you try to reach new customers/increase sales of your products if your products were super-hero comics? -M I like all of these ideas. A comic shop owner I know was in a theatre hawking his wares just before the trailers started. Good idea but I never remembered to ask him if he got anything out of it. In the old days, DC & Marvel used to have co-op advertising. I'm remembering yellow pages ad slicks more than anything. I would think that offering students school discounts might be a path forward as well, maybe showing a school i.d. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2017 19:40:40 GMT -5
Apparently I missed this while I was recuperating from surgery...
I saw someone posting today on another forum that they picked up an Avengers digest at their grocery store today. It's a small step, but a step in the right direction I hope.
-M
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Post by wildfire2099 on Aug 2, 2017 20:59:40 GMT -5
I think comic movies are a huge wasted oppertunity. If I were Marvel, I'd create a comic to GIVE AWAY during the opening weekend of each movie.. one that ties in to the current monthly for the character.. like for 'Homecoming' one could have a free version of the new Spectacular Spidey comic. Having a new series with a new #1 would definitely help  . Ideally, this would be done not by the theatre, but by a local store, which would also sell a variety of current trades and other stuff spotlighting the movie character... maybe bring a couple wall books to grab attention, sell some emphemera (T-shirts, Pop! Guys, etc) at some kind of booth in the lobby. Allow the stores to offer whatever incentive they like to get those people to come by their store later (free stuff, one time discount, whatever).. then it's up to them to hook'em. IF there's no actual store available, I suppose Marvel could work with the theatre directly, but that would have to be alot less, a theatre isn't going to spend any cash... just giving a store some space for a % of the take seems alot more likely. I like the idea of some free Marvel Unlimited, too. maybe Marvel could work with Showcase/AMC/whoever to let you enter you movie ticket to get a free week or whatever. |
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Post by Spike-X on Aug 3, 2017 2:10:44 GMT -5
I'd make it so there were a bunch of already popular characters that could be made more appealing to people other than StraightWhiteDudes, then buy some sturdy earplugs to drown out the pissing and moaning about 'pandering' and 'SJWs'.
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Post by LovesGilKane on Aug 3, 2017 5:54:24 GMT -5
how much straight white male blood do you have in ya, Spike?
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Post by LovesGilKane on Aug 3, 2017 6:36:56 GMT -5
So we have often talked about ways to reach new fans for comics. How super-heroes in other media have outstripped their popularity in comic form, how loss of newsstands led to missing out on a couple generations of new readers to comics etc. We all know what the situation is, but what are some ways to overcome this- to reach new readers and turn them on to comics. It isn't about quality of content, because it's not a case of if you build it they will come. They're not coming no matter how good or bad the comics themselves are. People are not going to suddenly walk into a comic shop and start buying comics, so it's mor ea case of if Mohammad won't come to the mountain let's take the mountain to Mohammad. One that I had if I were marketing for Marvel or DC would be to talk to the multiplexes where the movies are playing about setting up a little shop next to/near the concession stands where I could put out some product for sale to the movie goers. Start with things like some Funko Pops, Action figures, blind bags featuring the characters that will move enough and generate enough revenue to make the space pay for itself, but also have stacks of the cheap $1 True Believer reprints of comics for sale-Deadpool is playing have stacks of the New Mutants #98 True Believer comic. Spider-Man Homecoming is playing have 6 or 7 True Believer issues at $1 each, Star Wars is playing put a bunch of the $1 Star Wars True Beleiver issues etc. and a bunch of trades like the $5 trades they put in Wal Mart a few years back (or even their Timely Comics reprint attempts forma few years back) that collect 4-6 issues, a complete story on the cheap. Price them at a level where they are impulse buys not investments of entertainment dollars. Inside each comic or trade I would include 5 things-a code to get a free 1 month trial of Marvel Unlimited, a coupon/code for 50% of a 1 year print subscription for a comic, and a Comic locator ad complete with a coupon for 25% off your purchase at a comic shop (where the shop owner could redeem the coupon back with Marvel to get the discounted money so it's on Marvel's dime not the retailer) and ad for Free Comic Book Day and an Ad for Halloween Horrorfest giveaways. The first three would be designed to give the purchaser incentive to make an additional purchase of actual comics and the means to do so as well as giving them a cheap entry point to get an actual comic to read for themselves or their kids, and the last 2 give them knowledge of opportunities to get more inexpensive ways to find an entry point into the comics themselves. People aren't going to see a movie and suddenly decide to start buying comics on their own, but if you put the comics themselves and incentive/motivation to get more comics the comics themselves might become a gateway to more comics. At the very least it will get some comics into the hands of potential readers and provide some revenue for the publisher (and more revenue for the theatres too, they need incentive to do this too). The industry cannot rely on potential customers coming to them. It's not happening. It hasn't happened. And it's not going to happen. It needs to reach out to the potential customers, go to places where those potential customers are, places where those interested in the characters can be given an opportunity to impulse buy into the medium and experience the characters in the comics themselves so that they can then have the opportunity to become customers. Obviously movie theatre concessions are not going to bring a new generation of reader son their own, but a smart program of similar outreach programs could start to make a difference, ot create new readers and new customers. Because that's what it comes down to, comics are a business and they need to find new customers for their products. If their is competition for entertainment dollars (and their is) you cannot be complacent and wait for the customers to come to you. You have to go get them and be in the places where the customers are and give them a reason and the opportunity to get your products. Obviously you have to have quality products to keep them there once you get them there, but you have to get them there first or it won't matter how good or bad your product is. It doesn't have to be a publisher only drive thing either. Lots of publishers like Image, Dark Horse etc. do the $1 reprint sampler things and Image has a lot of the Vol. 1 trades as an intro price/loss leader, but you need to get those things where potential customers/readers are, having them in comic shops where new customers are rare and current customers are set in their ways won't cut it, so it can be an outreach by publishers, retailers or even Diamond if they ever got their head out of their own ass. So, if you had the opportunity, how would you try to reach new customers/increase sales of your products if your products were super-hero comics? -M 1.) give up up on the floppy/monthly size/format. the battle is lost. manga won. forget hail hydra, hail manga-size, which fits in a purse, or a cargo-shorts sized pocket. 2.) ditch the talking-heads ‘wahhhhhhh, muh feeeeelings’ soap opera garbage. young folks still love Fast and the Furiously-braindead, they couldn’t give a #@@$@@!! about wannabe ‘death of a Salesman’ or The Cherry Orchard. put actual movement, DRAWN (not traced and digitally/badly coloured) MOVEMENT, KINETIC movement, back into comics. 3.) can/ditch the twitter garbage from all sides. it makes money for twit-er, it does not generate new purchases from new/young potential customers. 4.) if you wanna make a career outta milkshakes, or slagging milkshakes, open a baskin-robbins franchise. ice cream ain’t comics. 5.) get product drawn by people whom are competitive, not just another set of tumblr-monkeys and deviant-art.net dilettantes, the hiring of which have corresponded with dropping sales; the drops have naught to do with pandering or any ideology, As i've stated in a previous post. comics are/always will be economic goods bought by dint of their visual appeal. most young folks don't give a #@@!!! about garbage with no effort 'created' in the name of #Z$!! seen at 'conceptual or fine art' galleries, so they ain't gonna buy pieces of printed paper which look the way yoko ono's 'singing' sounds. |
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Post by brutalis on Aug 3, 2017 9:07:12 GMT -5
One of the LCS owners here had for awhile tried to sell comics/anime merchandise during Premiere day openings of comic book and anime movies or at special showings. He did this for about a year until he found that the cost and effort through doing this at the theater he was using became less productive. He has chosen instead to do in-store promotion days and invite local writers/artists or visiting ones and also to focus on advertising the store for special times like holidays. Where he is located is a city "hub" of sorts with a nearby park, library and antique row and restaurants so he tries to incorporate the city plans for holidays or combine with other shops and restaurants for special attraction opportunities. This has readily built up his standing in the local community and word of mouth has spread as he enjoys a brisk walk in of first timers and repeat shoppers who are birthday and holiday shopping as they browse the neighborhood.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2017 10:42:52 GMT -5
One of the LCS owners here had for awhile tried to sell comics/anime merchandise during Premiere day openings of comic book and anime movies or at special showings. He did this for about a year until he found that the cost and effort through doing this at the theater he was using became less productive. He has chosen instead to do in-store promotion days and invite local writers/artists or visiting ones and also to focus on advertising the store for special times like holidays. Where he is located is a city "hub" of sorts with a nearby park, library and antique row and restaurants so he tries to incorporate the city plans for holidays or combine with other shops and restaurants for special attraction opportunities. This has readily built up his standing in the local community and word of mouth has spread as he enjoys a brisk walk in of first timers and repeat shoppers who are birthday and holiday shopping as they browse the neighborhood. The problem with an individual retailer trying to set up in a movie theatre is that there is not enough of a margin in the product to cover the additional overhead (extra stock, labor to transport & set up at the theatre, paying the theatre for the space, paying someone to either work in theatre or to keep the shop open while the owner is at the theatre) of setting up at the theatre to make it profitable, and any incentive/discount/freebies he offers as incentive to get customers to his store comes out of his pocket, which can be written off as a loss leader but only helps if those people then come to the shop and spend additional money. For such an initiative to be worthwhile it needs to come at the distributor level (Diamond) or the publisher level (Marvel and/or DC) where they have marketing/promotional budgets that can cover the additional overhead costs, or be the effort of a co-op of local retailers pooling their resources to grow the local customer base. Speaking of locals working to grow the local market, one thing I saw this summer was a bunch of local dealers, shops, and creators holding a mini-convention at a local public library to coincide with the launch of the library's summer reading program targeting kids and adolescents. The had new and back issues for sale, trades and merch, local creators selling their self-published stuff, costume contests, how to draw programs led by local artists for the kids, etc. to get kids excited about reading comics. The library was also promoting their selection of graphic novels/trades and including them in their summer reading lists for contests based on how much kids read over the summer with prizes available for a lot of the participants at the end of the summer. From what I understand the turn out was very good, but I don't know how successful in the long run it will be to getting those kids to be long term readers/customers, but again, it's a step in the right direction and there are going to be no magic solutions that immediately turn around decades of declining customers and lost opportunities for gaining new readers. Any growth is going to be a slow arduous process and will likely never again reach peak levels, but any growth is good. -M |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Aug 3, 2017 15:33:38 GMT -5
I'd make it so there were a bunch of already popular characters that could be made more appealing to people other than StraightWhiteDudes, then buy some sturdy earplugs to drown out the pissing and moaning about 'pandering' and 'SJWs'. Marvel actually seems to really be making an effort to expand demographics in the last few years a way that it hasn't since the '70s. (Which makes for way more comics that I personally want to read, too, which is nice.) |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Aug 3, 2017 18:36:00 GMT -5
I'd make it so there were a bunch of already popular characters that could be made more appealing to people other than StraightWhiteDudes, then buy some sturdy earplugs to drown out the pissing and moaning about 'pandering' and 'SJWs'. I think that won't matter if they tell good stories...THATS the key. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Aug 3, 2017 18:39:28 GMT -5
Working though libraries is a great idea in theory, but I there are even few people that frequent libraries than frequent comic book stores.. and there's a fair bit of overlap. (I'm definitely in that overlap). While I wish that one's public library was a hub of community activity, I don't think that's really the case in most towns.
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Post by Spike-X on Aug 3, 2017 19:39:10 GMT -5
I'd make it so there were a bunch of already popular characters that could be made more appealing to people other than StraightWhiteDudes, then buy some sturdy earplugs to drown out the pissing and moaning about 'pandering' and 'SJWs'. I think that won't matter if they tell good stories...THATS the key. Most of the people pissing and moaning don't even make it to the 'actually reading the stories' stage. They just see dark skin and/or boobs and lose their freakin' minds. |
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Post by Spike-X on Aug 3, 2017 19:44:10 GMT -5
And yeah, I'm a StraightWhiteDude myself. I'm just not one that thinks that every book and character on the shelves has to be aimed specifically at me, and that anything else is pandering. Because revolving your entire business model around a single demographic sure isn't pandering.
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