Marketing

Commentary and advice on marketing, mostly for publishers (traditional and brands) and writers, but sometimes from a broader perspective.

An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Let’s Stop Blaming Retailers, and Start Blaming Publishers

This started out as a quick comment over at The Beat, in reference to someone blaming retailers for dim road ahead for the recently canceled The Boys series, post-DC, because retailers will order less copies from the eventual new publisher thanks to the likelihood of lower discounts than they receive from DC.It's a knee-jerk response, and one I've made often in general reference to retailers who focus only on the Big Two, but in thinking about it, I've changed my mind a bit.Marvel/DC-only retailers are like the corner bodega: they stock a basic supply of staple goods from major suppliers…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

"Driving Bigger Wedges in to Society"

I was going to sit this one out but it really does fall right into my wheelhouse...The unflappable Loren Javier has been hosting a handful of interesting debates over the past couple of weeks at his One Diverse Comic Book Nation blog -- which is showing promising signs of becoming exactly the kind of niche site I think the comics internet needs -- and I've jumped into a couple of them, partly because I appreciate the civil tone he sets, even when he's being unfairly attacked.After mixing it up with Gail Simone yesterday over The All New Atom, I finally…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Numbers Game: Shuffling Deck Chairs on the Titanic

Marc-Oliver Frisch's always enlightening sales analysis is now posted at The Beat, looking at DC's estimated numbers for December 2006, and buried towards the end is a very interesting breakdown of the Average Sales per Title of their three primary imprints. I've spotlighted the DCU as a point of interest:DC UNIVERSE12/2003: 29,26312/2004: 36,92512/2005: 44,99312/2006: 44,641---------------6 months: -12.6%1 year : - 0.8%2 years : +20.9%3 years : +52.6%As would be expected, the main DCU has seen some impressive growth over the past three years, fueled largely by Infinite Crisis and its numerous lead-ins, crossovers, tie-ins and spinoffs. What's hidden beneath that…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Marketing Monday: First Things First

Among the myriad challenges comics publishers of all sizes face, one of the biggest -- and most frustrating, personally -- is marketing. Way too many publishers believe that marketing is little more than sending out badly written press releases and snagging previews, reviews and interviews from Wizard, Newsarama, Comic Book Resources, et al. While some recognize industry trade shows and fan conventions as being a necessary part of any marketing plan, few understand what it takes to maximize their presence at such events. Perhaps most astoundingly, many publishers don't even have the sense to invest in a solid web site…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Free Comic Book Day 2007

This year's Free Comic Book Day is on Saturday, May 5 -- the same weekend Spider-Man 3 opens -- and the list of comics that will be available is pretty impressive. My initial thoughts on some of them:Archie Comics (Gold): Archie Comics Little Archie 2007 Archie Comics (Silver): Sonic the Hedgehog 2007My son loves Sonic, so I'll definitely grab one for him. I'm guessing Little Archies is something new?DC Comics (Gold): Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century 2007 DC Comics (Silver): Justice League of America # 0 2007Smart selection on the Gold title as all-ages accessibility should be…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Stephanie Fierman: Villain, Victim…or Scapegoat?

According to Rich Johnston, as reported in yesterday's Lying in the Gutters, DC's outgoing SVP of Sales & Marketing, Stephanie Fierman, "is still on contract at DC for another year and will work on special projects with DC Publisher and President Paul Levitz while she looks for a new position within Time Warner." If true, it suggests that what's happening is very likely personality-driven and not based solely on her performance, because contract or not, if it were the latter, they'd simply fire her outright and offer her a severance package. My wild guess is that her primary "special project"…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Review: The Guardian Line

Joe and Max #1
By Jason Medley, Claude St. Aubin & Chris Chuckery

Genesis 5 #1
By Lovern Kindzierski, Claude St. Aubin & Chris Chuckery

Code #1
By Mike Baron, Lovern Kindzierski, Howard Simpson, Dave Ross & Chris Chuckery
(All published by The Guardian line, December 2006)

Any sincere attempt by a comics publisher to reach new audiences (particularly from an all-ages perspective) is deserving of high praise, and Urban Ministries is doing exactly that with The Guardian Line, targeting the Christian demographic for whom the adventures of the superheroes they grew up with are neither representative of their beliefs nor appropriate for their children.

Of course, while good intentions are important, the final judgement should be based on the most basic of criteria: are they any good? The answer to that question is…they could be.

(more…)

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