Preliminary titles not sure which direction I want to go in yet. I would really appreciate some insight.
DC and Marvel, the two largest comic book companies in the world, both need marketing to succeed in selling comics to the target audience wanted. Both companies also devote their time to creating movies from the comic movies. Marketing is a tool that companies use to sell products or services. Without the proper marketing strategy companies can fail and lose business. How does this relate to comics books you ask? Comic books are like any other source of entertainment, because they have to have an audience. Comics need a target audience and the companies behind the comics need to come up with strategies to reach that audience. Both Marvel and DC market their comics in many different ways. They both have the same target audience in the aspect that they are comic book readers, but both of them may be targeting different sections of that audience with each of their characters.
DC uses podcasting, press releases, and flex comics to market their comic books. Podcasting is one way that DC uses to market, where there is a narrator who reads panels of a comic. A panel is just one drawing in the set of drawings. This was a different technique that caught the attention of some readers but didn’t grasp the audience like what was wanted. Press releases are another way used in marketing where the company releases a memo about the comic about to come out. DC uses this in a way to try to entice their audiences’ attention to the comic book or movie that is released. It is just an article that lays out the plot and gives a little insight into the movie. Flex comics is a new marketing tool that DC started to implement in 2007. This is an experiment started in Japan based on their form of comics called manga. Manga is a compilation of comics that include almost every type of comic. DC uses this by putting clips of new comics to be released to attract the readers to buy the new titles. They have also made this available online and have tried to market them to mobile phone to get readers hands on. DC’s marketing needs some improvement they have been trailing behind Marvel for many years. This is a few ways they are trying to keep up with the times so to speak.
Marvel on the other hand has been ahead of the game for many years. Marvel uses various techniques to help with their marketing strategy. Marvel uses live-blogging,interactive comics and Myspace and Twitter. Live-blogging is where the reader or prospective reader can see a blog about the movie or comic as it is being written. Matt from alertnerd.com stated, “I was tracking San Diego panels at work last week and at Marvel.com, one of their PR marketing folks, who goes by the handle Agent_M, was using a new live-blogging technology to cover all Marvel panels. Thanks to this technology and notifications about it through Twitter, I was able to virtually “attend” these panels, hearing news announcements instantaneously, and even seeing artwork as people at the convention were seeing it in the panel. It was pretty remarkable.” This is also used for new concepts or ideas that Marvel feels need the insight from the public about. Interactive comics are a large focus of the time spent on marketing. Marvel has a Myspace page and a Twitter page. Having these pages gives readers from around the world a chance to see and experience all of the new ideas and concepts put out by Marvel. Marvel also has a comic only available on Myspace called “Secret Invasion.” To access this membership to Myspace is not required, this opens up the comic to the public. Also, on Marvel.com you can subscribe to the digital comics that are offered. Membership is around sixty dollars a month and provides over five thousand titles to browse and read. Since most new comics cost between ten and twenty dollars this is a great deal. This also provides you with unlimited access with no restrictions. This is another way that Marvel has really taken their marketing to the next level.
Both companies use the television, internet, and conventions to market their media as well. Television is mainly used to showcase the movies that are offered, but some shows help to “plug” certain comics. “The Big Bang Theory” on NBC is about a group of scientists who are comic book junkies. One of the main characters always has a t-shirt on that showcases a character. He only wears DC characters like Green Lantern, Flash, and Batman. Somewhat of a biased approach, but this shows that most avid readers choose a side, Marvel or DC. The internet is used by sponsoring sites or putting link backs to the main site of the company. Almost all comic book sites that are established have links back to DC and Marvel, which helps to get their name out there and show those readers what they have to offer. Conventions like Comic-con let the comic book companies really interact with the fans, that gives the fans hands on approach to the comics. The readers can browse thousands of booths that offer all different types of comics. This is also a place that both companies can give a preview what is new in their company. People come to the conventions just too see what is new and improved in the comic book world, and the attendance to these conventions is growing every year.
In conclusion, marketing plays a huge role in the sales of comics. Without marketing comics would be a lost cause. Marketing is needed for the companies to show off what they have to offer and show what their company and comics are all about. DC and Marvel have two different approaches to marketing. As it seems now Marvel is winning in that battle because DC is trailing in getting with the times, where as Marvel is setting the bar high and raising the standards with different new ways to market their comics. Just think about it which do you see more around the television or internet is it DC or Marvel?