June 2007
Best Practices: Word-of-mouth marketing

Blogosphere hyping and griping helps sell-out New York Comic Con

By Cathy Chatfield-Taylor

Before the 2007 New York Comic Con (NYCC, www.nycomiccon.com) ever opened its doors to the public, online tickets sold out. Miffed fans had three options: Track down a retailer with tickets to spare, pay $75 on eBay, or show up and try to score tickets from a scalper. Those who were unlucky enough to get stiffed the second year in a row had no worries. Their admissions were complimentary.

“If they didn’t get in last year, we invited them back as our guest this year,” says Con Director Greg Topalian, Group Vice President, Reed Exhibitions (www.reedexpo.com).
Topalian attributes NYCC’s popularity to the existing fan base for comics, graphic novels and anime, and all the spin-offs they generate — video games, toys, movies and TV shows. He launched the con when he saw that this was the only category growing by double digits at Reed’s BookExpo America.

Popular comic cons already dominated major markets, including Comic-Con International San Diego — which draws more than 100,000 fans — and the multi-city Wizard World tour; but none came to the epicenter of comic publishing. The industry’s first NY-based prosumer event, held Feb. 24–26, 2006, at the Javits Center, generated buzz from the moment it was announced in October 2005.

“This is a predominantly consumer show with a very passionate fan base,” Topalian says. “The advantage is, we can do viral marketing because those communities already exist. There were fan Web sites that were already talking about the business. We could tap into those and reach those people with an offer that would appeal.”

A marketing partnership with Wizard Conventions gave Reed access to Wizard Entertainment’s four magazines, as well as the Wizard Web site (www.wizarduniverse.com). But word-of-mouth spread rapidly among the hundreds of comics-related blogs, e-zines, forums and message boards.

The promise of getting access to top talent, special screenings and exclusive offers — not to mention the chance to dress up in costumes (called “cos-play”) — was irresistible. NYCC fell victim to its own success when 33,000 avid fans swarmed the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. On Saturday, ticket sales were suspended, exhibit hall access was re-stricted, and hundreds of angry fans who had tickets couldn’t get in.

Amid harsh criticism that reverberated around the blogosphere, announcement of NYCC Feb. 23–25, 2007, spurred speculation about whether it would be any better, as well as eager anticipation of guest appearances by such luminaries as Spiderman Creator Stan Lee and Dark Tower Creator Steven King.

Show management monitored blog posts to gauge response to announcements. “The blogs are great resources to hear what’s going on. They’re also a great indicator if you’re doing anything wrong,” Topalian says. If announced guests failed to impress or tickets were hard to get, they made quick adjustments. One thing the staff did not do was respond to the commentary online.
“It’s my belief that it’s a fan’s domain. It’s their chance to speak freely and anonymously to each other,” Topalian says. “I use it as a research tool, but I don’t violate that world and put in my 2 cents.” Fans who want to direct comments to show management use the “Ask the Show Manager” feature on the convention Web site and get an immediate response.

An estimated 40,000 fans finally converged at the second NYCC. The mob attracted the attention of Late Show Host David Letterman, who featured costumed superhero wanna-bes in a five-minute shtick on Feb. 27, 2007.

A new series of 36 post-con podcasts is fueling continued conversation about the con, driving desire to come in 2008, when the show will expand to occupy most of Javits’ Level 3. When word gets out about the new kids’ free Sunday — to promote reading at a young age — expect word to spread like Spidey’s sticky web.