Let’s Talk: Learning from Comic-Con @Home
It would be comic, if it wasn’t tragic.
Amidst our current global pandemic, TV shows, music videos, and movies are a logistic nightmare or nearly impossible to shoot, as we can see by the number of projects that stopped or were postponed. Once overlooked ways to connect with fans are finding their way to the mainstream ever since social distancing became the “new normal.” Animations and cartoons are in high demand, live streaming and podcasting have skyrocketed, TikToking became a positive global pandemic itself, drive-ins made a return, and various other creative ways of running businesses have flourished or found a niche. If we, as an industry, are thriving in multiple manners, why did Comic-Con @ Home have such lackluster results?
Mark Schaefer, in his excellent book Marketing Rebellion: The Most Human Company Wins, brings up topics that are more relevant than ever to the entertainment industry. Firstly, that we should go back to perceiving technology as a tool, and not as a way to blindly follow data and forgo the humanity of consumers. Secondly, that human-generated content is the most powerful tool in marketing, and that now, customers are the ones driving the narrative for the brands they are loyal to. Lastly, that we don’t want to be sold anything anymore, we want to be part of something. Nowadays, it’s clear that everyone wants an ad-free experience, just observe the rise of ad-blocks, premium fees for an ad-free experience, and the number of times you watched ads on YouTube or TV.
“Successful marketing in the future will have to be presented in a way that is unquestionably authentic, local, personalized, and even handcrafted. It will have to make a difference that people can see and experience.” — Schaefer (2019)
Currently the only way to be connected with fans, and as fans, is through the internet. Therefore, let’s take a look at one of the biggest, most authentic, personalized, and handcrafted events in the entertainment industry: Comic-Con.
“According to data from social media analytics firm ListenFirst, tweets that mentioned Comic-Con@Home were down 95% from 2019’s live convention — just 93,681 tweets over the five-day event, against 1,719,000 tweets in 2019. Tweets about the top 10 TV events were similarly down 93%, and tweets about the top 5 movie panels were down a shocking 99%.” — Vary, Adam (2020)
The numbers above clearly showcase that Comic-Con @ Home performed poorly. So what can we learn from this? And how do we avoid such results in the future?
As someone who didn’t have the privilege of attending San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) (yet), but attended other Comic-Cons, I believe that SDCC failed to realize that its core business isn’t selling panels, limited merch, sponsorships, comic books, and exclusive previews, it is actually selling an experience. What makes the event so unique is not all of the above, is that we get to share that experience with people who are just as passionate as we are about everything in there. Also, these individuals, who most likely have friends and family that might not relate and understand their love for what Comic-Con represents, get to have, for a couple of days, a magical sense of belonging in a crowd of strangers.
If we love Comic-Con for a sense of belonging, we also love it because we interact with it. We love the stands, content, content creators, artists, infinite queues, cosplayers, and we interact with all of it by walking, talking, doing Q&As, standing in line, cosplaying, striking up random conversations and so many other different ways. However, if you can’t do any of it, is it really a Comic-Con? If a Comic-Con happens but no one gets to experience it, did it happen?
Comic-Con was the chosen example, but could be exchanged with any other live event because ultimately people are there for the same reason, to share and experience them in unique manners. We trade-off various perks for live events such as good views, great sound, stats, narration, comfortable seats, and we purposefully go to crowded, hot places, with tight seating areas, nightmarish parking experiences, excruciating traffic, endless lines, where food and drinks are ten times more expensive. That exchange happens countless times, because for fans nothing outweighs the live experience. And, honestly, we like to feel part of a special and exclusive group that gets to experience things others won’t because we were in a time and place that will not be replicated, ever.
The lack of barriers on the internet makes it one of mankind’s greatest creations, yet when trying to replicate live events it makes them feel less unique. These events are not as exclusive, and you can’t convey the energy, excitement, screaming, and feeling of belonging through the internet, or can you? I think you can, and the way to do it, in my opinion, is by making it as inclusive as possible. Lately, I believe no one has displayed this concept better than Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park. Shinoda developed not one, but two entire albums live on Twitch “alongside” his fans, Dropped Frames Vol.1 & 2.
“Content should be viewed with the same esteem as your company’s products. It’s not just sales propaganda. It should be good enough to be a stand-alone product that customers look forward to receiving.” — Schaefer, Mark (2019)
In an interview with NME, he stated that part of the album experience was the stream itself and that for most of the tracks he had no clearly defined route, but instead played off his viewers and chatted with them to develop these songs. He masterfully elucidated the concept above. The content he provided in collaborative creation, was as important as the creation itself, and now the creative sessions are as enjoyable (if not more) than the albums themselves.
Streaming platforms like Twitch — and its competitors — allowed creators to succeed by delivering great content. Content creators for those platforms realized early that the way to differentiate themselves was by generating high-quality content. That means that the product (i.e. video game) doesn’t matter as much because everyone can have access to it and can play the game themselves. Clearly, for game streamers, what brings viewers and fans along is how unique their content around the product is, and how it stands-out from others.
Since they killed couch co-op, and gaming moved to a predominantly online sphere, gamers were forced to create and foster their community online. E3, Microsoft Showcase, Sony Experience, and Nintendo Direct were, until recently, available for press and industry professionals only. Gamers didn’t get to experience the hallways of Comic-Con, the seats on an NFL game, or the mosh-pits from concerts. Their sense of belonging was built online, starting with websites, then YouTube channels, streaming platforms, Reddit, and Discord servers. Now, gamers get to experience large events in person, but long before that, gamers knew where to find their own.
I believe that all areas of entertainment must learn from the gaming industry. You must lay down the foundations for an online community to be created, otherwise, we might see more events underperforming. And while this pandemic will not last forever, the benefits of being able to provide “online” value to your fans will at least protect your efforts during an emergency, and at best, creating memorable and unique connections, independently if it’s only virtually.
The global pandemic was a great way to expose the frailties of the industry, and to push the creative limits of artists and companies alike to new ways of engaging with fans. Drive-in movies made a return, live events on Instagram increased, and Tik Tok is as popular as ever, even upcoming online concerts are selling tickets. Nonetheless, the industry needs to reflect and learn from Comic-Con. Hopefully by looking at endeavors such as Mike Shinoda’s, entertainment companies will learn to focus on creating experiences that don’t rely solely on products to connect with their audiences. Also, by looking at content creators on streaming platforms, as well as the gaming industry companies will realize they need to foster an online community for their fans to belong to. Mindlessly pushing content out, because the technology and power to do so is there is not enough anymore, audiences want to feel connected, they want to be part of it. Companies need to quickly comprehend that while they are selling movies, music, games, and books, fans and customers are actually looking to purchase experiences.
Special thanks to my friends Felipe Riera, and Guilherme Canineo.
