Web Comics and Marketing

Mighty

So recently i have been recruited by a paper printing company that is starting a new project.
This project is a "flickbook" that allows the customer to put "action shots" on a palm sized book with 4 different "flicks" on it. just before they hired me, they sold 600k of them to walmart with a nascar theme.

My question to you is thus - if a webcomic you like say.... Penny Arcacde ... made a flickbook with 4 animated panels that made a full comic... would you pay 3 to 6 american dollars for one?

(and no, right now i cannot post a picture of them, i dont have a camera)

wasted pixels

Probably not, that's a ton of money for something that basically amounts to an archaic animated gif. I think you're going to have a hard sell if you're targeting anything but children or the lowest common denominator.

So Ctrl+Alt+Del might be game.

But seriously... the only target demos I can imagine these days would be young children or the design community. I could imagine the notcot.org types enjoying something like that if it had the right blend of high-art and kitsch.

Mighty

ha interestingly enough, i thought that ctrl alt del was right about where i would aim it...

just because *ahem* dislike his comic, doesnt mean his money isnt green.

MagicToaster

You're going about this marketing investigation all wrong. The first company was successful because it found a right size nitch: Nascar. Not Nascar/F-1. The problem with web comics is that they are essentially driven to a nitch within a nitch within a nitch: Comic Readers/InternetUsers/Online Comic readers. When you get too specific about who you're doing business with, odds are you'll fail.

If marketing was as simple as going to an online forum and asking ppl if they would buy x product, there would be a lot more ppl doing my job. You have to observe how these ppl buy things, understand their priorities then develop a marketing plan that reflects their lifestyle. This is known as an Inside-out study: know your customer then make the product. However, there is also the Outside-in approach which might benefit you. This is where you find a product then you investigate who you could sell it to.

I think this "FlickBook" is an idea with a lot of potential, you just have to find whom to sell it to. If you get stuck, just look at what the company that first hired you is doing. Follow their footsteps.

YodaTuna

3 to 6 bucks? I could buy dinner for that.

Mighty

YodaTuna wrote: »

3 to 6 bucks? I could buy dinner for that.

ramen is twenty five cents, or less.

JHunz

Mighty wrote: »

YodaTuna wrote: »

3 to 6 bucks? I could buy dinner for that.

ramen is twenty five cents, or less.

Nobody who eats ramen for dinner is going to spend anything on a flickbook.