Written by Chris · Thursday, August 12, 2010

Mega Marketing at Comic-Con

I recommend everybody attend the Comic-Con International event at least once in his or her lifetime. I just attended Comic-Con in San Diego last week and engaged in the awe-inspiring multimedia, mega-marketing geek propaganda. Like the other 165,000 people attending, I bought into almost every advertising and marketing tactic imaginable from all types of companies, vendors and artists.

As much as I hate to admit it, I snatched up every limited-edition poster, Comic-Con exclusive t-shirt, grab bag, lanyard, button, collateral, postcard, business card, flyer or coupon. Why? Resale value, memories, cool stuff and just because it was free! Did any of this help entice me to buy into any of the products or services each of these items represented? No – not immediately anyway - but it got me into their booths where their representatives graciously discussed in great detail what they were selling. With a highly targeted audience, this was a great opportunity for companies to push upcoming movies, television shows, graphic novels and other soon-to-happen events, with countless hours and inches of free press coverage, blog posts, forum topics, broadcast, newspaper and magazine articles.

If you like free swag, meeting celebrities, being the first to know about upcoming pop cultural events, witnessing some of the most humorous and bizarre costumes imaginable, or hanging out with 165,000 people with similar interests, spend a weekend in San Diego at Comic-Con.  It’s event marketing at its biggest and best.