shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,867
|
Post by shaxper on Apr 4, 2015 15:02:03 GMT -5
The problem is that such tactics tend to only work in the short term. Fans sweep in to speculate when we see Archie get married, fight zombies, or gain a gay friend, but no matter how quality the work, the sales don't stick. so the new approach gets scrapped in favor of the next big stunt. RIP Life with Archie  And sometimes without the influx of revenue and attention in the short term, there isn't a viable long term. We live in a neophile society where all the attention and money flows to what's new. Same ole same ole is not a business strategy that works in the current environment unless there is something new to bring the attention to what's already there. Ignoring short term needs is a way to guarantee long term extinction. You can't get to the long term unless you survive in the short term. Archie had become largely irrelevant to the comic buying public and the the mass audience. They had barely 3 inches of copy in the entire Previews catalog and no coverage on any comics news site. You rarely saw Archie in a comic shop and there were no newsstands aside form the shelf of a big box grocery store or the check out aisle that maybe carried a digest or two. Those who didn't already know about Archie would never discover it. Now they are relevant. People are paying attention and buying their new offerings. They are drawing established talent with a built in audience to work for them and people are looking forward and seeking out their product. The talent they had working for them is gaining a new audience. They are in a much better place to have a long term future now than they were 5-10 years ago. -M And yet it's a self destructive strategy since they have to keep one upping the last stunt. Eventually, they'll run out of ways to shock and attract the casual reader. Without attracting a long term audience, the best they can do is leap from short term solution to short term solution until they run out of them. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2015 15:21:07 GMT -5
And if they do not have an audience to sustain them through the short term they never reach the long term either, so it's try and maybe succeed or do nothing and definitely fade away. Which is better? Neither really, but I would rather go do down trying. To do nothing changes nothing, and the books you liked still go the way of the dodo as well as the publisher. Life with Archie wa sending whether they did the death of Archie or not. The Francavilla variant zombie variant cover for the regular Archie book sold better than anything they had done in recent years, so why not try something along those lines. Aguirre-Scassa has had success tapping into the youth market/demographic in other medium and has done comics before and is generally excited about the properties, so why not make use of his abilities and insights to try to increase your audience. Or just keep trying to sell the same stuff with dwindling sales and market presence until it's not viable anymore.
-M
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,867
|
Post by shaxper on Apr 4, 2015 20:44:55 GMT -5
You,ve created your own no win scenario in which the only options Are short term stunts or nothing. I'm saying I don't think Archie has made any attempt to gain and sustain new longterm readers.
With the Life with Archie example, they were clearly trying to target impulsive teenagers with the book. The covers were designed to sell a done in one magazine with relevant teen oriented articles when what was within was a mature sustained narrative targeted to adults who were unlikely to pick up the book both because of the covers and the magazine format. the work was never given an opportunity to reach an audience that would appreciate it because it was (poorly) marketed for short term sales And to the wrong demographic.
The publisher didn't give the work a fair shot and, when sales went bad as a result, they cannibalized it for one more short term stunt rather than try to create a long term solution.
|
|
|
|
Post by hondobrode on Apr 4, 2015 21:40:02 GMT -5
Not all their eggs are in the traditional 50's style which the company has had for decades.
The new marketing strategy, thanks larger to Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, has worked for me. I've bought more Archie, and enjoyed them, in the last year than in the last 4 decades or reading and collecting comics.
Shax, I have to respectfully disagree with you. The strategy and new approach has worked and I'm staying. Both Dark Circle and the revamped Archie characters are very appealing to me.
The traditional style is still alive and well and not going anywhere as that's the company's cash cow and has been for decades.
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,867
|
Post by shaxper on Apr 4, 2015 21:54:47 GMT -5
Shax, I have to respectfully disagree with you. The strategy and new approach has worked and I'm staying. Both Dark Circle and the revamped Archie characters are very appealing to me. I certainly hope you're right. They've definitely marketed those titles better than LwA. Just keep in mind that we'really really only a year into this bold new direction. when sales begin to drop (as inevitably happens with any comic title that's ever seen print) let's see whether they try to create long term sustainable solutions or cannibalize those projects in favor of new flash in the pan stunts. It would be nice to be wrong in this instance. |
|
|
|
Post by hondobrode on Apr 4, 2015 21:59:34 GMT -5
I don't see this not working.
Their superhero line has gotten very strong reviews so far and there's more than enough share to go around. Archie has the deep pockets and reputation to maintain it's traditional line while growing the superhero line and a modern take on the Archie characters.
Archie still distributes via newsstand and I think they should definitely leverage that to put their Dark Circle on the stands. No one else is doing it and they're in the best position to make it real.
|
|
|
|
Post by dupersuper on Apr 7, 2015 4:40:27 GMT -5
I've bought many more Archie comics in the past few years than the none I bought before...
|
|
