Comments on: Turning Speculation Into Success: Make Mine Viral?

By: calvin frank

calvin frank — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 19:24:28 +0000

You completed some good points there. I did a search on the issue and found a good number of folks will agree with your blog.

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 02:28:01 +0000

That diagram of Fury’s many and varied connections is pretty fascinating once you start following all the dotted lines around. Definitely Hickman’s work, or at the very least in his style. And I love me some Hickman, so this book has my attention.

By: Auguste Miller

Auguste Miller — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:12:48 +0000

If this is what Marvel spends its time doing, then I understand why COSTS HAVE SOARED RECENTLY AND PRICES WERE RAISED !!!!!!!!!!!!

By: Kimota94

Kimota94 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:02:50 +0000

Guys and gals (Blogarama contributors), would it be too much to ask that you maybe proofread your articles a bit more before publishing them? Perhaps it’s just me and my old-fashioned expectations when it comes to published writing, but when I start reading an article and see:

“Because while the show Lost having pioneered much of this style of “alternate reality” gaming, nobody had ever thought to harness this with the sheer enthusiasm and speculation that only comics fans can muster.”

and

“No, I’m talking about Marvel is introducing this into their comics proper.”

within the first few paragraphs, it takes me right out of the reading experience. Neither of those two preceding “sentences” are actually sentences, as even a quick re-read of them would reveal. I know this isn’t Time magazine (substitute your own favourite professional venue in its place) but couldn’t you at least AIM HIGH in that regard?

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:57:09 +0000

I saw this and thought it was great. Hopefully as time goes by, more will be released with it, because currently the site isn’t too impressive. Maybe once a new solicit comes up, we’ll get a new password.

Great idea, fits with the property (which is essential for viral marketing), and a step in the right dirction.

By: fanboy d

fanboy d — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:22:20 +0000

cool! but i don’t get why comics prices are rising when they could just CHARGE THE ADVERTISERS MORE INSTEAD…

By: Greg Buchanan

Greg Buchanan — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:33:17 +0000

I don’t think viral marketing had much to do with the sheer success level of The Dark Knight. 99% of people who saw that movie would not have been familiar with any of that stuff; only ultra-keen internet folks, who could provide nowhere near that much revenue.

The only film I would suggest viral marketing properly worked for was Cloverfield, the mystery element of which (What is the monster?) meant that it spread far more rapidly, caught more interest, and even permeated to the mainstream press (I read several articles about it)

By: Russell Burlingame

Russell Burlingame — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:58:35 +0000

Didn’t DC already do this with the Checkmate website a while back? I remember when they first introduced the Castellan into the title, and he was the new “computer guy,” and you could log in using the password CASTELLAN to some website which would let you look at background information on all the Checkmate characters and stories, as well as a handful of other DC properties.

By: D. Peace

D. Peace — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 02:02:07 +0000

“And the main reason the film succeeded as well as it did?”

Because it was a really, really good movie for many substantial and legitimate reasons. Hype alone is never enough… there are plenty of stories of incredibly well-marketed movies that failed simply because they were terrible.

I agree with your comments about viral marketing, however. One of the reasons it works so well (at least in my opinion) is that it’s simultaneously fun and, if there’s a puzzle to it, thought-provoking. The concept of marketing being enjoyable instead of just being stupidly patronizing is quite refreshing. Everybody wins.

No telling if Marvel’s viral marketing will work as well but it’d be cool if it did.

By: Jamie Lovett

Jamie Lovett — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 02:00:06 +0000

Personally, I’m more excited about the amount of creative ownership Marvel seems to be willing to give Jonathan Hickman on this title (the site looks like his design, and the series trade dress closely resembles that of his creator owned books). Hickman is, in my opinion, one of the hottest new talents in the industry and this viral stuff is a just fueling what was already an anticipatory fire for me.