Teen Titans ad: weapons? tools? huh?

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jacovny
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Teen Titans ad: weapons? tools? huh?

Post by jacovny »

"They call us weapons. We call them tools." That's the headline of the Teen Titans ad I just saw in my copy of Justice League 3000 #8. Underneath that is the Titans team, standing about glowering and pouting, while Red Robin holds up a copy of Justice League #1 which he's apparently set on fire. Okay, I get that all teenagers are angry and sullen, and they all hate anyone over the age of 23. At least, that's what the ad seems to presume. But... what did the Justice League ever do to the Titans? When did the League refer to the Titans as "weapons", and why would that be such a sore spot? I read Justice League regularly, and I don't recall a lot of name-calling between the League and the Titans. Or is all this teen angst directed at someone besides the Justice League? If so, why are they flipping the bird to their adult counterparts, just after they've finished saving the world from the Crime Syndicate? And who is this ad targeting? Teenagers who think adult superheroes are "tools" I guess -- but how many of these individuals are reading "Justice League 3000"? Sigh... I just don't get it.
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JohnMayo
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Re: Teen Titans ad: weapons? tools? huh?

Post by JohnMayo »

It doesn't make any sense to me either. There is no story basis for this. I guess the people (editors? marketing?) at DC felt the Teen Titans should be five teenagers with attitude.
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the1captain
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Re: Teen Titans ad: weapons? tools? huh?

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Same people likely came up with that ad for the new Grayson series. " if you think you know Grayson, then you don't know dick". Really? Who works in marketing there? 15 year olds?
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Re: Teen Titans ad: weapons? tools? huh?

Post by JohnMayo »

I was reading it as "If you think you know Grayson, then you don't know Dick." which is a subtle difference. One that implies profanity without actual profanity.

It does seem like there are marketing to teenagers which seems odd since I think the average reader is college or above. Do the people currently marketing comics at DC not know who the core audience is? The whole thing is a bit off putting from that perspective.
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Re: Teen Titans ad: weapons? tools? huh?

Post by SpideySavestheDay »

Remember DC's "WTF" covers? Same immaturity.
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Re: Teen Titans ad: weapons? tools? huh?

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SpideySavestheDay wrote:Remember DC's "WTF" covers? Same immaturity.
Good point.
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Re: Teen Titans ad: weapons? tools? huh?

Post by fudd71 »

JohnMayo wrote: It does seem like there are marketing to teenagers which seems odd since I think the average reader is college or above. Do the people currently marketing comics at DC not know who the core audience is? The whole thing is a bit off putting from that perspective.
While I agree that the ad is dumb and immature, I find this statement to be much more interesting. In a world where we "older" reader are constantly bemoaning the fact that seemingly books aren't marketed to a new audience and there are no "new readers". While this ad and some of the others mentioned in this thread my not be the best way to do it, I do think comic companies should market to teenagers, and tweens and anyone else that isn't the current core audience. I think the bigger issue is marketing mainly through house ads (good, bad or in poor taste), house ads by definition will never convert the "uninitiated" because there is no best case scenario where one not already reading a comic will ever see them. Personally I would love to see comic shops filled with teenagers and kids again.
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Re: Teen Titans ad: weapons? tools? huh?

Post by JohnMayo »

I am all for advertising to new readers but not at the expense of existing readers. The goal is to get more readers, not to replace older readers with newer readers.

These ads targeting the immature are being done in Previews and in house ads which is were the existing readers are. It sends the message that we older readers aren't who DC seems to want reader their titles. Between that almost subliminal message and having recently rebooted the universe with the New 52 a few years ago, some older readers who have been faithful readers for decades are dropping DC titles. This means that the number of new readers has to match the number of lost readers before a title can increase in sales.

As someone that has reader the overwhelming majority of comics featuring Dick Grayson, the "If you think you know Grayson, then you don't know Dick." tag line struck me as immature and off putting. There have been many occasions in which I've felt I knew the backstory of a comic book character better than the person writing/editing a comic. If I don't know Dick Grayson right now, it isn't for a lack of trying on my part. If anything, it is because DC rebooted the character in 2011.

The groups that need to be marketed to are existing readers, new readers and former readers. You have to keep the existing which hopefully isn't that hard, gain new readers which isn't that easy and attempt to sway back the former readers which can be the most challenging depending on why they left.

On the wild assumption that these mythical new readers somehow saw the ads, do you really think the immaturity in the ads would get them to reader the title? And, more importantly, on the even wilder assumption they did reader the titles, do you think they would get out of the issues what they were expecting based on the ads?

The Teen Titans attitude about the Justice League represented in the ad was nowhere to be found in the first issue. Likewise the first issue of Grayson didn't seem to me to be of the tone/style of the ad.

Again, I'm all for getting new readers. I don't think these ads are going to do that and they risk alienating older existing readers.
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Re: Teen Titans ad: weapons? tools? huh?

Post by drew »

I would love to see a comprehensive "try reading a comic" sustained campaign with $10 credit for new comixology signups and 30 days where all digital comics are 99 cents...gotta focus on digital, that's the only way to get new users in the tent...
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Re: Teen Titans ad: weapons? tools? huh?

Post by JohnMayo »

drew102e wrote:gotta focus on digital, that's the only way to get new users in the tent...
Digital is a great way to get new readers but it isn't the only way and it may or may not be the best way.
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Re: Teen Titans ad: weapons? tools? huh?

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drew102e wrote:I would love to see a comprehensive "try reading a comic" sustained campaign with $10 credit for new comixology signups and 30 days where all digital comics are 99 cents...gotta focus on digital, that's the only way to get new users in the tent...
When I first started with digital, Comixology had literally hundreds of free books. What those free books did for me is it got me comfortable reading comics in a different format than I was used too. Eventually I got to like it enough to actually purchase a few digital books. And those first books were series I never would have tried before except for the free first issue. Series I never even had heard of before. Now I'm a rabid digital reader. To the point it almost seems like work to pull out my print books for a read. I can be lazy that way. Lol

Now I see they only list about 55 books in their free section. And a lot of them I don't find interesting. The point isn't about getting free stuff. It's about making it easy to cast a wide net to potential new readers to get them to sample their product.
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Re: Teen Titans ad: weapons? tools? huh?

Post by jacovny »

I was pulled into comic collecting at the age of 11. I had grown up watching "Super-Friends" on television, and then playing with D.C.'s "Super Powers" line of action figures. When I saw all my favorite characters on the cover of "Legends #1" (rendered by Jon Byrne), I was hooked for life. I begged for that comic. Mom was skeptical at first, until she realized my vocabulary was soaring and started giving me monthly comic book allowance. And at 75 cents an issue, I could run down and try one anytime I had spare change.

Nothing about that scenario works today. A number of children I've spoken to at work aren't even aware that comic books are still being published. My teenage nephew has enjoyed the last 10 years of superhero films, and while he'll sometimes pick my brain for background knowledge before a movie like "Guardians of the Galaxy", he still has zero interest in reading comics -- like most other teens I've known, he considers it a bit silly. I'm wondering what the path to reading/collecting comics is like today, and a what age one typically gets hooked.
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Re: Teen Titans ad: weapons? tools? huh?

Post by SpideySavestheDay »

This topic officially needs a new title but we've had this conversation before (see attracting and keeping readers). I, for one, am glad we are discussing it. When looking at free digital, Boing Boing is offering the first issue of The Bunker. I'm not familiar with Boing Boing and stumbled on the free offering by reading a comic blog. Is the average tablet owner familiar with Boing Boing? Probably not as familiar as with Comixology, yet The Bunker is $1.99 on the #1 digital comics app. Hard to imagine The Bunker's tpb jumping in sales from this marketing strategy. Unless a big name is offering a free digital comic, The Bunker and numerous other indie books will not be noticed.
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