DC's Best Marketing Move Ever. DC Lantern Corps Rings.

[aSh]

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2009/08/19/fill-your-fingers-the-free-lantern-ring-collection-set-to-boost-dcs-sales/

From Bleeding Cool:
Expect sales on Booster Gold #26, Doom Patrol #4, Adventure Comics #4, R.E.B.E.L.S. #10 and Outsiders #24 to rocket in the months to come. Seriously, each issue could top 100,000 orders or more and see DC dominate the charts with a number of titles that never normally getting the top fifty.

Why? Because sales on these comics, and on Justice League Of America #39 and Blackest Night #5, are tied in to the amount of Lantern Promotion Rings your local comic shop retailer is allowed to order.

The Black Lantern ring giveaway to kick off the Blackest Night event was an immense hit, with demand booming for these chunky stylish collectable black plastic fingerwear, and a call for similar rings to match the different Lantern colours seen in the series went out. And DC listened. Baw HA HA!

So for every 25 copies of Doom Patrol #4, Booster Gold #26, R.E.B.E.L.S. #10, Outsiders ‘24 and  your retailer orders, they can order a bag of fifty Sinestro rings, Agent Orange rings, Indigo Tribe rings and Star Sapphire rings respectively.

And for every 50 copies of Justice League of America#39, Blackest Night #5 and Adventure Comics #4 sees you with a bag of fifty Red Lantern rings, Green Lantern rings and Blue Lantern rings, also respectively.

Each ring will ship every two weeks, Yellow on November 4th, Orange on November 18th, Red on December 2nd, Green on December 16th, Blue on December 30th (well, January 6th now I guess), Indigo on January 13th and Violet on January 27th.

Expect some kind of charge however. While the Black Lantern ring was very much a giveaway, in this case, not only do retailers have to pay more for the bags of rings, but they have to order large numbers of comic books, often ones that usually don’t sell too well, in order to qualify. Some retailers may pass that cost on, or ask you to buy the comic in question. Which will probably be a Blackest Night tie in anyway. So it’s not really a hardship…

Just don’t go in expecting some kind of Free Comic Ring Day. And expect some very odd looking chart statistics in the months to come. R.E.B.E.L.S. in the Top Ten? Could happen. People love these rings. Almost as if they were all Agent Orange operatives…


Hmmmm.... It's like someone was reading my thoughts. Baw Ha ha ha

[Comicbookhero (Michael Moskop)]

Those marketing geniuses, They got me. I would buy extra books for the rings. I actually just moved and now I can't find my GL or Flash rings so new ones would be greatly appreciated.

[MarioMuscar]

I think this is awesome.  The question is...Is there a way we will be able to get them from DCBS???

...paging Mr. Kruse...Mr. Kruse, you have a telephone call at the front desk...

[Greencapt]

I think this is awesome.  The question is...Is there a way we will be able to get them from DCBS???

...paging Mr. Kruse...Mr. Kruse, you have a telephone call at the front desk...

And just think of ALL the titles from this promotion that will show up in $.10 bins on the next con circuit!

I don't think DCBS will be a problem but I weep for the LCS' that might feel they have to order 45 extra copies of R.E.B.E.L.S. so that their 5 pull list customers will get a free ring OR that they'll invest in the extra chuck of books to so that they can sell the rings on eBay.

DC could probably make the same if not more money if they just sold the rings. Yes I realize that that wouldn't expose potential new audiences to that set of titles but though it will 'work' this promotion rubs me the wrong way. The 90s are back, baby.

[Doug!]

I read most of those books anyways.  Of course, my LCS will probably charge $2 each for them like they did the Black Lantern Rings. 

[Wood]

See, I actually am going to be the wet blanket here.

We talk all the time about how the numbers we see from Diamond are sell INTO the channel (meaning into stores) and NOT the number of issues that get into readers hands. We know from years of data that gimmicks like incentive variants 'help' the issue numbers, even though a LOT of that stock ends up in 50 cent bins at sales and cons down the line.

Do I think providing rings as a promotional tool is a good idea? HELL YEAH. In fact, I think it's a GREAT idea. But why force LCS' to artificially inflate demand for books that they otherwise are confident they wouldn't sell? Why not provide these bags of 50 rings for a small fee with no strings attached? If it's a PROMOTIONAL tool for the stores to build hype for DC and Blackest Night, it shouldn't be tied to over-ordering books that may bite the LCS owner in the ass.

Imagine this scenario...a small LCS does a good job of managing his inventory. The sell through from R.E.B.E.L.S. has been poor in his store, even though he thinks it's a quality book. He is down to ordering 10 copies of R.E.B.E.L.S. to meet his pull list and have a few left on the shelves.

Now he hears about this promo. So he has to make a decision...do I up my order to 50 issues of R.E.B.E.L.S. at an incremental cost of $1.76 per issue (their cost), just to get a bag of plastic rings?

1) If they DO...then they're likely out $70 of cash flow just to participate in a promotional idea that probably cost DC all of $1 at most to produce

2) If the DON'T (being smart about their cash flow)...they look like a bad LCS as regulars come in wanting to get one of the rings they keep reading about on the internet

Sorry to be a wet blanket here, but I think this is a good idea badly executed.
 

[Farrell]

Sorry to be a wet blanket here, but I think this is a good idea badly executed.
 

Or....

Maybe his sell through on R.E.B.E.L.S. is bad mostly because very few people try it.  Fans of books like Green Lantern, and Guardians of the Galaxy, the book's seemingly natural audience, overlook it, or are turned off by the title or something (I've heard that criticism a few times.  Seems weird to me, but whatever). 

He orders 50 copies, gets his 50 rings, and gives one away for free with a purchased copy of R.E.B.E.L.S..  People gotta have their rings, so they buy the books.  They're not going to NOT read the book once it's actually in their house, and a lot of them like it.  10 out of the 40 people who weren't already getting it like it enough that they add it to their pull list.  Now the LCS owner has $13 a month in new, renewable income.

And the overall side effect of this is that R.E.B.E.L.S. has new life, and isn't canceled inside the next 6 months. 

This is what I hope might happen. 

[Wood]

Or....

Maybe his sell through on R.E.B.E.L.S. is bad mostly because very few people try it.  Fans of books like Green Lantern, and Guardians of the Galaxy, the book's seemingly natural audience, overlook it, or are turned off by the title or something (I've heard that criticism a few times.  Seems weird to me, but whatever). 

He orders 50 copies, gets his 50 rings, and gives one away for free with a purchased copy of R.E.B.E.L.S..  People gotta have their rings, so they buy the books.  They're not going to NOT read the book once it's actually in their house, and a lot of them like it.  10 out of the 40 people who weren't already getting it like it enough that they add it to their pull list.  Now the LCS owner has $13 a month in new, renewable income.

And the overall side effect of this is that R.E.B.E.L.S. has new life, and isn't canceled inside the next 6 months. 

This is what I hope might happen. 

That's a great idea, unfortunately I don't see any evidence to suggest it'll happen that way. Nothing stops an LCS owner from doing that any month with any title. And yet few ever do. Maybe if DC promotes a strategy to go with the rings, I would be less down about this idea. Karma for the out-of-the-box thoughts though, if only you ran an LCS near me.

[Just Bill]

I'm tired of trying to think of things from the perspective of what's good for the industry, what's good for the publishers, what's good for the LCS.  So, from a purely selfish PoV, this rocks - that is, as long as they are accessible.  I'm a nerd, I want them.  But I don't want to pay jacked up prices for them.  If it's a scenario where you have to buy certain books to get them, I'm on board all the way.  But I think it'll be up to the retailers on how they distribute them.  THEY have the prerequisite on how to acquire the rings, we the consumer do not.  It'll be interesting to see what sort of hoops we'll have to jump through to get the rings.

(I MUST have a GL and a Sinestro Corp!!!)

[Chris]

Farrel nailed it.

Make the rings giveaways with the purchase of the books required to order the rings.

The LCS makes extra scratch. Consumers are "forced" to buy some pretty damn good books. We all have fights with our Lantern Rings!
Everyone wins.

[aSh]

I am getting almost all of the books that DC is tying to the rings, so this is a total win-win for me. If a customer wants a ring, then they need to buy the corresponding book.  It is as simple as that. But having a cool promotional tool connected to great books that may need a shot in the arm, seems like gravy to this DC Fan. I want to get all the rings and I will buy all the books or cover whatever cost to get them.  These tie in issues where going to get ordered in larger amounts anyways.

[Matt Kramer]

I can't speak for every LCS, but the way mine has done things like this in the past (the GL ring for Green Lantern Corps #1, the Black ring for Blackest Night #1), they'd give the rings to pre-orders of the book first, then give any aunclaimed/unwanted rings away on a first come, first served basis the next week.  They don't charge for these at all, or at least they haven't in the past.

[Just Bill]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't a difference this time versus the others that BEFORE they were promo items provided to the shops and THIS time in addition to buying the books, they have to pay for the rings?  I don't think it's a given that these will be freebies or even given away with the books at this point.  I'm hoping DCBS will be handing them out with the books, but there's no guarantee every retailer will follow that model.

[Farrell]

.... but there's no guarantee every retailer will follow that model.

It all depends on whether they go for the quick buck or take a more long term view.

By the way, nice to see you around Bill.  I miss your podcast.

[VinceB]

By the way, nice to see you around Bill.

Ditto.

 

[Alec B.]

I know a lot of people seem to be tired out if, but I think the shops would be smart to play up the "tie-in" angle. Maybe by dedicating a specific shelf to the BN related books and put them up front. Make them seem important just by the way they are stocked.

I think it is a cool idea, but at the same time what really separates it from a variant cover? It's all gimmick. And, it's a gimmick that is very loosely controlled, unless a shop steps in and lays down some rules. Could get ugly.

[BobBretall]

He orders 50 copies, gets his 50 rings, and gives one away for free with a purchased copy of R.E.B.E.L.S..  People gotta have their rings, so they buy the books.  They're not going to NOT read the book once it's actually in their house, and a lot of them like it.  10 out of the 40 people who weren't already getting it like it enough that they add it to their pull list.  Now the LCS owner has $13 a month in new, renewable income.

Amen.  This is what SHOULD happen......

PS: I just sent an e-mail to Cameron over at DCBS recommending a GL Corps ring promo he could run....

[DGoodhart]

I can't speak for DCBS, because I use mycomicshop.com, and I can tell you guys through there anyway, we got the Black Lantern rings sent to us with our Blackest Night issues...

[Just Bill]

It all depends on whether they go for the quick buck or take a more long term view.

By the way, nice to see you around Bill.  I miss your podcast.

I think it'll return again this weekend and be back as a regular thing again.  I think I have finally defeated my laptop woes and I'm almost completely "rebuilt" and ready to go.  All vacations are out of the way too. 

[Just Bill]

Ditto.

 

My Facebook love is fading, so I'll probably be popping by more and more now.  And I might even get caught up on 11O'Clock soon... I should be finishing up Episode 63 and getting into 64 on the commute home tonight!