Leveraging your Market (Lessons From Comic Con)

I had the chance recently to attend New York’s famous Comic Con with my daughter—the largest, most unconventional, and exciting pop culture event on the east coast. Unbeknownst to me, it was so much more than just comics—as booths featured the latest in anime, graphic novels, video games, toys, movies, and manga (a style of Japanese comics and graphic novels aimed at adults). Additionally there were other associated products one might not have visualized before attending—like 3D printing, fantasy food trucks, and even “Walking Dead” figurines and collectibles.

Brand Partnerships that Make Sense

There were a lot of brand partnerships on display that I thought were smart business decisions—like Pizza Hut and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or high-end makeup line Mac and the Simpsons. There’s even an online tutorial that can show you how you can use Mac products to get Marge Simpson’s look!

Invite Your Competition In

I spent a lot of time after the convention thinking about large-scale marketplaces and the many ways customers can leverage their businesses by teaming up with other related service providers to form one community. We are often so incredibly afraid of embracing our competition, but an event like Comic Con—where 150,000 people walk through a flea market type setting—allows audiences to see artists, products, and services they may not have known about before and make their own informed decisions.