San Diego Comic-Con started in 1970 as the Golden State Comic Book Convention – a 4-day event in which local enthusiasts showcased the latest and greatest from the comic book and science fiction universe. Now, almost 50 years later, San Diego Comic-Con’s expansion has transformed the event into an annual pop culture event that regularly draws hundreds of thousands of attendees from around the world. As part of this evolution, Comic-Con has expanded to showcase not only comic books, but movies, tv shows, video games and more. Here’s why San Diego Comic-Con has expanded its focus beyond comic books.
Movies
It’s only fitting that Comic-Con’s expansion includes a focus on movies. Name a comic book that HASN’T been turned into a movie? …I’ll wait. It feels as if Marvel releases a new super hero or comic book adaptation every 3 months. And what better place to promote or showcase these movies than San Diego Comic-Con? With deep ties to comic books and science fiction, Comic-Con is an ideal event for film studios to promote an upcoming release. Studio execs, writers, directors and actors themselves have all appeared on Comic-Con panels in recent years, often to draw buzz about an upcoming movie. SDCC has also been an event in which major movie news gets reveled (like the creation of 16th Spider Man movie). Given the (relatively) close proximity to Los Angeles, San Diego Comic-Con is easy to get to for many studio execs and talent alike.
TV Shows
Similarly, Comic-Con has proven to be an excellent venue to showcase and promote TV shows. In recent years, popular programs like Game of Thrones, True Blood, and Dexter have all had a big presence at SDCC. Even late night programming have cashed in on the Comic-Con buzz, with Conan O’Brien taking his show on the road to San Diego in years past. Comic-Con gives you instant access to hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom are a target demographic. It’s the perfect event to promote and showcase popular – or upcoming – programming.
Branded Content
For major brands, Comic-Con is an ideal event to produce live, branded content. Not only do you have instant access to fans attending Comic-Con, but you also have access to big name talent who could appear as potential guests on your program. Plus, at home viewers are interested in seeing what goes on at one of the biggest pop culture events of the year. Amazon, Wired, IMDb, Turner and countless others have used Comic-Con as an opportunity to generate and produce live content in year’s past.
Having worked at San Diego Comic-Con for the past 3 years, we’ve seen how much the event has exploded over a short amount of time. And we’ve witnessed how major brands, television networks and movie studios have all leveraged Comic-Con as a promotional tool for their content. If you’re in need of any event management or live production services during San Diego Comic-Con, give us a call… we’d be happy to discuss.
Leave a Reply