San Diego Comic Con was another smashing success this year. During this year’s four-day extravaganza, which kicked off last Wednesday, we found several brand trying to make their mark at the grand event. However, many brands believed it was too expensive to promote their brand at this worldwide event. In fact, only a handful of folks were creative enough to figure where they might fit in and who to team up with. Whether it’s flinging pizzas or putting on makeup, brands of all sizes found their place at Comic Con. Barnaby Legg, VP of theatrical marketing for Legendary Pictures, stated, “partnerships that make sense are absolutely key for us.”
Here are 5 successful Comic-Con brand partnerships:
1. The Pie-flinging Turtles Truck.
Pizza Hut and The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles teamed up to create the pie-flinging Turtles truck. This truck was located in the middle of an area where there was heavy foot traffic, which attracted many hungry Comic Con customers. Additionally, this truck was strategically placed outside the Comic Con venue, therefore, a pricey Comic Con badge wasn’t required. This replica of the Ninja Turtles’ pizza-shooting van, allowed fans to actually shoot real pizzas at little stand-up targets. This branding strategy was effective for both Pizza Hut and The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
2. Cerebra, Professor X’s psychic headphones.
Innovative Oculus integrations drew in people like crazy. Pacific Rim, X-Men, and Oculus Rift work together to create the Cerebra, Professor X’s psychic headphones. This experience is a lot like a theme park ride.
“We have a longstanding relationship with them and we’ve been keeping a very close eye on the technology they’ve been developing, but we didn’t just want to jump on the virtual reality bandwagon,” said Legg. “Our movie is about human pilots using this neural technology to fuse their minds with the body of a 250-foot mech, and there’s something very analagous to that with the Oculus technology—you to strap on this thing and it allows you to connect this neural bridge between your imagination and the content.”
The X-Men activation works in much the same way. The difference is it involves narrative about Professor Xavier having taken over your mind. Your duty is to help him locate Mystique.
3. A Flier for the Marge makeover.
High-end makeup brand MAC has partnered with The Simpsons to create a flier for the Marge makeover. This random partnership ended up being a huge hit.
4. The viking Mead Horn.
Vikings partnered with local Tavern + Bowl, watering holes Jolt’n’Joe’s, Florent and La Puerta. Together Vikings and several San Diego bars were offering half-price brews to bearers of this drinking horn. This brought in revenue from Vikings all over.
5. A shave and a guillotine.
Being great partners in the past, Assassin’s Creed and Schick get together again. This time, instead of creating a Pirate ship like they did last year, they created a shaving station. The gigantic Ubisoft activation for Schick featured a shaving station boasting the closest shave of all: a guillotine.
