DC Solicits Blackest Night Promotional Rings in September

Post by **JohnMayo** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 6:27 am

From Diamond Daily (Thursday, August 20, 2009):

With Blackest Night ramping up the danger across the DC Universe, DC Comics presents a full spectrum of Blackest Night Promotional Rings, solicited in the September PREVIEWS.

Retailers may order the rings based on orders of Blackest Night #5 and these November tie-in issues: Justice League of America #39, Booster Gold #26, Doom Patrol #4, Adventure Comics #4, R.E.B.E.L.S #10 and Outsiders #24.

Retailers may order Promotional Blackest Night Rings as follows:

* For every 25 copies of Doom Patrol #4 (SEP090105D, $3.99) ordered by the FOC date of 10/15/09, retailers may order one bag of 50 Yellow Promotional Rings (SEP090106J) at a net cost of $8 U.S. The Yellow Promotional Rings are scheduled to arrive in stores on November 4.

* For every 25 copies of Booster Gold #26 (SEP090103D, $3.99) ordered by the FOC date of 10/22/09, retailers may order one bag of 50 Orange Promotional Rings (SEP090104J) at a net cost of $8 U.S. The Orange Promotional Rings are scheduled to arrive in stores on November 18.

* For every 50 copies of Justice League of America #39 (SEP090107D, $3.99) ordered by the FOC date of 11/05/09, retailers may order one bag of 50 Red Promotional Rings (SEP090108J) at a net cost of $8 U.S. The Red Promotional Rings are scheduled to arrive in stores on December 2.

* For every 50 copies of Blackest Night #5 (SEP090092D, $3.99) ordered by the FOC date of 11/05/09, retailers may order one bag of 50 Green Promotional Rings (SEP090095J) at a net cost of $8.00 U.S. The Green Promotional Rings are scheduled to arrive in stores on December 16.

* For every 50 copies of Adventure Comics #4 (SEP090100D, $3.99) ordered by the FOC date of 10/29/09, retailers may order one bag of 50 Blue Promotional Rings (SEP090101J) at a net cost of $8 U.S. The Blue Promotional Rings are scheduled to arrive in stores on December 30.

* For every 25 copies of R.E.B.E.L.S #10 (SEP090110D, $3.99) ordered by the FOC date of 10/22/09, retailers may order one bag of 50 Indigo Promotional Rings (SEP090111J) at a net cost of $8 U.S. The Indigo Promotional Rings are scheduled to arrive in stores on January 13.

* For every 25 copies of Outsiders #24 (SEP090113D, $3.99) ordered by the FOC date of 10/29/09, retailers may order one bag of 50 Violet Promotional Rings (SEP090114J) at a net cost of $8 U.S. The Violet Promotional Rings are scheduled to arrive in stores on January 27.

Frank Castle · Post by **Frank Castle** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 11:20 am

Smart move on DC's part. Those books that don't normally sell alot should get a big boost by this. And then there will be lots of people posting pics of themselves wearing all the rings ala that GL cover.

comicm · Post by **comicm** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:49 am

I wonder how DCBS will provide these rings out. If you buy the title will you get a ring?

Frank Castle · Post by **Frank Castle** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 12:41 pm

comicm wrote:I wonder how DCBS will provide these rings out. If you buy the title will you get a ring?

Yes, you are correct. Zack talked about it over at the forum that we do not speak of.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:14 pm

comicm wrote:I wonder how DCBS will provide these rings out. If you buy the title will you get a ring?

I suspect this is how it will work.....

I suggested that they also do a package deal where you buy all the books at a special discount and get a set of all the rings....they said they liked the idea and are looking into how they can actually make it happen.

zack kruse · Post by **zack kruse** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:19 pm

BobBretall wrote:
comicm wrote:I wonder how DCBS will provide these rings out. If you buy the title will you get a ring?
I suspect this is how it will work.....

I suggested that they also do a package deal where you buy all the books at a special discount and get a set of all the rings....they said they liked the idea and are looking into how they can actually make it happen.

Bob's basically right.

We're going to have each of the rings available with the corresponding books.

The only detail that we have to work out is the details of package deal that Bob had suggested--if and what the additional discount will be for the package, etc.

Any way that you cut it, we will have them available though

HassanT · Post by **HassanT** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 6:49 am

Sounds awesome. I get most of the titles anyway so it isn't a problem for me to order a couple of more to get the full set.

Post by **JohnMayo** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 8:06 am

I get all of those titles so I'll end up with a full set of the Power Rings. I think it is cool of DC to do this but I really think they should have been giving these things away at the conventions over the summer.

HassanT · Post by **HassanT** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 9:13 am

JohnMayo wrote:I get all of those titles so I'll end up with a full set of the Power Rings. I think it is cool of DC to do this but I really think they should have been giving these things away at the conventions over the summer.

But doesn't this promotion actual helps with the sale of actual comics while the con give away wouldn't?

I think majority of comic book fans do not go to conventions. I go to a convention probably once every two years and I am huge comic book fan.

Post by **JohnMayo** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 9:43 am

HassanT wrote:
JohnMayo wrote:I get all of those titles so I'll end up with a full set of the Power Rings. I think it is cool of DC to do this but I really think they should have been giving these things away at the conventions over the summer.
But doesn't this promotion actual helps with the sale of actual comics while the con give away wouldn't?

I think majority of comic book fans do not go to conventions. I go to a convention probably once every two years and I am huge comic book fan.

Does it really do any good to bump the sales on a particular issue of a title by offering one of these rings if the only (or primary) reason someone gets the issue is for the ring and not the comic? Odds are very strong that we'll see a bump on these issues which would happen to anyway (but to a slightly lesser degree) because of the Blackest Night tie in and that the following issues of these titles will most likely not retain any significant percentage of that bump.

A strong case could be made that a majority of the fans at a convention like San Diego don't read comics. So while this promotion might boost the sales of those handful of issues, getting more people interested in the Blackest Night event in general would also serve that same goal.

My thinking is that DC would have been better served getting more people on board with Blackest Night before it started than by getting a few thousand additional sales of a handful of particular issues.

HassanT · Post by **HassanT** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 3:54 pm

JohnMayo wrote:
HassanT wrote:
JohnMayo wrote:I get all of those titles so I'll end up with a full set of the Power Rings. I think it is cool of DC to do this but I really think they should have been giving these things away at the conventions over the summer.
But doesn't this promotion actual helps with the sale of actual comics while the con give away wouldn't?

I think majority of comic book fans do not go to conventions. I go to a convention probably once every two years and I am huge comic book fan.
Does it really do any good to bump the sales on a particular issue of a title by offering one of these rings if the only (or primary) reason someone gets the issue is for the ring and not the comic? Odds are very strong that we'll see a bump on these issues which would happen to anyway (but to a slightly lesser degree) because of the Blackest Night tie in and that the following issues of these titles will most likely not retain any significant percentage of that bump.

A strong case could be made that a majority of the fans at a convention like San Diego don't read comics. So while this promotion might boost the sales of those handful of issues, getting more people interested in the Blackest Night event in general would also serve that same goal.

My thinking is that DC would have been better served getting more people on board with Blackest Night before it started than by getting a few thousand additional sales of a handful of particular issues.

From a long-term basis, it doesn't help the comics, but it does help LCS and DC on a short-term basis. If any LCS is smart, they would required the purchase of the comic to get a ring. That would increase their sales on a short-term basis, when retailers probably need some extra boost in sales in this environment. Will the sales increase the on a long-term basis? No, but not every strategy needs to be a long-term strategy. Your point is that fans will drop the book after the crossover, which is probably true. However, what strategy current exists that gets the reader to try an existing title and then continue to pick up the book that is not a crossover strategy?

As for promoting the book before the book hit the stands, it is an eight issue event, therefore they have to keep people interested in the book for eight months in order not to see a significant drop in sales. DC already promoted the book before issue 1 by offering Blackest Night #0 for free. This is another promotion later on in the life cycle of the book

Post by **JohnMayo** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 4:44 pm

HassanT wrote:However, what strategy current exists that gets the reader to try an existing title and then continue to pick up the book that is not a crossover strategy?

I'd like to think telling a good story would get readers to stick around for the next issue. Unfortunately, there is tons of evidence to the contrary.

80sJunkie · Post by **80sJunkie** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:09 pm

This is a really cool promotion. Got a Black Lantern ring with my copy of Blackest Night #1, which I totally didn't expect.

I think John has a point, but this promotion can affect a lot of people who couldn't make it to SDCC. No reason DC couldn't have done both.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 9:54 pm

Personally, I think giving the rings out with various comics is more effective for DC than handing them out at cons.

Sure, I was at the con but:

1) Would I have been walking by the DC booth when they were giving them out?

2) Would I have wanted to spend 30+ minutes in a line to get a ring?

In general, giving away rings at the DC booth at a con would have a lot going to people who are not reading the comics and are not going to read the comics even if they get a ring, and a lot would end up on eBay anyway.

I like the idea of getting a ring if you try out an issue of a comic.

Plus, if people have to get comics to get the rings, I'd hope they read them and not just take the rings and toss the comics out. What DC needs to do is make sure that the issues that come with rings are accessible to people reading them as their 1st issues. This will be a "we'll see" moment on how they leverage this promotion.

comicm · Post by **comicm** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:46 am

BobBretall wrote:Personally, I think giving the rings out with various comics is more effective for DC than handing them out at cons.

Sure, I was at the con but:

1) Would I have been walking by the DC booth when they were giving them out?

2) Would I have wanted to spend 30+ minutes in a line to get a ring?

In general, giving away rings at the DC booth at a con would have a lot going to people who are not reading the comics and are not going to read the comics even if they get a ring, and a lot would end up on eBay anyway.

I like the idea of getting a ring if you try out an issue of a comic.

Plus, if people have to get comics to get the rings, I'd hope they read them and not just take the rings and toss the comics out. What DC needs to do is make sure that the issues that come with rings are accessible to people reading them as their 1st issues. This will be a "we'll see" moment on how they leverage this promotion.

I agree with this 100%