If you ask any marketer about Comic-Con, they’ll say the same thing: it’s hard to break out.
“It’s competitive. It’s a tough place to stand out,” said Natali Johnson, TBS’ director of marketing. “But it’s also a big concentrated mass of people who interact with pop culture and care about it.”
Indeed, San Diego Comic-Con is the rare place where people GO to be marketed to.
“It’s the Super Bowl for marketing,” Johnson said.
“It speaks to them,” said Missy Chambless, SVP of brand marketing, TBS and TNT. “Everyone here is such major fans. We’re trying to create fandom around our brand and bringing TBS here makes a lot of sense. The audiences that come to Comic-Con are the audiences that watch our shows. You have an audience that actually wants to come in and consume and interact with your brands.”
“We want to catch your attention. It’s increasingly tough to make something that makes someone look twice. You’ve almost seen it all this point,” said Johnson.
Last year, TBS invited influencers to an island in Mexico. For season 2, TBS thought bigger.
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“What could be bigger than bringing a lot of people to an island? Let’s bring the island to them. I like big spectacles, I think that cuts through,” said Johnson. “We have a tactic of being fan-forward and having something for people to experience and invest in, so it became a fan amusement park built on the island.”
TBS might’ve stumbled upon the secret. While many networks and brands host private parties for industry and celebrities, this year TBS invites anyone and everyone on their pop-up island extravaganza to party like they’re on Wrecked, their Lost spoof sitcom now in its second season.
From Thursday, July 20 through Sunday, July 23, at noon to 5 pm, TBS (co-sponsored with College Humor) welcomes fans to get wrecked on their pop-up island experience located behind the Convention Center in San Diego.
Each fan who boards the float is awarded with a free beer ticket, and access to a bar that includes water and energy drinks. But, if you download TBS’ new updated app—“which has great functionality and access to a lot of our programming,” according to Johnson, you can upgrade your Coors Light to a spiced margarita. Speaking from experience, it’s a no brainer move.
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But alcohol isn’t the floating island’s only draw. Beyond the free booze, the highlight might be a 30-second SOS video you can film on-site, and share on social.
In addition, less-than-sober fans can ride the mechanical boar, traverse a palm tree climbing wall, play coconut skee-ball, putt into “The Pit,” get a free coconut mug etched with your name (below), and explore photo ops with recreated Lotus Airlines wreckage. And, you can (and will need to) have the most pleasant airplane bathroom experience of your life.
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San Diego is the final stop for the pop-up experience after touring the California coast the past few weeks, with stops in Marina del Rey and Long Beach. It’s clear the experience has been a good one for TBS, as even the float being towed down the coast has given their brand attention.
“It has the nice secondary purpose of being a floating billboard going down the coast,” said Johnson.
The tour’s success portends more year-round activations in the future for TBS.
“We absolutely want to create year-round experiences for all of our shows, in the right time and places,” Johnson said.
While you wait for your next margarita, Wrecked airs Tuesdays at 10 PM on TBS.
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