FTC posts X-Men movie/cartoon costumes comparison on Facebook. Hmmmm

[The Bat]

I am HUNGRY for Mego 8" X-Men figures, we haven't had any since Toy Biz Famous Covers which did a good job on X-Men!

I'd even settle for Jim Lee costumes from 90s X-Men cartoon which I loved! What was with Cyclops POUCHES?

I'd hardly call that settling, the Jim Lee costumes were AWESOME! I hadn't enjoyed X-Men that much since the Byrne era, which I would also love to see some Mego's based on Byrne's artwork(not Cockrum).

[madmarva]

Again you miss the point. A company with a smart social marketing plan wants consumers thoughts not only on its products but also the competitions to make improvements on its own products. The old fear of mentioning the competition ( not promoting) is out the window. The difference is there is no monetary cost to social marketing. Now a company would not want to purchase ad space or time and mention the competition in most situations but the conversation on Facebook or from message boards is free. The whole idea of not acknowledging a competitor is petty and frankly condescending to consumers. Just because something is traditional doesn't make it right for every situation.

[ThePlayerOnTheOtherSide]

You are missing the point. DC's social marketing is just as behind as Marvel's

Marvel and DC's social media marketing might be behind, but it's not because they aren't using FB to promote each other.

"Whether it's a conscious plan by FTC or something that is just coming naturally to the company, it is using social media in an astute manner. Better than most. FTC is listening to consumers and that is very good for us. We have FTC's ear, and as long as it keeps listening, it will have a good shot at our dollars."

Yes they are, the behind-the-scenes pics from the factories are brilliant and wonderful use of social media.

And if they want to learn what consumers think of different iterations of characters, they can and should do it on characters they own the licenses to. As all smart companies do.

[madmarva]

Check DC's FB page and see if they are promoting Spidey and Wolverine to their readers or Batman and Superman. Come on, man.

Odds are someone just shared the update cause they read the article, thought it was cool, and shared it. End of story.

You are missing the point. DC's social marketing is just as behind as Marvel's. What I said is that DC could use a more forward-thinking social marketing plan than Marvel because it is behind. Marvel won't change it's operations until ground is lost. Both companies view social marketing as just another method of marketing. But social marketing can be more than just talking at consumers, which is what traditional marketing does.

When companies use social marketing to its fullest, they enter into a conversation with their consumers to listen and learn from them. Neither Marvel nor DC really want to listen to fans' opinions. They feel like consumers really don't know what they want, and there is some degree of truth to that on a certain level, but that is closed thinking. Both companies just keep serving the same porridge until it stops selling. They aren't as concerned with improving their product as they are with repeating the tried and true until sales dip enough for them to have to react.

Your point that the poster who placed the comparison on Facebook just because they thought it was cool is valid. It actually is the same point I made about engaging consumer interest.

What can be learned from the feedback on that post? Consumers' ideas about different iterations of characters. Is there interest in cartoon versions of characters, film versions. Which do customers favor. Is there enough interest to produce both. And likely a ton of other thing depending on posts that might be generated.

Whether it's a conscious plan by FTC or something that is just coming naturally to the company, it is using social media in an astute manner. Better than most. FTC is listening to consumers and that is very good for us. We have FTC's ear, and as long as it keeps listening, it will have a good shot at our dollars.

[ovenmitt]

I am HUNGRY for Mego 8" X-Men figures, we haven't had any since Toy Biz Famous Covers which did a good job on X-Men!

Like I said 2015 is 40th anniversary of 1975 New X-Men from Giant-Size X-Men #1 which I recently bought a metal sign repro of the cover! That's my favorite X-Men era Claremont/Cockrum/Byrne after Byrne left X-Men lost focus. Perfect for 70s Mego era!

I'd even settle for Jim Lee costumes from 90s X-Men cartoon which I loved! What was with Cyclops POUCHES? Jean Grey's colors are green/yellow! Rogue's jacket is so 90s and Storm's white bodysuit took away her sexiness! And Wolverine's brown/orange colors are more natural for Logan instead of BRIGHT YELLOW!

I still think FTC is hinting something's amiss!

[ThePlayerOnTheOtherSide]

All of the social marketing points make sense, except they're not promoting anything. It's a third-hand link to a graphic making an odd comparison. What's the relevancy between the two? It's like comparing Nolan Batman to Batman Animated. You had two totally different teams involved. So I don't see the point by the original creator, or FTC, unless FTC is trying to draw attention to the distinctive differences.

If FTC is planning on doing something with X-Men it makes sense. Before the first Batman 66 series came out, most of their updates were about the Batman TV series. Because they wanted people to relive/remember how much they loved the series, and maybe it would help convince them to buy the figures.

The 'product' that FTC is selling isn't really the figures, it's our childhood.

[hedrap]

All of the social marketing points make sense, except they're not promoting anything. It's a third-hand link to a graphic making an odd comparison. What's the relevancy between the two? It's like comparing Nolan Batman to Batman Animated. You had two totally different teams involved. So I don't see the point by the original creator, or FTC, unless FTC is trying to draw attention to the distinctive differences.

[jayraytee]

Yeah I agree, I think someone at FTC just thought it was interesting and posted it. I think FTC is a different animal than Mattel or Hasbro, so the comparrison to what Mattel or Hasbro might do or not do doesn't really apply. And just because DC themselves wouldn't 'promote' marvel characters and Marvel wouldn't 'promote' DC characters, doesn't mean a smaller licensee might not mention on facebook some article about comic heroes they are not producing. I think the FTC guys are 'fan' guys themselves and probably just thought it was interesting to see how far off the movie costumes are sometimes from the comic ones.

[ThePlayerOnTheOtherSide]

There is no difference in Marvel's social marketing footprint and it's traditional marketing footprint. Marvel's social marketing efforts lack vision and are behind, but it is in the dominant position in its market and has no reason to change at the moment. DC is the company that would most benefit by listening to consumers.

Check DC's FB page and see if they are promoting Spidey and Wolverine to their readers or Batman and Superman. Come on, man.

Odds are someone just shared the update cause they read the article, thought it was cool, and shared it. End of story.

[madmarva]

There's plenty of content that's interesting to FTC's customers that are related to the properties that they DO own.

Go to Marvel's FB page and see how much of their content is focused on DC characters. None of it. Why not? Many of those customers are interested in DC comics as well, so why doesn't Marvel focus on the content that its customers are interested in? Because Marvel is smart enough to focus on the content that's interesting to its customers AND that focuses on its products.

My guess is that whoever runs FTC's FB page simply shared the update cause they thought it was cool. I bet it won't continue unless there's a financial motivation to do so. Social media has changed marketing and business, but it hasn't completely rewritten it either.

There is no difference in Marvel's social marketing footprint and it's traditional marketing footprint. Marvel's social marketing efforts lack vision and are behind, but it is in the dominant position in its market and has no reason to change at the moment. DC is the company that would most benefit by listening to consumers.

[PNGwynne]

And Invisible Girl heads.

Those are IG heads only to us Megoheads; to most customizers, it's just a better-looking 1/9 sculpt in a variety of side-parted hair colors.

I prefer to think of them as Black Canary, Poison Ivy, Queen Bee, & Zatanna heads...

[ThePlayerOnTheOtherSide]

A popular theory in social marketing is sharing content that is interesting to your consumers. Social networking is not traditional marketing. It is a long game. Engage, engage, engage. While traditional marketing is cut throat, the most successful social marketers are pleasant, friendly, helpful in their campaigns. They engage the customers to sell but also to get to know their likes and dislikes. It allows a company to listen to its consumers in a way few other efforts do.

It's somewhat like in "Miracle on 34th Street" where Macy's adopts Kringle's policy of pointing out the best deals on items to engender trust.

This theory is not fearful of mentioning competition because bringing them into the conversation allows the marketer to learn what its consumers like and do not like about the competition. Such listening allows the marketer to make improvements on its products to serve consumers and drive more sales. This is a practice we have seen with FTC's products already this year from it's first wave of Bat figures to the third.

Again, I hope I'm wrong. But, I don't see Hasbro allowing a competitor to make a product that it would not allow a partner to make. Hedrep may be right in his suggestion that Fox somehow has rights that supercedes Hasbros'. If that's the case, fantastic.

There's plenty of content that's interesting to FTC's customers that are related to the properties that they DO own.

Go to Marvel's FB page and see how much of their content is focused on DC characters. None of it. Why not? Many of those customers are interested in DC comics as well, so why doesn't Marvel focus on the content that its customers are interested in? Because Marvel is smart enough to focus on the content that's interesting to its customers AND that focuses on its products.

My guess is that whoever runs FTC's FB page simply shared the update cause they thought it was cool. I bet it won't continue unless there's a financial motivation to do so. Social media has changed marketing and business, but it hasn't completely rewritten it either.

[madmarva]

A popular theory in social marketing is sharing content that is interesting to your consumers. Social networking is not traditional marketing. It is a long game. Engage, engage, engage. While traditional marketing is cut throat, the most successful social marketers are pleasant, friendly, helpful in their campaigns. They engage the customers to sell but also to get to know their likes and dislikes. It allows a company to listen to its consumers in a way few other efforts do.

It's somewhat like in "Miracle on 34th Street" where Macy's adopts Kringle's policy of pointing out the best deals on items to engender trust.

This theory is not fearful of mentioning competition because bringing them into the conversation allows the marketer to learn what its consumers like and do not like about the competition. Such listening allows the marketer to make improvements on its products to serve consumers and drive more sales. This is a practice we have seen with FTC's products already this year from its first wave of Bat figures to the third.

Again, I hope I'm wrong. But, I don't see Hasbro allowing a competitor to make a product that it would not allow a partner to make. Hedrep may be right in his suggestion that Fox somehow has rights that supercedes Hasbros'. If that's the case, fantastic.

[ThePlayerOnTheOtherSide]

Again, I hope I'm wrong, but you never stop community building with social marketing.

You don't focus on creating/sharing content that isn't related to your products. At least if you're smart you don't. That's why FTC was sharing content associated with the Batman TV series before it released the first 66 wave, and not content associated with the Incredible Hulk TV series.

Again, it could mean nothing, but if it happens again, my guess is that something's in the works.

[ovenmitt]

Its just weird that FTC holder of DC license would show anything Marvel!

Maybe FTC will do X-Men 2-packs SAME character in movie and cartoon costumes!