Dandy Relaunch THIS WEDNESDAY!!!

[kevf]

Dandy certainly has been as good as un-promoted, as far as I can see. In previous years we had the Dandy character costumes appearing at the London Comic Festival (2003 or 2004) to coincide with their relaunch. The Birmingham International Comics Show was last weekend and would have been a perfect opportunity to do the same - Jonathan Ross was there and there was press coverage.

Or there's Blue Peter (the Desperate Dan & Dennis costumed actors appeared there in 1997 to promote the first National Comics Awards and again in 1999 to promote the World's Biggest Comic & Comics 99 festival) or CBBC or CITV.

I haven't even heard them texting a radio show, ie Simon Mayo "Hi Simon, The Dandy comic here, just on our way to WH Smiths to sell half a million copies".

Are there signings? Is Harry Hill having his photo taken holding a copy of the first issue, to appear in every tabloid this week? (That had bloody better happen, otherwise someone at marketing needs shooting).

Fingers crossed that there is a marketing & PR campaign, and it's all going to pop like a cork from a champagne bottle tomorrow morning. (It is Sunday, btw, this would be a good time to phone up all those news desks and get your story in)

Kev F

[steelclaw]

I make a point of not revealing what is in next week's Beano, but as an exception, there is no ad for the Dandy in its pages.

What? That's dumb, to say the least. People won't buy it if it isn't advertised.

It's so secret DC Thomson doesn't want to tell anyone about it so no one will buy it.
Never mind the relaunch more like the end.

[Raven]

Or there's Blue Peter (the Desperate Dan & Dennis costumed actors appeared there in 1997 to promote the first National Comics Awards and again in 1999 to promote the World's Biggest Comic & Comics 99 festival) or CBBC or CITV.

I haven't even heard them texting a radio show, ie Simon Mayo "Hi Simon, The Dandy comic here, just on our way to WH Smiths to sell half a million copies".

Are there signings? Is Harry Hill having his photo taken holding a copy of the first issue, to appear in every tabloid this week? (That had bloody better happen, otherwise someone at marketing needs shooting).

Blue Peter or any other CBBC programme would have to actually agree to do some kind of feature though, wouldn't they? And there may now be issues with a BBC children's programme promoting one individual comic, especially following recent complaints that they breached their own guidelines promoting U2 and a Coldplay tour. How would the BBC justify choosing the Dandy to plug?

And to get on Citv they'd have to pay - there's not really any suitable programme on the channel (this week is almost all back-to-back Horrid Henry) so there's only really costly advertising there.

Banner ads on the big kids' media sites' homepages, like Citv, Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon's, linking to the new Dandy website could be worthwhile, but may be quite costly for anything really prominent. They may be more likely to try free 'viral' advertising via the internet, hence Facebook and Twitter (though these avenues will probably pass by the target readership, if that's not changing).

The tabloids may or may not consider 'comic slightly changes its style' to be newsworthy, but I expect they'll probably get some kind of feature in a few, though I wouldn't expect anything too major.

Making the most of the Beano's much higher readership would be the most obvious thing to do, with a fair bit of in-Beano promotion. Surprising there wasn't a free mini-version/sampler or a promotional feature or anything like that. It may even have had better results than paid advertising.

[Lew Stringer]

The tabloids may or may not consider 'comic slightly changes its style' to be newsworthy, but I expect they'll probably get some kind of feature in a few, though I wouldn't expect anything too major.

I'd have thought "The weekly Dandy is back with a modern twist" might be a better angle. The Dandy has been 'away' for a while during its Xtreme incarnation, and hasn't been a weekly for a few years, so that might be the way they'll play it.

Bear in mind that journalists won't be aware of the gradual evolution the Dandy has taken over 70 years. They'll only compare it to the comic as THEY knew it when they were kids. That's the way these things are usually presented isn't it?

Oh, and no doubt they'll once again trot out the myth of Desperate Dan no longer eating cow pies...

[kevf]

The publicity drive continues. I just received this email:

"I have seen your tweet about Harry Hill writing a comic strip for Dandy. Have you got any more details on this, as this is the first I have heard?

I look forward to hearing from you and thanks for your help."

- from the official Harry Hill Fan Club! If they've not heard about it, you can consider this celebrity endorsement to be the best kept secret in the history of marketing.

Kev F

[Lew Stringer]

Bearing in mind that we live in a fast paced age of immediate access, or people wanting immediate access to anything, perhaps it's better if any publicity waits until the comic is actually out? Otherwise you'll just get people looking in the shops today, not finding The Dandy, and forgetting all about it.

[AndyB]

Still doesn't explain no ad in the Beano that comes out the same day... all strange. Nothing in this week's Sunday Post as far as I can see

[Digifiend]

Yes, someone in marketing needs firing if The Dandy fails, as not advertising in The Beano, which has the same target audience and as pointed out the same release date, was an illogical decision.

[MikeC]

If it's in most retailers, as you'd hope, anyone going to buy a Beano will see it anyway. Maybe they're aiming bigger than that. Lack of Sunday Post coverage certainly suggests launch-day PR, so advertising in the beano isn't likely to hit anyone other than subscribers who don't go to the shops.

And Harry Hill's involvement, like most things these days, wil come at a hellova cost. An endorsement from him would be expensive, believe me!

[stevezodiac]

Today's Sunday Post does not carry an advert for the new Dandy but it looks like they are starting to cash in with this merchandising ad - haven't seen it before but I presume it appears in Dandy Extreme?

[NP]

this merchandising ad ... I presume it appears in Dandy Extreme?

No, it doesn't.

[NP]

"I have seen your tweet about Harry Hill writing a comic strip for Dandy. Have you got any more details on this, as this is the first I have heard?

I look forward to hearing from you and thanks for your help.

Have you replied? What have you told them?

[Lew Stringer]

Today's Sunday Post does not carry an advert for the new Dandy but it looks like they are starting to cash in with this merchandising ad - haven't seen it before but I presume it appears in Dandy Extreme?

That merchandise is nostalgia-orientated, which is why they're using old logo not seen for years. Nothing to do with the current Dandy aimed at kids, but I guess it can't hurt to keep the name visible however they can.

[kevf]

"I have seen your tweet about Harry Hill writing a comic strip for Dandy. Have you got any more details on this, as this is the first I have heard?

I look forward to hearing from you and thanks for your help.

Have you replied? What have you told them?

I just asked them if they'd heard anything, cos I'd heard rumours. They'd heard less than me.

Still looking forward to the new look Dandy, even if my posts make it sound like I'm being sarcastic and snippy. I mean I'll be critical if the promotion turns out to be as feeble as it appears at the moment, but I still have fingers crossed.

Kev F

[Digifiend]

Today's Sunday Post does not carry an advert for the new Dandy but it looks like they are starting to cash in with this merchandising ad - haven't seen it before but I presume it appears in Dandy Extreme?

That merchandise is nostalgia-orientated, which is why they're using old logo not seen for years. Nothing to do with the current Dandy aimed at kids, but I guess it can't hurt to keep the name visible however they can.

Doesn't mean that the Dandy won't advertise that stuff, both The Beano and Classics have advertised the Beano versions of those items.