The New York Comic-Con Is The Place where members of all fandoms can come together and meet their heroes. (You can even dress like them!) The 2023 edition drew 200,000 This makes it the largest comic convention in the USA – and a prime opportunity for exhibitors to increase brand awareness and sales.
For Heroes & Villainsa fan-focused destination for apparel and accessories, NY Comic Con has become a key event for bringing the brand promise to life. That’s why the brand put a lot of emphasis on an immersive, X-Men-themed booth for the 2023 Con that put the experience at the forefront. The strategy and results were so significant that Heroes & Villains was named the winner of the 2024 Brand Experience Award.
“Heroes & Villains is and always has been a fan-focused brand. Celebrating the stories we all love is our top priority,” said Doug Johnson, Creative Director and Brand Manager at Bioworld, the parent company of Heroes & Villains, in an interview with Retail TouchPoints“The brand was born from attending conventions and understanding the true fans who invest so much in what they love. That’s why we always want to be close to the fans; the interactions and direct feedback are priceless.”
The elaborate pop-up booth was set up to highlight the latest X-Men collection from Heroes & Villains. Although the team already had a concept in mind, plans changed when they saw another vendor with a very similar concept at another trade show. “We decided it was more important to come up with an original and authentic concept than to do something that was already out there. So we refocused,” Johnson noted. “With all the hype around the X-Men 97 was coming, we knew that it would still be on everyone’s minds.”
The creative school has begun
With this creative turn, Heroes & Villains had to “rush” to get the product launch, which was themed around a sports concept for the Xavier Institute – the educational and training facility for young mutants – in time for the convention. “The Xavier Athletics/Collegiate concept was set and all we had to do was build the experience around it,” Johnson explained. “We did a lot of research, looked at the Xavier Institute and thought about how we could replicate the atmosphere on the show floor.”
The room was designed as a replica of the institute, with Professor X’s library as the focal point. Wood paneling and brass fittings added a classy touch to the space, while framed pictures of popular Xavier Institute alumni strategically placed throughout the booth added elements of surprise and delight.
The design and aesthetics immediately resonated with fans, but the structure of the exhibition also provided Heroes & Villains with plenty of opportunities to showcase a variety of merchandise such as t-shirts, cardigans, shorts, hoodies, jackets, backpacks and hats. The brand presented 31 products during the fair and achieved a sales rate of over 85%.
“Our customer is and always has been the true fan, the collector, the content consumer, the creator … those who actively live in and expand the universes of our favorite stories,” Johnson said. “We knew that any true fan of the X-Men would enjoy this concept and enjoy the experience with us at Comic-Con.”
A wonderful marketing machine
The reach and impact of the X-Men universe extends far beyond the walls of a comic book convention, which is why the exhibition attracted a lot of attention through paid, earned and owned media.
Traditional and digital media helped to bring the collection and exhibition concept to new audiences. Heroes & Villains worked with its PR agency, 42 Veststo highlight the stand’s unique features to fans and media partners and to send product samples.
“We usually have a few media partners who look forward to speaking with us at the convention and enjoy buying from us year after year,” Johnson said. “We also worked closely with the Marvel team on this event so they could share our marketing resources with their PR and schedule interviews and on-site visits from content creators at the con.”
This year with coverage from media such as Gizmodo, Pop Insider And Advertising WeekHeroes & Villains collected more than 210 million impressions.
Heroes & Villains also used a combination of owned and paid channels, including email and SMS marketing, and digital advertising to drive customers to a dedicated landing page for the collection. The brand even used influencers to generate buzz.
Marketing continued throughout the duration of the convention, with the brand sending reminders through the website and even on-site at the Javits Center in NYC, where the event is held each year. “We informed fans about our exclusive items and drove traffic back to the booth daily through our digital platforms and at the con,” Johnson explained.
A future built on fandom
2023 was not Heroes & Villains’ first year at Comic-Con and it certainly won’t be the last. Since its debut in 2018, the brand has ventured into various fandoms at Comic-Con, from star Wars To Dungeons & Dragons and Marvel’s Black PantherAnd this year, says Johnson, the Heroes & Villains will be there again – and the booth will be “real.”
““The convention area offers more of an opportunity for a fan experience rather than the sale of tons of merchandise,” Johnson said, “We want the brand to be memorable and for customers to look forward to our next presentation. We will continue to push this idea at all of our future Cons. The stories we celebrate with our product development are rich and content-rich, giving us endless ideas for fan experiences.”
