The Opportunity
The key
elements of a merchandising program are:
- Distinctive and popular images or characters
- Design and Production
- Marketing and Advertising
- Distribution and Fulfillment
- Revenue Collection
With an
independent merchandising plan, the
independent creator owns the characters and images. They decide what
products fit their plan. Design and production, distribution and fulfillment
can be outsourced to custom merchandising companies that can produce a wide
variety of goods on demand without the need for warehousing or creating bulk
orders. Marketing and advertising costs can be scaled to budget, with much of the
main outreach occurring online or offline at conventions or local shops. Revenue
collection can be funneled through a variety of sources including Amazon,
Paypal and Kickstarter. The increased exposure of the underlying property
supports the comic and vice versa. Ultimately,
a larger licensing company could see the potential in your work (based on the
sales) and provide you with a much larger platform (and potentially much more
revenue).
The
Problem
There are two main problems with launching
your own independent merchandising program; time and expertise. Many independent creators have day
jobs, families and they spend what little free time they have on their craft.
There is no extra time available to decide on the cotton weight on a T-shirt line
or whether iPhone cases need to be part of the product offering. Even if they
did have extra time on their hands, few of them would be interested in dealing with
the legal, financial and marketing duties that come with managing a merchandise
line. They want to spend their time creating the next great comic.
The
Solution
I was once the
general counsel for a Japanese animation company called Central Park Media.
After that, I was the international publishing manager for Marvel. Since then, I
have been advising private clients for publishing and new media contracts. Finally,
I have also run my own independent publishing company called Nightlife Publishing for the past six
years. I think the combination of my
skills and the current level of DIY technology creates an opportunity for
independent creators to make money from the sale of their merchandise. The main
question now is ‘does anyone want this service?’
What do you
think?
Would you be
interested in selling a line of clothing, posters and tech related merchandise
based on your comics? I am in the process of developing the business model now,
but if no one is excited about the idea, I might have to sit on the idea for a
while.
Let me know
what you think in the comments section.
Have
fun.
Gamal
