The DFC, the subscription only comic featuring some of the best in British cartoonists and doing it’s very best to bring a love of comics to a new generation is 6 months old this week. The FPI blog will be having a few special posts dealing with the DFC this week, but to kick it off; major news:
It seems we’re not the only ones celebrating the 6 month mark for the DFC with issue 26 this week. Word is getting out, Sara McIntyre first and now Dave Shelton, Laura Howell, Jim Medway and finally the DFC website itself has the news:
For one week only The DFC will be available in Tesco stores around the country! This is a great chance for your friends try a copy of The DFC before subscribing, for a special, one-time only, promotional price of £1.99!
From Wednesday 26th November to Tues 2nd December, Tesco will be selling Issue 26 of The DFC!
It will have a cover exclusive to Tesco, so look out for it!
And tell your friends to look out for it too!
I can see the reasoning behind doing a marketing push in somewhere like Tescos. The pester factor for comics is incredibly strong for parents and I know I’d always rather buy Molly a comic than sweets when I’m in that position. And David Fickling has an awful lot of pull in literary circles to get this one going.
But there are a couple of problems to this.
Problem #1:
Have you seen the comic racks in Tescos? Most are in bags, all have some sort of free givaway/toy on the cover and tend to just overflow into one messy, amorphous mess.
Solution #1:
Given that the DFC already has links with the Guardian, I’m really hoping that when I go in I see a big free standing display right next to the newspapers. Noticeable to children and grown ups. I know if I saw it there I’d look at it and be impressed that there was a comic out there that wasn’t so obviously commercial and didn’t depend on some plastic tat on the cover to sell to my child.
Problem #2:
Tesco. Obviously it’s been chosen because it’s the place that we spend a ridiculous amount of money in as a country. We may not like Tesco all that much (I know I don’t) but if you had to pick one place to do a one week marketing push, there’s no better place in terms of the number of punters than Tescos.
Solution #2:
Nope, there is no solution to this one. Tesco is Tesco. Huge is bad for many things in retail, stifling the market, creating a monoculture, destroying smaller towns etc etc. But it’s good for the DFC.
I’m sure there are many other things you can think of, but that’s my immediate response to it. I do know that it will tempt me to wander into Tesco and take photos to see how they pull it off.
Obviously I really hope it works. The DFC is a genuinely great idea. I know it is, because every Friday I have to wait until Molly (my 9 year old) has finished reading it before I can get hold of it.The idea of bringing back a traditional comic for children, with original strips, full-colour printing, great writing and art with a good mix of comic genres from high seas adventure, madcap comedies, simple gag strips, manga influenced work and much more is very worthwhile indeed and I urge you all to support the DFC however you can.
But as for what they’re trying to achieve from getting it into Tescos? I honestly don’t know. Is it a toe-dipping exercise for future retail sales to supplement the carefully modelled and slowly building Internet subscription model or is it just a special marketing push fro the online sales? Whatever it is, I have nothing but best wishes for this endeavour and hope that this week of increased exposure really does the trick.
You can pick up the DFC in Tescos this week. Or you can get great deals by subscribing online at The DFC.
And all this week the FPI blog will be having a series of DFC related posts.
November 25th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Interesting they are trying this. Obviously the profit per copy after returns will be substantially less than via the sub model. Especially with the Tesco issue offered at £1.99 when those who have supported the mag from the start still pay £3 as part of their sub – that don’t seem the best way to retain subscribers – I know I’m not impressed. The mag has skewed younger as it has gone on and it’s very much a kids comic now which makes one wonder how many of the adults will drop out along the way. Certainly were it to go news stand and have a £1.99 cover forget retaining any subscribers on the current model, perhaps it is essentially just a fishing exercise to try and find new subscribers – tho’ I doubt that. The whole pricing and sales philosophy seems a little hard to discern right now. That said it is a much more exciting kids comic now than the first few issues – although the very slow Phil Pullman story has just recommenced. I like you Richard fear for it being lost among the baubles and shiny covers on the Tesco racks.
November 25th, 2008 at 9:34 am
I agree if they are doing a one off Tesco makes sense to potentially reach a large number of people across the country. But at the same time I feel rather disappointed that they are ignoring both the comics stores and the newsagents, who are the outlets who built the comics audience in the UK and have done for years. Oh well, if it helps boost the comic I’m for it, but still a bit disappointed. Let’s just hope all these cut-price issues are free range comics and not battery farmed or Tesco will have Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall demonstrating again