Phoning It In - How Anime Companies are Failing Marketing 101

[Chris Beveridge]

In some ways, this admittedly feels like kicking someone when they’re down on the ground trying to get back up. At the same time, you’re doing it to someone who should know better and shouldn’t need to be kicked around like this. And some of this is just stuff that admittedly won’t mean a lot to a number of readers, particularly the online hardcore audience. But it does show that some companies still haven’t quite gotten things figured out on one of the most basic things – selling your stuff.

The simple truth is that no matter how savvy your core audience is, they aren’t the ones that are going to be completely frustrated with what you’re doing. It’s the casual audience that will be frustrated and walk away without purchasing a single thing. That’s where the lost sales will come in from as they’re looking for information, may not visit sites that would detail it, and rely on what they can find at the many retail outlets that list upcoming releases and information about them. The problem is that a couple of companies have completely fallen off the wagon about getting the information out there to the larger potential audience.

The one I feel the worst in talking about is one that used to be far better about it and that’s ADV Films. Since their period of silence earlier this year, the solicitations put out since they got back on track can’t even qualify as solicitations. While before we used to get regular email updates with a detailed breakdown of each release with summaries, artwork and technical specs, we now get nothing. That wouldn’t be so bad if they actually put out useful information to the retailers that help sell their products. Look at some of their upcoming summaries designed to go on retail sites that are often the first place casual online consumers will find out about a show:

Coyote Ragtime Show Complete Collection - Bullets, blades, bombs, beauty and boobs... if it's capable of destruction or distraction, it's fair game in the chilling, thrilling, killing, blood-spilling anime COYOTE RAGTIME!

Kanon Vol. #5 - Description: After 7 years abroad, Yuuchi reconnects with his cute cousin... but my, how she's grown!

Shattered Angels Vol. #2 - Kuu Shiratori often fantasizes about her "prince," and one day she meets him!

In June, ADV Films has a number of collections out and those aren’t half bad if they came out previously since it looks like a lot of cut and pasting was done. Newer collections get a little more said about them but most of the summary content has already been written for the singles. In looking at those three listings, does anything really help in selling it to a potential customer? And even then, it’s taken quite awhile since the initial listing of the title for sale for artwork to even show up online which makes it even harder for anyone to get excited about it or be enticed by it.

The other company that frustrates me to no end is FUNimation. They have been worse for longer as they don’t send out retail solicitation information to press and they don’t send out information to retailers to flesh out their listings until quite late – if at all. Looking through the June releases again, the majority of their titles barely have artwork and almost none of them have descriptions of what’s on the disc. Just like with ADV Films, there’s no way to tell what extras may be on there that will sway a hardcore fan but there’s very little information out there about what their shows are even about. The Burst Angel Viridian Collection contains the OVA but it’s damn near impossible to tell that from the generally small cover art available. If not for it being listed in the title you’d never know – and even some retailers don’t list that as part of the title! Viz is just as bad as FUNimation in this, though they admittedly are selling top level mainstream shows so people know about it. Regardless, it would be quite good for people to know what’s on Naruto Uncut Set 8 and not just have the cover artwork out there, wouldn’t you think?

It’s not all bad out there though and there are signs of solid improvement in some areas. Bandai Entertainment has been doing it right for quite some time with solid PDF solicitations sent out to retail and press that contains cover art, detailed technical specs and a listing of what extras are on the disc along with the summary. They even provide quotes from various publications to promote their shows with and how they tie to other ones. These once a month solicitations from them are pretty much perfect in getting the information out there so that when a title is announced, a potential consumer knows exactly what they’re getting 99% of the time.

Media Blasters used to be the worst of the bunch but they’ve had a massive turnaround in the last two months by mirroring what Bandai Entertainment is doing. They used to occasionally send out a solicitation spreadsheet that would have a text listing of everything but it was hit or miss if it made it to the general press and often it seemed like it was rare that the full details even made it to retail sites. Now, it’s like Bandai Entertainment in that when new titles are solicited, you know just about everything there is to know about the release and you have cover artwork up front that helps to sell the show.

Bandai Visual USA is in the middle of the road with this as they send out fantastic packets full of information on their individual releases with all sorts of promotional words about the shows reception in Japan and the staff behind it. They’re not quite up to snuff though as they wait till a few weeks before release to send these out regularly. But with a very limited amount of distribution, it doesn’t really matter that much unfortunately. Nozomi Entertainment isn't middle of the road, they actually excel quite a bit, but they have some things that crop up because of their announecment/release schedule that affects things. They tend to announce new licenses with street dates, often several months ahead of the official solicitation to retailers, so they don’t have information out there for a bit with those shows like Emma and Maria. But when they do put out their formal solicitations, often two months prior to release, it’s chock full of information that really fleshes out every release.

As I said in the beginning, a lot of this is just elements that come up when I go through updating the release lists regularly. It’s incredibly frustrating to be just a few weeks out from a release and find nothing about it across a number of retail sites besides a simple title, price and street date. When you look at 40-50 titles a month across various publishers and a mix of collections, re-issues and new titles, you start to see a trend where you wonder if these companies really want to sell this stuff anymore. It’s almost disheartening because it’s all Marketing 101 material and it’s barely getting done in a 50/50 manner across the remaining companies. And by this time you’d think they’d all know better. All that one can assume is that they’re understaffed and just unable to put in the effort with it. Which in turn makes you wonder what other corners are being cut and that’s even more disheartening, especially since it requires just a bit of effort to put on a very professional face for the casual audience and something that inspires some confidence among the hardcore.

[ooga]

Coyote Ragtime Show Complete Collection - Bullets, blades, bombs, beauty and boobs... if it's capable of destruction or distraction, it's fair game in the chilling, thrilling, killing, blood-spilling anime COYOTE RAGTIME!

I don't know about you, but this actually does make me want to buy the show. So they've succeeded in that respect. Of course after I buy the show and realize how much they exaggerated I will be pissed, but they'll already have my $$$ by then. :P

[The Great Bear]

When you look at 40-50 titles a month across various publishers and a mix of collections, re-issues and new titles, you start to see a trend where you wonder if these companies really want to sell this stuff anymore.

That definitely isn't the most encouraging set of signals to the marketplace. Looking at those ADV snippets, I think I could write better "catalog copy" than that, and I've never taken Marketing 101 (or any business courses for that matter).

I think that you've already hit the nail on the head: some companies have obviously skimped on resources for sales and marketing, while others seem to have gotten their act together. With the economy in a downturn, we'll see which method of responding to it—cost cutting versus more effective marketing—will help to ride out the storm.

[ADC]

To be fair, this isn't exactly a new development for ADV. There's always been a sort of faux-Hollywood style to their marketing with the lurid descriptions of sex and violence and whatever, and it's even more evident on their packaging. I still remember how they made Dirty Pair Flash look like a tarted-up Die Hard spinoff. They probably figured that it made them The Microsoft of Anime™, so it must be working. I get the feeling that there's still a preponderance of focus on the male animé customer which informs the marketing, thinking that all the boys care about is explosions and T&A and maybe a little exploding T&A (for good measure).

Well, whatever. If I relied on marketing to help me make my purchasing decisions, I'd probably have a whole bunch of old DBZ discs and a bad attitude about all these suck-ass 'toons.

[bctaris]

How did Geneon and CPM fare in this regard when they were active, for curiosity's sake?

And I suppose I shouldn't complain anymore about lax or short-sighted PR from some of these companies when the very foundation of the practice--simple marketing--isn't up to snuff. Makes sense, now, I suppose.

[ronq]

It’s almost disheartening because it’s all Marketing 101 material and it’s barely getting done in a 50/50 manner across the remaining companies. And by this time you’d think they’d all know better. All that one can assume is that they’re understaffed and just unable to put in the effort with it. Which in turn makes you wonder what other corners are being cut and that’s even more disheartening, especially since it requires just a bit of effort to put on a very professional face for the casual audience and something that inspires some confidence among the hardcore.

After spending a year in the marketing department of one of these companies, I can say that understaffing is a contributor. I came in on the heels of massive layoffs. While some people were top notch, quite a few were quite apathetic and it showed in their work. Granted, we can attribute all of the lack of professionalism to understaffing, but it certainly didn't help.

[Tyrenol]

Hey, Chris.

Did you try contacting ADV and Funimation by phone?

As much as I understand where you're coming from; let's not rush to judgement here.

[Caesar]

After spending a year in the marketing department of one of these companies, I can say that understaffing is a contributor. I came in on the heels of massive layoffs. While some people were top notch, quite a few were quite apathetic and it showed in their work. Granted, we can attribute all of the lack of professionalism to understaffing, but it certainly didn't help.

Very interesting and very understandable. I'm sure everyone was remakable underpaid as well.

[karen0586]

It made me laugh because it actually happens.

[Chris Beveridge]

How did Geneon and CPM fare in this regard when they were active, for curiosity's sake?

And I suppose I shouldn't complain anymore about lax or short-sighted PR from some of these companies when the very foundation of the practice--simple marketing--isn't up to snuff. Makes sense, now, I suppose.

Both were pretty good, but had their differences. CPM put all their stuff online monthly with boxart and detailed specs and Geneon did a lot of PR stuff after initial title/date/pricing only solicitations. Geneon had a good artwork section for press but it was infrequently updated as it went along. When it was good, it was very good.

[Chris Beveridge]

Hey, Chris.

Did you try contacting ADV and Funimation by phone?

As much as I understand where you're coming from; let's not rush to judgement here.

There's no real rush to judgement here. For FUNimation, this has been standard practice since they've been putting out releases. For ADV, it's where things have been for a couple of months of solicitations now. I wouldn't expect more than a "neither confirm nor deny the existence of marketing" anyway ;)

[bctaris]

How did Geneon and CPM fare in this regard when they were active, for curiosity's sake?


Both were pretty good, but had their differences. CPM put all their stuff online monthly with boxart and detailed specs and Geneon did a lot of PR stuff after initial title/date/pricing only solicitations. Geneon had a good artwork section for press but it was infrequently updated as it went along. When it was good, it was very good.

Thanks. Right, now I remember some of CPM's stuff, as available to regular consumers as press: they used to provide even the actual high resolution .tiff images they would use for the cover art. I still have to ones for Aline Nine for some reason.

[Apterous]

As an MBA with a focus in marketing, I was looking forward to reading an intelligent article on marketing failures in the anime industry. I am usually happy with what I read on this page. In this case, however, I got less about overall marketing strategy and more "I need to rant about how much info they give my site and how fast I get it."

A real critique on anime marketing would talk about how Bandai Visual has made the <a href="http://steveshu.typepad.com/steve_shus_weblog/2006/03/the_pricing_dea.html">"Marketing Death Spiral"</a> mistake by raising prices in an apparently shrinking market, and how others conversely recognized a more price sensitive market and are releasing lower priced collections.

Do you want a real evaluation of the marketing problems in the anime industry? Here it is. When times get bad, the marketing budget is the first to get cut. That means fewer (or lower paid) people to write summaries on the back of packages and promote to publications. In general, anime fans are internet-savvy people who know how to find what a show is about, so back-of-the-box description aren't as important as some may think. I'd be more interested in knowing how much anime is bought on the internet (where the back of the box description is as close as clicking to wikipedia) as opposed to brick and mortar stores. Conclusion: if costs need to be cut, anime companies figure the packaging isn't really selling the anime. People don't need a description for Naruto box set 8, they'll just buy it if they bought set 1-7.

[Butter]

Kanon Vol. #5 - Description: After 7 years abroad, Yuuchi reconnects with his cute cousin... but my, how she's grown!

What?? This one almost made me laugh myself out of my chair. Do they seriously give these kinds of summaries to retailers? I don't even know what to say about that. I can just see some 13 year old kid looking for some suggestive video and popping this one in the DVD player.

[TAS]

Geneon did a lot of PR stuff after initial title/date/pricing only solicitations. Geneon had a good artwork section for press but it was infrequently updated as it went along. When it was good, it was very good.

Pioneer/Geneon always had problems keeping their website up to date. They would redo the whole site then not touch it for a year or more. Coming soon was stuff that came out months ago, and there was nothing about the current stuff. Then they would redo the whole thing again...

Media blaster is not much better, often way out of date. It's strange right now, with a lot of stuff listed both as "new release" and "coming soon" and both current stuff and stuff from last fall. It's slow "Flash Hell" too.

[MegsLeigh]

It makes me sort of want to take this journalism experience of mine and offer to teach FUNi and re-teach ADV the good tactics of PR and marketing. Though FUNi does have their reps on this forum, which is still a good move - but it doesn't reach the general public that need to badly get ahold of this material.

[Leadcrow]

A real critique on anime marketing would talk about how Bandai Visual has made the <a href="http://steveshu.typepad.com/steve_shus_weblog/2006/03/the_pricing_dea.html">"Marketing Death Spiral"</a> mistake by raising prices in an apparently shrinking market, and how others conversely recognized a more price sensitive market and are releasing lower priced collections.

What does marketing death spiral(more genericly referd to as a negative feedback loop) have to do with Bandai visual? It's a situation in which a decrease in sales promts an increase in price which further decreases sales and so on. BVUSA's prices have pretty much always been high and haven't really been increasing, in fact their most recent release, Haruka, is one of their lowest priced ones to date. Furthermore they are not targeting the same market but rather sub-set of the anime market. Which is not to say their strategy is a good one, just that your death spiral concept does not really apply here.

Do you want a real evaluation of the marketing problems in the anime industry? Here it is.

Conclusion: if costs need to be cut, anime companies figure the packaging isn't really selling the anime. People don't need a description for Naruto box set 8, they'll just buy it if they bought set 1-7.

This isn't an evaluation of marketing problems, it's an evaluation of what Chris Beveridge views as a marketing problem. In fact you seem to be trying to tell us that this isn't a problem at all, which if anything is exactly the opposite of what you said you were going to do.

[bctaris]

As an MBA with a focus in marketing, I was looking forward to reading an intelligent article on marketing failures in the anime industry. I am usually happy with what I read on this page. In this case, however, I got less about overall marketing strategy and more "I need to rant about how much info they give my site and how fast I get it."

AoD is one of the most important connections between these companies and their customers. Him "ranting" about not getting the info, or not getting it fast enough should be valuable feedback. He's not some anime fan running a blog with a couple hundred hits a month--he's running one of the largest and most respected anime news sites out there. If the companies aren't meeting his expectations, that's legitimate.

I don't think Chris ever pretended with this little editorial to give his take on the "overall" marketing strategy of the industry--his use of "marketing 101" implied to me, as it indeed was, a simple piece on one of the most basic components of marketing, or more accurately, just advertising.

... In general, anime fans are internet-savvy people who know how to find what a show is about, so back-of-the-box description aren't as important as some may think. I'd be more interested in knowing how much anime is bought on the internet (where the back of the box description is as close as clicking to wikipedia) as opposed to brick and mortar stores. Conclusion: if costs need to be cut, anime companies figure the packaging isn't really selling the anime. People don't need a description for Naruto box set 8, they'll just buy it if they bought set 1-7.

No dispute on the marketing department getting hit first in hard times--that's almost common knowledge these days and many fans saw it first hand when Geneon began its troubles last Fall.

The second item, however, is a legitimate point. How important really is good information on latter volumes? But that still doesn't negate good press for the initial volume; and for some clarification from Chris, is Funi and ADV even getting that part right? With Funi and others getting into at least half-season sets, where an entire show only has maybe two releases, getting information out in the beginning is even more important than it may have been previously where buzz can accumulate over a longer release.

Thing is, Chris' piece here is only the tip of the iceberg on the economic question of the industry right now (and nevertheless some of what he brings up is bad habit from better times a few years ago when these companies' PR and marketing departments were fully staffed and paid). The broader perspective you look for is being discussed in all its myriad connections all the time now. BVUSA is usually a big player in the conversation and your take on them is not unique (but I would almost echo you in requesting a more cumulative appraisal of what that company means from Chris, away from the more limited scope of its HD strategy more often given ink).

[covnam]

I think I have to agree on part of Apterous's point. It does seem like the point of the article is how much or how little information Chris is getting. I did a quick check on a few different release from some different companies on amazon and some did have product descriptions and some don't. Pre-order items like Naruto v8 had information on them. I think the casual audience usually buys by browsing in a store or browsing online. When in a store the packaging is all that matters and when browsing online there are plenty of resources to use to find out about a show if the online store doesn't have the necessary info.

As for the quotes used, the last two aren't from vol 1s. I imagine that most people form an opinion on a show after watching a few episodes and aren't very concerned about a blurb about the latter volumes in series, they've already made up their minds if they are going to purchase it or not.

I would also imagine that most marketing goes towards advertismenting and the like rather then press releases. Of course, the companies should be providing retailers as much technical info as they can as early as they can, but why should they hype it up into a press release? Most consumers never see the press releases, they can only see what a reseller posts or the actually box has on it. This is where some companies seem to be lacking in my opinion when it comes to this subject.

[Rui]

What upsets me is when they even change the name of a show (usually not a direct translation) - which is in itself fine, but without marketing not only do you lose casual browsers but also people actively planning on purchasing that series who just don't make the connection!

I had this problem with Kimi wa Pet (manga); I'd been wanting to read it for a while but they (TP) changed the name to Tramps Like Us and it was months before I even realised it was out. As I'd not generally pick something up with a name like Tramps Like Us to begin with (it's not even in the same part of the alphabet on shelves), I needed some kind of information out there to know to put down my cash.

Those blurbs of ADV's make me think "generic", "terrible" and "terrible". I'm pretty sure the latter two are spot on anyway when it comes to my tastes but I could possibly have been sold on Coyote Ragtime Show if I caught a scent of an original premise in the marketing.

R

[Draneor]

Actually, I think the R1 manga industry does a far worse job at getting their titles known than the R1 industry. I think a large part of that reason is there isn't any central place for manga news, except blogs, whereas anime has several websites. Not to mention that websites aren't always kept up to date. For example, there are many titles solicited for Del Rey that are not listed on their website. Of course, many more manga volumes are published than anime DVDs. That may be why, I swear, I discover at least a couple manga, published here, I had never heard of. Example: Hayate no Gotoku airs in Japan. I watch it. I think, "Let me find the manga. Wait? Viz has already published three volumes? Why haven't I heard of this title before now?" I could name at least twenty titles where the same situation had, or I stumbled across the series by chance after several volumes had already been published.

As far as R1 DVD marketing goes, I always thought we are, for the most part, very good at self-marketing or at least generating awareness of a title as a fanbase. Through word of mouth, fansubs, fanart, conventions, other online activities, and so forth. I thought the point was that we're "too good" at it, to the point it's harmful.^^U What I guess we're not good at is generating interest in purchasing DVDs. Browsing e-shuushuu and downloading Rin fanart from Fate/Stay Night might cause a lot of fans to fall in love with Rin, but it doesn't lead to another sale or let people know that merchandise involving Rin is even for sale. I guess exploiting that interest that is there, if possible, isn't something we can do. I can recommend a series to a friend all I want--and I do--but that doesn't mean he or she will necessarily buy anything. But the figure industry seems to excel at exploiting fan interest, I think, with a small, dedicated fanbase.

This is why I guess I just don't see why anyone would think that any amount of money spent on marketing would ever result in generating interest in a title like Kanon, regardless of how much I love it, among the non-core, anime fanbase. Yes, ADV's write-up sucks. It indicates whoever wrote the blurb does not understand the title nor its appeal to its fanbase. But at the same time, Kanon was made in a market where otaku are already familiar with the game; the R1 market does not have that advantage. It sold well in the otaku market, but it was by no means ever a title for a casual browser/buyer. How could it be any different in North America? Why would anyone who had not heard of Kanon beforehand walk into Best Buy and on the spur-of-the-moment pick it up? I think word of mouth would be the best approach. Most anime does not have casual appeal because it was designed that way, I think. I guess I just see trying to pretend anime is something it is not as futile.

What upsets me is when they even change the name of a show (usually not a direct translation) - which is in itself fine, but without marketing not only do you lose casual browsers but also people actively planning on purchasing that series who just don't make the connection!

I've had this problem as well. First, since I generally know properties by the original name, it makes it hard to find when I look for it (thankfully, RightStuf puts the original name in parenthesis for most titles). Othertimes, I completely pass on a show because I was not aware I had heard of it. Media Blaster's Girls High (Joshi Kousei) comes to mind; it doesn't help matters that the manga was published under a different English name as well. Personally, I do not buy titles I have not heard of it. That's not to say I don't buy titles I have not watched, as I do. But I must have at least heard of the title before.

Most people online probably do not follow the R1 industry as much as I do, so it must be even more confusing for them (especially the blog/A-S/4-chan/etc crowd).

[Apterous]

This isn't an evaluation of marketing problems, it's an evaluation of what Chris Beveridge views as a marketing problem. In fact you seem to be trying to tell us that this isn't a problem at all, which if anything is exactly the opposite of what you said you were going to do.

Okay, I may have been going a little overboard in saying that it wasn't even a problem, I was mostly just saying I was disappointed because I'd gotten my hopes up reading the blurb on the main page. From what I read, I was expecting a longer and more in-depth analysis on marketing overall (because I am a marketing guy and an anime fan), and not a rant on promotional materials. Chris makes some good points though, some companies do it better than others, and I would be more interested in hearing from an industry long-timer about other aspects of anime marketing that could be done better. Let's all remember the 4 P's: Product, Pricing, Promotion, and Placement. There's a lot to work with...

[JeffDM]

How did Geneon and CPM fare in this regard when they were active, for curiosity's sake?

I thought CPM's package design was the worst of all R1 anime. The art looked cheap and they put lame text on the front. "Two fisted mecha action" "Big Robots... BIGGER GUNS!", even some endorsements from web sites that said "a lot of fun". They tried to name-drop the people that were in the production teams, but most of those fell flat. All this was a shame as I did like a lot of their titles.

[bctaris]

How did Geneon and CPM fare in this regard when they were active, for curiosity's sake?

I thought CPM's package design was the worst of all R1 anime. The art looked cheap and they put lame text on the front. "Two fisted mecha action" "Big Robots... BIGGER GUNS!", even some endorsements from web sites that said "a lot of fun". They tried to name-drop the people that were in the production teams, but most of those fell flat. All this was a shame as I did like a lot of their titles.

Well, yeah, that was the finished packaging, but this was still about the press material they would send out before hand, which was, while often the same thing and just as silly sometimes, complete.

[DocWatson]

How did Geneon and CPM fare in this regard when they were active, for curiosity's sake?

And I suppose I shouldn't complain anymore about lax or short-sighted PR from some of these companies when the very foundation of the practice--simple marketing--isn't up to snuff. Makes sense, now, I suppose.
Both were pretty good, but had their differences. CPM put all their stuff online monthly with boxart and detailed specs
E.g., here (http://www.centralparkmedia.com/cpmdb/cfcpm.cfm?Cat=USMD_2241) (site (http://www.centralparkmedia.com/centralpark/cpmhome.html)); an example of their release schedule (http://web.archive.org/web/20041229081732/www.centralparkmedia.com/cpmdb/presskit.cfm) (though the links it contains are dead).

[DocWatson]

Media blaster is not much better, often way out of date. It's strange right now, with a lot of stuff listed both as "new release" and "coming soon" and both current stuff and stuff from last fall. It's slow "Flash Hell" too.
Their (NSFW) Kitty Media site (http://kittymedia.com/) is the same way, though at least the old one is (NSFW) still there (http://www.kittymedia.com/home.cfm), and is still being updated.

[Zalis]

Example: Hayate no Gotoku airs in Japan. I watch it. I think, "Let me find the manga. Wait? Viz has already published three volumes? Why haven't I heard of this title before now?"I had the exact same thing happen to me with that exact same series, although I don't keep up with manga as well as I do with anime.

Obviously I don't fully understand the inner workings of these companies, but I'm left a bit puzzled on how ADV can commit some amount of resources in these hard times to a show like KIBA (which by all accounts is completely mediocre and forgettable), but can't get a few decent sentences thrown together for a DVD box. Especially given their insistence that "single-volume sales at brick-and-mortar stores are our bread and butter." The Coyote Ragtime show blurb sounds good enough from what I know of that series, but those other two are "not even trying anymore" territory. Though I guess for people who've bought 4 volumes of Kanon already, they're hooked enough that the Vol.5 summary is irrelevant. But that Shattered Angels one...if I weren't familiar with the original creative team and their previous works, I'd think "What the hell, this is so lame" upon reading that. Say what you want about CPM, but at least they managed to make "girl meets prince" sound cool enough for me to pick out that first Utena VHS release at Blockbuster. And this was back in 2003, when I was a casual browser who didn't spend any time at anime news websites.

If it's reached this point, ADV may as well host "write our DVD summaries for us!" contests on these forums. People who've seen the series (somehow or another) write summaries, winner gets a free copy, minimal cost.

[Njr Scrawl]

The heart seems to have gone from ADV, its almost as if they're peddling their remaining new releases from a temporary premises & on borrowed time. My guess is that losing Gurren Lagann (& related reasons) kicked out a huge chunk of morale from the top down - like a starving man losing food. Moonlight Mile, Shattered Angels are small fry in comparison. Kanon is sweet, but not the blockbuster they need for cash, maintaining status & image.

Bandai Entertainment might be better, but for a still big company with competition, they are either too complacent, too uncaring or in too much of a hurry to get their advance publicity out. Aika's cover image omitted the all-important (because its an upgraded "rescue") Re-mastered, for example.

With the growing emphasis on sets, though of different sizes, from all companies, I'm wondering if the importance of including OVAs, good series description & other aspects which might have higher status on single disc releases, is being downgraded/regarded as less important as a selling factor to casual buyers, since the xxx minutes for $x9.99 is the big eyecatching "buy me". If so then, isn't that really what & all the companies want to do with cheap sets anyway? The "fans" will have bought singles or more upmarket/expensive releases already. Bait is usually glossy in appearance, but its all mainly first glance eye candy.

[JINROH]

When you look at 40-50 titles a month across various publishers and a mix of collections, re-issues and new titles, you start to see a trend where you wonder if these companies really want to sell this stuff anymore.

That definitely isn't the most encouraging set of signals to the marketplace. Looking at those ADV snippets, I think I could write better "catalog copy" than that, and I've never taken Marketing 101 (or any business courses for that matter).

I think that you've already hit the nail on the head: some companies have obviously skimped on resources for sales and marketing, while others seem to have gotten their act together. With the economy in a downturn, we'll see which method of responding to it—cost cutting versus more effective marketing—will help to ride out the storm.



Agreed,I am not the best writer,but my wife does this sort of thing for food chains(for a living),and she is the one who pointed me to this thread.She was looking for a series on Amazon,and commented on some of the same things Chris has mentioned in his first post.Lack of advertising,or severly bare bones descriptions.

She said qoute : "Mark,unless its Naruto,or Inuyasha,most people dont know about it,and who do you think can be faulted for that?"

[Damo]

The heart seems to have gone from ADV, its almost as if they're peddling their remaining new releases from a temporary premises & on borrowed time.
Gotta agree with you there, ADV have become very lazy, standard 24 episodes across 6 discs every time, gone are the extras they used to produce, looking at their latest solicitations it's just next volume of series-Y or re-re-release of box set series-x.
very by the numbers releasing, comparing to MVM in the UK - also lazy IMO, I can't say as I've bought an ADV:US disc for ages but a lack of reverse cover art and inserts wouldn't surprise me at all. just yer DVD in a case.

I used to use the on disc extras as a deciding factor between singles and thin pack but take a series like Red Garden where the on disc extras are standard clean opening clean closing trailers, where's the incentive there?

[mashimaro]

One thing I have noticed is the seeming reluctance of studios to effectively advertise their titles. Case in point: I was watching some of my old Pioneer (pre-Geneon) DVD's the other day. Typically one of the extras on the disc was either a complete catalog of everything they offered, or you could find potentially up to 10 previews on the disc. On some of the later Geneon discs you would find only 3 previews.

Also, I've noticed that of all the Bandai discs I've picked up lately, the same three previews seem to be recycled on every one of them.

I am at a loss to understand this. You have a customer who is willing to spend their money and your product has made it into their home; why not take all modest steps to entice them to part with a little more of their money? On a 3-episode DVD, I doubt that every available sector of the disc is jam-packed with content.

The shoddy website design also amazes me. All I want is a sensible interface (ADV and Media Blasters are pretty bad offenders here) and a little information on what is available and when titles are coming out.

[Damo]

One thing I have noticed is the seeming reluctance of studios to effectively advertise their titles. Case in point: I was watching some of my old Pioneer (pre-Geneon) DVD's the other day. Typically one of the extras on the disc was either a complete catalog of everything they offered, or you could find potentially up to 10 previews on the disc. On some of the later Geneon discs you would find only 3 previews.
The UK can go one worse, MVM's and Revelation's titles always have just two trailers each.

[Chris Beveridge]

And Bandai Visual USA doesn't have any. Which is really surprising. One thing I loved about importing their DVDs years ago was the lengthy series of commercials and traillers for shows that I wasn't aware of. It's what hooked me hard into Crest of the Stars if I recall.

[Damo]

And Bandai Visual USA doesn't have any. Which is really surprising.
That is really surprising and disappointing, two is really bad if a little understandable what with the UK's BBFC charging for everything on a disc. but none... Trailers are the first things I watch.


One thing I loved about importing their DVDs years ago was the lengthy series of commercials and traillers for shows that I wasn't aware of. It's what hooked me hard into Crest of the Stars if I recall.
Bandai Ent's trailer put me off Crest''' at first it was the enthusiasm of a friend that got me into that series.