January 5, 2007
Bandai’s “by fans for fans” video
Posted by Madeline
Anime distribution mogul Bandai Entertainment recently made history when they decided on a clever blend of parody, cosplay, and viral marketing to tell fans about the North American licensing of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Here’s the story: December 2006, Bandai released a “by fans for fans” video of the type usually found on YouTube to promote their acquisition of the Haruhi license. The video mimicked the series’ first episode, in which the characters make a home-made film for a school competition. Bandai’s video used Japanese and American actors (one of whom openly acknowledged her role on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) cosplaying the characters within the series while speaking lines that referenced the North American license. There was also the obligatory MySpace page that further spread the video.
As of January 4, Bandai has extended their strategy by encouraging fans to not only watch and share the video, but how they can make money by doing so. There is also a poll that asks fans: “Will you buy R1 DVDs?”
This last question may tie in directly with something found in the video’s credits, which read:
(c) BANDAI ENTERTAINMENT 2006
SPECIAL THANKS: FANS WHO DOWNLOAD FANSUBS AND BUY THE DVD’S.
NO THANKS: FANS WHO ONLY DOWNLOAD FANSUBS AND NEVER BUY THE DVD’S.
This open declaration of Bandai’s knowledge of fans and fansubs flouts the usual convention of “out of sight, out of mind” regarding fans who download their anime before it’s licensed in North America or elsewhere. By imitating fan behaviour, Bandai has displayed a keen intelligence and depth of knowledge regarding its audience, its market, and its product. There are two ways to take this. First, fans can rejoice in the licensing of the series and take Bandai’s “by fans for fans” gesture as one of respect. Second, they can react more cynically and see this is as corporate appropriation of fan technique. Either way, this style of marketing shows a shift in Bandai’s thinking, and that probably means a shift for distributors across North America.
Filed To: Distribution / Digital / Adv/Marketing
No comments yet.
RSS Feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
