同人大会异军突起

    如果你急不可耐地要欣赏比尔博•巴金斯的历险旅程，不想等到圣诞假期，玩具公司乐高（LEGO）可以让你先睹为快，一瞥即将推出的搭卖玩具。在根据J.R.R.托尔金的同名小说《霍比特人》（The Hobbit）改编的电影上映之前，多家公司就试图利用中土世界（Middle Earth）来大赚一笔，乐高只是其中之一。上个月，这家公司宣布了今年晚些时候即将上市的几款新产品。问题是，玩具公司通常很少在7月份发布重磅产品。

    改变从何而来？答案是圣迭戈的国际动漫大会（San Diego Comic-Con International）。这项覆盖科幻和奇幻方方面面的年度盛事创始于1970年，近年已经吸引了大量电影、电视和游戏粉丝。导演们在这里试映即将上映的电影和电视剧，粉丝们则只想先睹为快。现在，这类年会也已经成为公司发布新产品的重要场所。

    今年乐高专门给粉丝们上演保留节目，而不像以往那样把全部新产品的发布都留给行业展会，比如2月份在纽约举办的美国国际玩具展（American International Toy Fair）。“这一重大转变的发生就源自于粉丝的新闻传播能力，”科技和游戏资讯公司TechSavvy Global的首席分析师斯科特•斯坦伯格说。“他们在博客上讨论，在社交媒体发帖，谈笑间就传播了新闻。他们的声音史无前例的强大，所以很多公司意识到在封闭的活动中发布新品已经毫无意义。”

    这样一来，同人大会和行业展会之间的界限开始变得模糊。从前只在特邀记者参加的官方发布会上宣布的消息，现在也直接传达给铁杆粉丝，这样的方式更加有利可图。《行业展会完全傻瓜指南》（The Complete Idiot's Guide to Trade Shows）一书的作者琳达•马斯格罗夫直言，这就是为了直达目标受众。“对那些吸引粉丝群的产品来说，这样做很有道理，”她说。“在行业展会上，总是只有你自己和竞争对手面面相觑；只有在核心粉丝群聚集的大会上，你才能出点风头。”

    因此，很多公司开始重新评估同人大会的影响，这包括全美各地的动漫大会以及视频游戏大会。本周雷神大会的参与者已经从1996年的1,100人上涨到今天的将近1万人，其中大多数是铁杆游戏迷。其他人此时会去欧洲一周游，他们却常常自己驾车，到德州的达拉斯参加为期三天的盛会，除了游戏还是游戏，再有就是热烈的游戏讨论。

    他们对视频游戏公司来说就是梦寐以求的痴迷受众。贝塞斯达软件公司（Bethesda Softworks）制作了热销游戏《天际》（Skyrim），公司公关及营销副总裁皮特•海恩斯指出：“粉丝们在雷神大会这类展会上有机会接触到我们即将推出的新游戏。”

    除了能够吸引眼球之外，同人大会还有其它好处。简单的说，这不是行业展会。去年的电子娱乐展（Electronic Entertainment Expo, E3）吸引了4.7万人，要想脱颖而出何其困难。斯坦伯格说：“像美国无线通信展（CTIA Wireless Show）、电子娱乐展和消费电子展（Consumer Electronics Show, CES）这样的行业展会上，人们只有不择手段地去吸引关注。”

    不过，现在某些同人大会已经在规模上超过很多行业展会了，至少在出席人数上如此。圣迭戈的动漫大会起初并不起眼，但逐年稳步增长，观展人数已经达到近13万人，现在是北美排名第二的行业活动。而消费电子展在今年1月刚刚创下15.3万人的观展纪录。

    当然，它也带来了风险，包括排队的长龙、人满为患的会议室，特别是向热心粉丝解释新产品的时间变短了。有的公司开始四处出击了。来自数码市场调研公司M2 Research的比利•皮金指出：“任天堂（Nintendo）除了出席圣迭戈的动漫大会，还要去纽约参加小型展会，这是他们的营销活动的组成部分。”“每年在（雷神大会），我们都会召开简短的技术会议，然后是疯狂而有趣的粉丝赠品派送，”显卡厂商英伟达（Nvidia）的发言人布莱恩•德尔•里佐说。“7月份我们在波特兰参加了PDXLAN游戏大会，8月底我们还会去西雅图参加PAX游戏展（Penny Arcade Expo）。”

    For those who can't wait until the holidays to experience the adventures of Bilbo Baggins on the big screen, LEGO has offered a peek at its upcoming tie-ins. The toy maker is just one of several companies looking to cash in on Middle Earth ahead of the release of the upcoming film based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. Last month the company announced several new products that will be available later this year. Thing is, July is usually a dead zone for toy companies making big product announcements.

    What changed? The power of San Diego Comic-Con International. While the annual event for all things sci-fi and fantasy has been taking place since 1970, in recent years it has attracted movie, TV and video game fans who come looking for the latest dish on what they'll be watching and playing in the months to come. It is where directors preview upcoming movies and TV shows. Now, conventions like it have become crucial for companies launching new products as well.

    Instead of unveiling all its products at industry only events, such as New York's American International Toy Fair in February, LEGO opted this year to save something for the faithful. "Why you're seeing this paradigm shift is really because of the fans ability to spread news," says Scott Steinberg, principal analyst for TechSavvy Global. "They talk in blogs, post on social media and generally spread the news. That voice is more powerful than ever, so for many companies there is no reason to announce it at a closed event anymore."

    As a result fan conventions are now blurring the line with industry trade shows. News that was released in an official press conference with vetted reporters is instead provided -- more profitably -- directly to diehard fans. It's a matter of going to where the target audience is says Linda Musgrove, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Trade Shows. "With those products that appeal to the fan base it makes sense," she says. "At industry shows you get caught up with competitors where at a convention with a core fan-base you can stand out a little more."

    As a result many companies are re-evaluating at the convention circuit, whether the various Comic-Cons that are held throughout the United States or events such as this week's QuakeCon video game convention, which has grown in size from around 1,100 attendees in 1996 to nearly 10,000 today. Most are hardcore gamers. Instead of traveling to Europe for a week's vacation, these fans often drive Dallas, Texas to take part in three days of intense gaming and discussion of gaming.

    For video game companies this is practically a captive audience. "Shows like QuakeCon offer fans an opportunity to get their hands on the new games we have coming out," says Pete Hines, vice president of PR and Marketing at Bethesda Softworks, maker of the hit game Skyrim.

    While companies go to the shows to generate buzz, conventions have additional advantages. Namely, these aren't trade shows. With nearly 47,000 attendees at last year's Electronic Entertainment Expo trade show, it can be difficult for companies to break out. "At traditional trade shows such as the CTIA Wireless Show, E3 and the Consumer Electronics Show many companies are jockeying for attention," says Steinberg.

    Still, some of the conventions are now bigger than many trade shows -- at least in number of attendees. San Diego's Comic-Con started small, but has steadily grown over the years reaching almost 130,000 attendees. With those numbers it actually only is closing in on the Consumer Electronics Show -- the largest trade event in North America -- which attracted a record 153,000 in January.

    That poses a risk, including long lines, crowded conference rooms and a less time to talk to excited fans about new products. Some companies have begun going to both. "Nintendo has been going to the Comic Cons in San Diego as well as the smaller one in New York regularly and this is part of their marketing," says Billy Pidgeon of M2 Research. "Every year at [QuakeCon], we host a short technology session followed by a crazy and fun fan giveaway," said Bryan Del Rizzo, Nvidia spokesperson. "In July, we did PDX LAN up in Portland, and at the end of August we will be heading up to Seattle to do Penny Arcade Expo (PAX)."