What can a tripartite of film, toys, and comic books even achieve?
Well… as it turns out… there is a lot actually…
As evidenced by the upsurge of Back to the Future's box office from $11,152,500 to $20,714,477. Something about that mix does work out.
That is almost double what it had been from its opening week. Granted, that the opening week was just about 3 days of accumulation… earning that many millions in a matter of seven days still says a lot!
Creed's strategy may be a bit on the nose, in a sense…
Movie first… comic book second… toys third! The toys hadn't really rolled into the picture though… but it is already expected given the track record that Creed has established.
They already had Creed fans from comic books and toys… they just had to assimilate these Creed fans all throughout their businesses.
Now with a film being under their banner and accumulating its own legion of time-travel enthusiasts… they were establishing film fans as well.
Without doubt, it was only a matter of time before everything assimilates into the bigger Creed collective… and that collective would raise Creed's brand recognition to a different level.
Comic books, toys, to film. Connections beget mutual influence… and that is what Old Sullivan and Alexander's business model is all about. Although… Alexander was true intentions were more on the mega-franchise and IP side of things… but by putting it in a business sense it is still more or less the same.
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"Well… didn't things work out quite nicely?" Old Sullivan motioned on as both he and his grandson had already digested the really great news.
"I guess." Alexander remarked whilst still keeping his hyper-visual thoughts to specific film-related articles that he read in some of the notable publications.
Old Sullivan could sigh at the boy's lackadaisical tone of accepting great news. "Somehow you are in your usual nonchalance again. Just when I thought I'd see you in a cheerful marathon throughout this summer given that Back to the Future and our operation turned out better than we thought."
Alexander could only give his old grandfather a blank stare while canceling the visualized articles in his Ishaan-esque perspective. His blank and silent stare seems to ask the question- just what do you want from me?
Old Sullivan could understand cold Alex stares, so he answered the staring question. "I was kind of expecting for you to be all breezy with a smile on your face. You know… just like how it was a week ago."
"I guess the novelty of Back to the Future's success became the norm for me." It was not like Alexander to get caught up on a smiling spree. He sort of understood the logic behind the karma code of your smiles eventually equating itself to frowns.
It's just best to keep a neutral expression and neutral attitude when it comes to things. At least, this is what Alexander mostly adheres to. "I've got the smiling and celebrations out of my system and it would probably take a long while before it happens again."
"Out of your system." Old Sullivan had to shake his head at that. "You're really diving into the robot character that we teased you about."
"I guess I am." Alexander owned that robot accusation.
Of course, Old Sullivan noted the third time that the boy used "I guess…" as a reply starter. Maybe this is just one of the days that introversion and boredom aligned with his grandson.
Maybe it's best to give the boy an interesting topic. It was clear that talking more about appropriate reactions to good news and robotic systematizing of smiles would not be getting them anywhere.
The Old Creed quickly got to that. "Anyways… any insights on what we just did? Appropriating and connecting our brands amongst interconnected entertainment fields has clearly worked out and our little plot was pulled off quite nicely if I do say so myself."
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"It all turned out nice as you say it is." Alexander clearly had much more interest in this… as evidenced by the lack of "I guess…" in his sentence. How could he not have interest… when he was one of the major movers that made things happen? "With just a simple move of making and releasing a tie-in comic book at the right time… we got the results we wanted and more."
"It's liking dealing many hits with one blow, isn't it?" Old Sullivan had to commend both of their ingenuity on this one.
From analyzing Miss Marker's compiled data on Back to the Future box office and market reception... to correlating those things with Mr. Advertiser's publicity plans... and then having Creed Comics' Mr. Chief Editor 1 to handle the scheduled timing of [When Marty Met Emmett]'s release.
It all ultimately culminated in Creed Pictures being truly brought into Creed Entertainment's fold and boosting Back to the Future's box office earnings!
"It still begs the question though… can we replicate and control the process that we had just done?" Alexander remembered asking this last time and with their plot finally untangling, a better outlook on it should already be made available. "Can we nudge people in a direction that we want again? Using comic books to bolster film, using toys to bolster film, and vice versa on all accounts of toys, comic books, film, and other fields of entertainment that we are yet to test things out on?"
"It is hard to deny that it works with all the established examples that we have." Old Sullivan was the true expert and the old had much sway on business that Alexander really learns from.
The synergistic inter-field business model that Creed Entertainment is practicing is by Old Sullivan's design... and everything leading up to now should be enough to give the old man a lot more insight into the demographic's influence that he had yet to factor in.
"We have Superman films and the Hulk TV show, each having a comic book and motion picture combination that serves as samples from both DC and Marvel." The old Creed added. "It is quite sketchy to take these as a basis though… as the comic book-theatrical and comic book-television serializing strategies that were employed on this isn't exactly made clear. People watched the Hulk show and people also watch the Superman films… but they aren't really indicative of what we want to find out."
"Then, we have our own home-based events to observe from." Old Sullivan was pretty loyal to his own but he can be unbiased as well. "Creed Comics' stories being partnered with appropriate toys is a given win-win but they aren't exactly clear on what they could help out on films… aside from your established fans flocking to something you made with your revealed screenwriter status, of course. Which may ultimately be what made the [Back to the Future comic book] and [Back to the Future film] combo the overall success that it is."
"I get that. It isn't exactly the comic book-film results that I'd hoped it would be… but now we know." Alexander nodded at the things at face value. "Oh… and don't forget to add in the unexpected RoboCop-Terminator and the Dragonball-Karate Kid interconnections we had last year. They're pretty much the repeat phenomena that inspired us to do find out more about the correlation between comic books and films after all."
The RoboCop-Terminator one was a given as it had pretty much been a major driving point as to why Creed Comics took October of 1984 by storm. As for the Dragonball and Karate Kid one… well that was a Miss Marker compiled information that Alexander only found out much later.
As it turns out… Goku and LaRusso were somewhat associated at some point as both Dragonball and Karate Kid had been garnering successes at around the same periods. It wasn't too prevalent… but it is another comic book and film combo that worked out in their favor.
"Essentially, we've found out that what we're striving for would work and we can also influence our established customers to fit our needs…" Old Sullivan had to give his somewhat pessimistic but realistic view of all these positive findings though. "…but it's a pipe dream to think that we'll be able to replicate and control it as we want. It may have worked out on the events that we've cited but it may not work out as often and successful as we want it to be."
With the tone that the old man had adopted, Alexander could tell that a life lesson was coming. "I feel like you're going to add your life story here though."
"And… your right at that." Old Sullivan took it in stride. "As I've told you the ups and downs that I've had… you should know that your grandma and I had a company and found a steady and working business model like the companies and the business model we have now. It should have been smooth sailing but life just has its way of messing with you."
"Even though we've found a good marketing method and proved that our business strategy works… know that you have to innovate and improve and grow and so much else…" As overused as his words of wisdom may be… their merits are what makes them so. "It's just important to keep an open mind and adjust to what life gives you, Alex."
Alexander nodded at that as he knew his grandfather meant well. Nothing that they'd found out is exactly groundbreaking or enough to shake the industry. It's been done before and it would probably be done again in the future.
Sure… it works from all the examples they've cited… but Old Sullivan's reminder on the ups and downs of everything is meant to keep them on their toes and not just depend on one working trick.
Comic book and film, comic book and toys, film and toys… and the whole tripartite ensemble is proven effective… but there's a lot to look out for when it comes to making use of it!