We've now had a chance to take stock of the comments we received on Free Comic Book Day and have published over the last couple of days, and it seems that in general, the response to this worldwide promotion was up this year. Diamond reported that over 2 million promotional comics were ordered by its customers for this event, with over 2000 stores listed on the FCBD Website, and nearly 3000 stores ordering at least some FCBD comics.
Retailers that participated both years had the opportunity to refine their execution this year, which generally meant better public relations, promotion, and other marketing. With a higher level of national promotion this year from partners like the Sci Fi Channel and Cartoon Network, and at least as much press, comic retailers had a better environment in which to work (although some press were a harder sell due to the fact that it wasn't the first FCBD). All of this added up to a great day, a significant advance over the first year and an excellent building block for 2004.
For additional articles on FCBD, please see:
'FCBD Retailer Vignettes Part 1'
'FCBD Retailer Vignettes Part 2'
