Friday, June 04, 2004

Marvel's fleeting youth: The Pulse chats with Marvel publisher Dan Buckley about Marvel Age and hunting the elusive "youth market":

"First, the good news—according to BPA Audits and other 'certified' research, we hit 25% of the total buying audience of males between the ages of 6 – 11. The bad news is that we have no idea 'how' they get hit. Is it one issue per year? Who purchased it for them? Where did they purchase it? However, we all agree that not enough kids pick up our books. Why not? It could be they cannot find them? The packaging is wrong? The price point is wrong? The content is wrong? It was these exact issues and questions that led us to Marvel Age. ... The most important thing is to get the product in front of them. If they are not coming to it we need to go to them. If we can do this then the next step is to convert a percentage of them into comic readers like ourselves."