Movement Strategy Turns Traditional Collectors to Enthusiastic New Fans, Earning Unprecedented Sellout of DC’s ‘Superman’ #1 Digital Comic Book

Forging a new path for NFTs, social agency helps a digital collectible of the legendary comic sell out in 20 minutes, becoming one of the hottest digital comics on the market

Originally released in 1939, DC’s ‘Superman #1’ remains a landmark comic book title featuring one of the world’s most enduring fictional characters. Worth anywhere between $200,000 to $350,000 in physical print, the issue was ideally suited to become the cornerstone of the new DC Collectible Comics platform, a collectors’ marketplace for DC’s various digital keepsakes. Looking to build a new online community around their beloved comics library, DC partnered with social media agency Movement Strategy to lead marketing for the launch of its platform and, in the process, helped turn a digital collectible of ‘Superman #1’ into the hottest digital comic on the market in an astonishing 20 minutes.

“For the first time, fans could not only read digital versions of their favorite stories but, through the power of Web3 technology, they could truly own that digital copy,” explains Movement Strategy CEO Jason Mitchell. “With its weekly drops of key appearances and major stories from across 80 years of DC comic book lore, as well as tiers of rarity within each product drop, it could really mark the beginning of a new era in collecting.”

However, finding success meant building a bridge between the enthusiastic fan base around digital collectibles and the more traditional comic collector with a focus on printed material. DC found its answer in kicking off the digital collectibles series with the launch of one of the most sought-after comics of all time: ‘Superman #1’, the premier issue of the original DC Super Hero.

Leveraging interest in the title, Movement worked to educate traditional comic fans about the new technology and the digital marketplace itself. Key to this was establishing audience behavior by building communities, answering questions and utilizing repeat content to create patterns. Movement ran accounts on Discord and Twitter, managing those communities as well as creating content that teased the digital comic release and detailed exactly how a purchase could be made. Across Discord and traditional social channels, followers quickly swelled to the tens of thousands in anticipation of the drop.

“We’re not just social media experts but huge comics fans as well so we were able to leverage that knowledge and understanding to identify the best ways to authentically tap into the fanbases DC hoped to engage,” says Matt Little, Creative Director at Movement Strategy. “By highlighting audiences’ love of collecting, fanning the flames of ownership, and avoiding typical NFT tropes that many had soured on – including the acronym ‘NFT’ – we were able to build enthusiasm in a time when digital collectibles were heavily scrutinized, proving their value.”

The impact of their effort was immediately apparent. The entire 3000 product run of ‘Superman #1’ sold out in 20 minutes, becoming one of the hottest comics on the market. Tellingly, an overwhelming majority of purchases were net new to the DC digital collectibles ecosystem, showcasing the power of Movement’s promotional efforts. 

“This was just the right match of our personal passions and years of experience in tapping in social media communities,” adds Mitchell. “We’re obviously thrilled with the results, but this is only the beginning of what’s possible with Web3. We’re excited to keep pushing the boundaries with DC, serving dedicated fans and discovering new ways of bringing value to this limitless new medium.”

Source: Movement Strategy

  DC Collectible Comics, DC Comics, Marketing, Movement Strategy, NFT