Has Convention Culture Affected The Anime Business?

Answerman
Has Convention Culture Affected The Anime Business?
by Justin Sevakis, Aug 3rd 2015

Kevin asks:

Given the explosion of popularity of conventions over the last few years and the bleed over from similar interests(comics, ccgs, comic movies, etc), how has the industry changed as a result of the convention circuit being so popular now compared to 10 years ago. What's the difference in publicity, sales, etc between an amazing booth, a good booth, and a mediocre one?

That's a hard question to answer. The convention scene has always been there for the anime industry. Comic conventions were already a thing by the time the early anime VHS industry took their first steps, and were the first and most obvious place for many companies to sell their wares. The major, decades-old anime conventions we all know (Project A-kon, Anime Expo, Otakon, etc.) all started in the early 90s, just when the American publishing business was really gaining a foothold. The two grew in parallel, and collaborate often.

Anime Expo in particular has become the de-facto industry convention, due to its presence in Southern California (which was always a hotbed of both showbiz and fan activity), its closer physical proximity to Japan, and its very intentional courting of industry involvement and sponsorship. Even Japanese companies recognize its importance, and will go to great lengths to bring their A game to that show. Anime publishers will pay for concerts, invite guests of honor, and erect enormous booths that go a long way towards paying for the show itself. In return, the industry gets direct face time with tens of thousands of fans. This is an invaluable marketing opportunity, obviously.

Other large conventions feature a far lower degree of industry involvement, but are still extremely important. How the companies interact with these conventions hasn't really changed that much (although several shows have gotten far more experienced and professional when dealing with them). However, with so many people now attending, and with marketing to younger audiences getting harder and harder, being a part of the convention scene has become a hugely important part of every anime and manga company's strategy.

It's hard to imagine the anime industry without the convention scene. One of the things that makes the anime business unique in the entertainment world is its direct, one-on-one communication with the end consumer, and I think that's something largely attributable to spending so much of their energy at conventions. Whole production schedules are based around having new products ready to sell during convention season. It's that important.

As for the quality of a booth, that's something that's very difficult to quantify. The vast majority of large industry booths exist solely to get fans excited, and like any piece of advertising, proving a return of that investment is almost impossible. However, booths that sell stuff -- no matter how fancy -- do extremely brisk business at many shows, thanks to the sheer number of fans. That's important, because as the anime demographic skewed younger, not as many fans have the disposable income to drop in the dealer room. Sales at conventions can be so great, they can actually move the needle as to whether a release is successful or not.

The conventions and the industry are symbiotic. They are both part of an ecosystem. They don't always get along, or share the same end goals, but ultimately, they are joined at the hip.