Tag Archives: Chicago

How C2E2 Celebrates the Superfan

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Chewie

Three years ago, I blogged about the first time I attended the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, then in its second year. This fan culture event was overwhelming, and it was difficult to know where to begin talking about the experience. On April 26, I experienced C2E2 from a more personal perspective: my 12-year-old daughter Marion was among the throng of attendees who dress up as their favorite fictional characters ranging from Princess Mononoke to Dr. Who. Marion was adorned in a trench coat and black wings to honor Castiel, an angel in the CW Network series Supernatural. As I noted on a LinkedIn blog post, being with Marion helped me appreciate first-hand a superfan loyalty that is rooted in self-expression and spontaneous community.

Castiel

C2E2 has quickly become a premier destination for fans and companies to gather and celebrate each other over the course of one weekend. C2E2 attracted 53,000 attendees in 2013, up from 40,000 the year before, and the event has taken up more space in the Chicago McCormick Place convention center to accommodate the growing number of merchants and entertainment properties participating.

If you opt into the C2E2 email newsletter, your experience begins well in advance of the actual event. The pedestrian-looking newsletter and website serve up a steady stream of announcements about the show, such as autograph signings (for a fee) by comic book legends such as Stan Lee, a panel with Game of Thrones cast members, or the unveiling of an interactive booth for online game League of Legends.

But you really don’t begin to understand C2E2 until you walk into McCormick Place on the day of the show and take stock of your surroundings. Even before you enter the formal C2E2 convention area, you encounter the superfans expressing their passions. Continue reading →

Photobomb your brand

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Have you photobombed your brand lately? At the recently conducted Social Media Strategies Summit in Chicago, social media superstars Ramon De Leon, the marketing mind of a six-store Domino’s Pizza franchise in Chicago, and Jessica Gioglio of Dunkin’ Donuts both showed how and why you should photobomb – or share your brand visually in unexpected places. Their approaches are tailor made for marketing in the age of Pinterest. For instance, recently Gioglio and the Dunkin’ Donuts Chicago social media team spent a day snapping images of the iconic Dunkin’ Donuts coffee cup juxtaposed against famous Chicago landmarks like the Art Institute of Chicago and the John Hancock Tower. Dunkin’ Donuts then shared the images via the Dunkin’ Donuts Chicago Twitter account and Pinterest board – a brilliant way to build brand love locally.

Hancock

On the other hand, De Leon showed how photobombing can build excitement among employees and involve your fans. Especially because De Leon is known as an enthusiastic Domino’s Pizza brand ambassador, Domino’s Pizza employees are fond of sharing their photobombs with him, such as the delivery driver who sent to De Leon this photobomb at the statue of Michael Jordan outside of the United Center in Chicago:

De Leon creates his own photobombs on the job by involving Domino’s Pizza fans. For instance, as he explained to me, “I love to walk around campus with a Dominos Pizza flag. People either want to wave it for me or take pictures with it,” as shown in this image:

He also creates photo-ops with the Domino’s logo, such as the time he fashioned an “I Heart Domino’s Pizza” ad by creatively positioning Domino’s Pizza boxes while he was making a delivery at a college campus:

And Domino’s Pizza fans inspire De Leon with their own photobombs, such as this image submitted by two fans in New York:

“These user generated photos are incredible,” he told me. “This is when people see your logo and remember you. They take a photo and either tag (If Facebook) or cc you on Twitter usually with a saying, ‘Ramon, look at me.'”

De Leon shares all these photobombs through a massively popular channel: himself. He speaks at events ranging from the Disney Social Moms Celebration to Click 6.0 in Dubai. He sprinkles his talks with Domino’s Pizza photobombs and the stories behind him, which makes for lively presentations, shout-outs to fans and employees, and compelling advertising for Domino’s Pizza.

At a time when Facebook paid $1 billion for Instagram and Pinterest has become the third-most popular U.S. social media destination almost overnight, the message is clear to brands: figure out how to share your content visually or don’t share at all. Photobombing your brand is one way to do so. For more examples of how Dunkin’ Donuts shares visual content through a savvy social media outreach, check out my post on the iCrossing Great Finds blog, “How Dunkin’ Donuts Builds a Connected Brand with Social Media.”

Happy photobombing.