Feeling like an outcast in high school is a sad, but true reality for many young girls.
DC Comics is playing into that awkward feeling with the debut this month of The Plain Janes, the first graphic novel in a series created just for teens.
And the company plans to target those girls where they hang out: on social networking sites and through an online contest. The budget? It’s $250,000.
Through a partnership with Alloy Media + Marketing, the series, called Minx, will be promoted on www.Sconex.com, the agency’s social networking site for high school students.
Alloy tapped 500 Sconex.com members it identified as “influencers” to hype up the first title. The members, called Connectors, received an advanced copy of the book to preview and respond with feedback about the storyline. To spread the word, they sent book excerpts and a link for friends to join the “Plain Janes” fan club.
Also on the site, visitors can take quizzes tied to the story and chat up the content with others. Non-Connector’s members must register and set up a profile to enter.
“The goal is to take a line of books and create something unlike what we have ever done before,” says John Cunningham, vice president of marketing, DC Comics. “We are targeting teen girls. This is a demographic DC Comics had not been able to pursue before.”
An online sweepstakes at www.plainjanescontest.com and www.Sconex.com offers a trip to New York City and a $500 American Express card. Another 250 runners-up will receive a copy of “The Plain Janes,” which hit stores last month.
The book tells the tale of a high school-aged girl named Jane who moves to a new town with her parents. There she meets other outcast girls who all are named Jane. The group finds its identity by anonymously erecting artwork at school and around the city.
A separate sweepstakes on www.Alloy.com invites girls to upload photos with their friends and describe what makes their group “plain, but unique.” One grand-prize winner will be featured as a comic on the Minx Web site and receive a $1,000 Alloy shopping spree. Five runners-up will get signed copies of the book.
Both sweepstakes end July 16. Print ads in catalogs and in-store signage in bookstores and comic books outlets also support the series. Alloy will distribute book covers in middle schools, which feature characters from the novels, in September.
DC Comics will roll out seven other titles in the Minx series. The second imprint, Re-Gifters, follows this month.
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