DC TAKES OVER ARCHIE'S AD SALES

Partnerships and agreements have been on DC’s mind lately, it seems – Humanoids, Rebellion, and now Archie. Kind of. According to a report in today’s Wall Street Journal, DC is taking over the advertising sales for Archie Comics.

The move, according to the report by Brian Steinberg, aims to create a network of 20 or more titles by 2005 aimed at kids which will, in total, have an average monthly circulation of 1.3 million copies, allowing advertisers to buy ad space in bulk.

As a result of the network of books, advertisements will run in the same spot in the books each month, and will, DC and Archie are betting, provide solid competition for advertiser dollars that may otherwise go to the likes of Nickelodeon Magazine, Disney Adventures, and National Geographic Kids - magazines aimed at the younger and “tween” age group. Additonally, of course, with the agreement, DC and Archie are no longer competing against each other for the same ad dollars.

DC President Paul Levitz said that the move was aimed at competing in a “magazine world,” and was not aimed at pulling money away from Marvel, although the Journal did cite Marvel, as well as Sports Illustrated Kids as prime competitors for the same ad dollars that the new DC-Archie network will be chasing, according to media buyers.


Part of the draw for advertisers to peddle their wares in comics, according to DC’s VP of advertising, Dave McKillips is that there are less ads in comics compared to magazines, and therefore the ads in comic books stand out more than their contemporaries in magazines.

Under the agreement, DC and Archie will enter into a revenue-sharing plan, thought neither Levitz, not Archie’s Michael Silberkleit went into further detail. The projected rate for the “DC Comics 2005 Kids Group” for a full-page ad, according to the Journal will be $36,478 (compared to $179,000 for a full page in Maxim).

Despite the merging of part of their businesses, both Levitz and Silberkleit denied that this is the first step in a larger partnership, or even an acquisition of Archie by DC. “That hasn’t even surfaced, nor would I be interested in that,” Silberkleit is quoted as saying.