Like a lot of other film and television entities making a presence at New York Comic Con this year, Comedy Central’s debut at the young convention—to promote new action comedy Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire—hinged on a sampling of content and a discussion with the creators and stars. But since buzz did not precede the series as it did many others this weekend, the network decided to boost interest with a street team on the convention floor.
“Comedy Central has been involved with San Diego’s Comic Con in the past,” said the network's director of consumer marketing, Elissa Harman. “So we're really excited about finally getting involved with New York.” Harman chose to start that involvement with a guerrilla marketing team of eight women, dressed as the one of the show's main characters. She went with female lead “Anaka,” who just happens to wear skimpy battle gear à la Xena: Warrior Princess. “One of Krod’s targets is the Comic Con audience, and one of the best ways to reach them is through sexy girls dressed in costume,” Harman explained.
To organize the small troupe, Comedy Central partnered with the guerrilla marketers at the Michael Alan Group to cast the team, outfit them in Krod costumes, and deploy them on the trade show floor. The women weren’t just there to raise interest in the screening, though. The series debut is just two months off, so Comedy Central is banking on word of mouth as a platform for the show’s more conventional marketing plan that really gets under way later this month.
Although the eight women passed out flyers and temporary tattoos of Krod's logo and helped to pack Saturday’s panel, they were nowhere to be found on the last day. Harman thought the racy getup might be a bit too much for the more family-oriented Sunday crowd.
