Comic-Con is fast approaching, and as the largest consumer convention in the United States you can’t afford to miss it. This is the one place where you will find die-hard fans coupled with industry executives. You can simultaneously pitch your project while seeding future groupies.

There are tons of great ways to promote your project at Comic-Con. The traditional and proper ways are to get a booth, make a super professional appearance with a nice display, some giveaways and feature folks that worked on your project, acted in it or created it (or get a really hot chick, that works too).

You can also lobby to get key players in your project to be quest speakers, sit on the numerous panels, or take part in any of the fun contests or artist features.

This type of presence is invaluable. Seeing your project’s name in the Comic-Con guide, and seeing your booth number give you instant credo.
However, for some of us? (Ahem, me?) There have been times when the projects I was working on just simply didn’t have enough cash to go pro. But we never let that stop us.  We took the biggest stage we could find and jumped on it… the entrance to the entire festival. We’d dress up in our characters, find a nice strategic spot near the front entrance and have ourselves a marketing field day. How?

Here are my recommendations for Guerrilla Character Marketing:

If you have a character driven project (and by this, I mean, you have animated characters, superheroes, that kind of thing)  the most important investment you can make is a “walkabout” character. Yup. A full-sized costume of all your characters (or just the main ones) that you can dress up in and walk around in and meet folks.

How do you get one? I’d recommend contacting your local live theatre or school featuring live theatre and talk to their props/costume department contact. Chances are they are dying to make some spare cash and create some cool characters. You can cut a good deal and get some really great characters made. Students will build their portfolios and gain some exposure, while you’ll get a quality job done.

What do you DO with those characters? Well, you walk around in those costumes and meet people at the festival! Right? It actually isn’t as easy as it sounds…

Once you are in character, you usually don’t want to speak (unless you are an actor as well). These characters are usually meant for waving, being silly and posing for pictures. So be SURE to bring a wingman. You absolutely HAVE to have someone that is going to stand by you and announce who you are and answer questions for people. There is nothing worse than a waving muted character who can’t tell anyone who they are.
Also, bring some stuff to pass out. Whether it be little cards printed up with your URL, or an announcement of a screening at a local pub, make sure you give the people SOMETHING to remember you by.

And have a SIGN. Something that announces who you are loud and proud and people can read from far away.
Make sure your wingman has a camera and can take pictures of you. Pictures of your character with grinning fans and kids are invaluable to use later on down the road.

Have something FUN you are doing. Whether it be tossing a football, throwing a Frisbee or doing a silly dance, be ACTIVE. Give the people a reason to interact with you, and they will. If you just stand there? It’s creepy and people will walk by.
Have some music. You’ll find you are lots more animated when you can boogie.

Grab some Comic-Con materials to pass out and chip in and help promote the festival. You are, in fact, jumping on their train so help them out a bit too!

Be sure to have someone there (if it’s your wingman, great) who can talk the details of your project and make business contacts. Even set out a jar for people to drop business cards into so they can learn more about what you are doing. Never miss the chance to collect their information.
Trust me on this one, these attendees will remember you. They will recognize your characters down the road as those nitty gritty folks who were making a splash at comic-con.

The best thing too? Those character costumes can be re-used. Apply every single tactic in this article to any event that you wish to attend. I’ve been in a character costume at the New York Marathon high-fiving runners, a Jessica Simpson concert, Halloween Parades, and on the jumbotron at sporting events.  The more you wear it, the more places you go, the better.

So have fun, get in character and start creating some buzz !