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A while back, I saw a Kickstarter for the return of Heavy Metal magazine. Since I’ve always been at best a casual reader, I didn’t realize it had gone anywhere. But I feel like Heavy Metal magazine something that should exist in the world, so I backed it. I back a bunch of Kickstarters, and a lot of them—maybe even most—don’t get delivered on time. In fact, a lot of them don’t get delivered at all, so my basic assumption is that when I back a Kickstarter by a creator I’m not familiar with, I’m basically throwing that money away. If I actually get the product, I’m impressed. If it’s good, even better.
That being the case, I had no idea that the Heavy Metal Kickstarter had been delayed until I got an update about it. Apparently they were getting a lot of grief for a very nerdy problem: the first issue arrived in stores before some backers got their copy. This is a disaster for the fans. I mean, if you’re not the FIRST PERSON who sees it, how will you ever prove your value as a human being? Or something, I guess. In any case, a lot of people with a lot of time on their hands got Very Angry and apparently blew up the comments.
The email summarized the issue, and the company’s first success was making it sound like an explanation rather than excuse. Basically, the campaign got a lot more support than they ever imagined, which meant printing and shipping took longer than expected, even after they hired additional help. Meanwhile, they had fixed delivery dates by which they had to get copies of the magazine to distributors. Delivering late so fanboys could feel special might put distribution of future issues at risk, so they couldn’t really change that. As a result, the issue appeared in stores before some backers got their copies.
Since our pesky lack of time travel technology prevented them from sending the magazines back to a time before the issue appeared in stores, their only option was damage control. In most cases like this you’re lucky if you get a free copy of something they can’t sell or a discount if you give them more money. The people behind the reborn Heavy Metal decided that they weren’t just going to placate the people they disappointed, they were going to convert them. This led to the formation of The Angry Mob.
The Angry Mob is a group on a platform called Circle that I wasn’t previously familiar with. Everyone who backed the Kickstarter (whether you got the issue on time or not) is a member, and membership is closed unless the people in the Angry Mob decide to open it up to new member. The page itself is like any social media group, where members can chat and post art and get updates and all that stuff. It’s also where you can get updates on the perks they’re offering to members of the mob. The full details are still up in the air, but so far there’s definitely a variant cover for issue #2, a discount on subscriptions, and a few other bells and whistles. They’re also planning on some exclusive merchandise, in-person events, and other stuff.
In other words, they’re turning the people who might have gotten the magazine later than promised into their street team. It’s a potentially risky move—just what they’ve done so far probably can’t have been cheap, and every indication is that they plan to keep the Angry Mob around (and keep giving us special perks) indefinitely. Whether or not it’s a smart business move ultimately depends on how many lemons they turn into lemonade with the tactic.
Since I’m writing this, you’ve probably already guessed that it worked on me. If everything would have gone smoothly, the copy of the magazine I got from the Kickstarter probably would have gone into the pile and I’d have read it a few years from now. Now I’m going to have to read it sooner, because I took them up on their discounted subscription, so I’ll want to read issue #1 before issue #2 shows up. I’ve also been checking the group for updates at least once a week. Based on the amount of activity there, it seems like a lot of other people are doing the same.
While I know from experience what a pain in the ass it is to deal with nerd rage, I suspect that they nerds are outnumbered by reasonable human beings. Because they went so far beyond expectations to deal with a problem that a lot of people didn’t even realize was a problem, I’m going to be more engaged with the magazine (and give them more money) than I would have if they’d just mailed me a book on time. I hope I’m in the majority, because at this point I want to see the new version of magazine succeed. Since it will mean more perks for me and the rest of the Angry Mob, I’ve kind of got a personal stake in them doing well.
