The Disconnect
DC Comics has one of the most passionate fan bases in the world. ComicCon is their moment, the annual gathering where narrative, character, and community converge at scale.
Most fans never get there. Geography, cost, and capacity mean that the overwhelming majority of DC’s global audience experiences ComicCon from the outside, watching others participate in something they care deeply about.
The default response would have been to livestream panels or post recap content after the fact. That approach preserves format but not feeling. It tells fans what happened rather than making them part of it.
The disconnect was between the scale of DC’s fan base and the exclusivity of the event that mattered most to them.
The Core Tension
Two things could not both be true at the same time: ComicCon derived its energy from physical presence, and the fans who could not attend deserved more than a highlight reel.
Replication would feel hollow. Recap would feel dismissive.
The tension was between the irreplaceable nature of being there and the expectation that a brand with DC’s reach could do better than leaving fans behind.
The Creative Approach
The reframe was simple and specific: stop thinking about what fans were missing and start thinking about what they needed to feel present.
The idea I developed was Con Away from Con, a curated, near real-time content delivery system designed to simulate the experience of being at ComicCon as it happened. Not a recap. Not a livestream. A parallel experience built for the fans who were not in the room.
Content was organized into defined categories including DC University, We Can Be Heroes, 5.2 Questions, and Character Spotlights, giving fans a structured way to move through the event on their own terms. The curation was deliberate. The pacing matched the rhythm of the live event.
The result was that fans posted about Con Away from Con in real time, alongside fans who were physically present. The boundary between being there and not being there collapsed.
The Result
Con Away from Con created a distributed fan experience that ran parallel to the live event. Live imagery, talent photoshoots, convention floor interviews, and video production with real-time client approval gave the experience the weight and pace of the actual event. Fans engaged with curated content as it happened, shared reactions socially in real time, and experienced a sense of community that did not require a convention floor.
The brand maintained cultural presence beyond the physical event without pretending the two experiences were identical. It expanded who got to participate.
(Full campaign details available at atplaycreative.com.)
What Remains True
Exclusivity is a brand liability when your audience is global and your moment is annual.
The most valuable thing a brand can offer its community is not content. It is the feeling of being included.
Curation, when done with intention and timing, creates presence.