Virtual is becoming the new reality.

With fan conventions, concert tours, and virtually every other activity canceled or postponed, performers and entertainment IP owners are scrambling to find a new stage to promote their brands and keep fans engaged.

The kinds of face-to-face events that used to pack arenas or convention centers are a non-starter for the near future, so online meet-and-greets, panel discussions and other events are becoming the new connective tissue between fans and brands.

Replacement Business

It’s an ongoing process. Comic-Con International, in announcing Friday the cancellation of July’s San Diego Comic-Con, hinted at plans for a virtual event. And when the Emerald City Comic-Con slated for March in Portland, OR was rescheduled for Aug. 21-23 and then April’s WonderCon in Anaheim, CA was cancelled, collectible suppliers Funko and Cryptozoic Entertainment quickly launch their own virtual “Cons” to pull in fans they’d missed seeing.

Exclusives

The online events were replete with exclusive merchandise (originally slated to be sold at the in-person shows), headquarters “tours,” behind-the-scenes looks at product development, and, in the case of Funko, a kick-off livestream virtual party. WonderCon itself staged WonderCon@Home this past weekend with links to exhibitors, an artists’ alley and fan groups. There’s even a day-long virtual cosplay-focused COSnet 1.0 event on April 26 that’s been organized by makeup and creature effects designer Nick Maley.

For the most part, the virtual events are designed to foster fan connection, while also attempting to offset the double whammy of lost sales at shuttered retail stores and the live fan conventions, says Jamie Kiskis, VP of Marketing and Product Development at Cryptozoic.

“We reached each fan base and collecting group (collectibles, board games and trading cards) separately via social to inform them of the event and since we don’t know when conventions will be back” in their prior form, “we are going to continue to do things that are in our control,” says Kiskis.

Toy/collectible companies and convention organizers aren’t the only ones seeking to connect virtually at a time when crowded autograph signings seem to be a relic of a long-ago past rather than a few months ago.

Some Hollywood stars, musicians, comedians and other older celebrities that never bothered with online social media platforms are now seeking to connect with existing fans and potentially attract new ones. United Talent Agency (UTA) has shifted to providing support for clients who — with productions and performances on hold –are now trying to make their mark online and build something that will have a more permanent presence in a post-pandemic world.

For instance, with live festivals and concerts cancelled along with the merchandise sales that go with them, there’s been an increasing amount live digital content from musicians, such as Elton John’s Living Room Concert for America on YouTube. And while comedian Kevin Hart’s “Laugh Out Loud Network” already had a large following on YouTube (4.8 million subscribers), Hart has since shifted to a couch and smartphone camera for “Straight from the Hart.”

“It’s ‘Let’s engage and entertain and be there for fans in this moment,’” UTA Chief Innovation Officer Brent Weinstein said. “But let’s also do it in a way that helps build an audience that they can engage with for months and years thereafter.”