"Side-Hustle?!" A Wall of Text about Webtoons (Patreon)

Did not expect to be writing two Walls of Text this week, but this morning my Twitter feed was filled with rightous fury against Webtoon, leading to a lot of thoughtful and passionate discussion threads - yet nobody talking about what I was thinking. 

For those who missed it, Webtoon began a campaign in NYC's public transit to promote their app. It featured images from their most popular Originals titles, with captions not only cringe-worthy, but downright misleading and insulting to the creators who use the platform. The images I've found (and used above) are by Heidi MacDonald, her initial article about the campaign is at this link.

None of the ads got a good response from Webtoon creators, but the "Comics are literature's fun side-hustle" poster caused the most righteous fury for several reasons, including: 

The way the posters are designed, it seems the comics promoted on them were made by independent part time artists, when they're really made by full time artists hired by Webtoon. 

The term 'side-hustle' implies comic artists are not professional artists, that making art is not full-time career. When in reality, they ARE. And it IS. Several artists started using the #notasidehustle tag to share how much time and effort goes into their creations. 

This campaign for a diverse, creator-driven storytelling platform in no way communicates that Webtoon is a diverse, creator-driven storytelling platform. It reads more like a campaign for juicy gossip blog.

Personally, I think the fury was completely justified. Webtoons did, too - they posted an official apology for the campaign on their twitter, a copy of which I've posted in the images above. 

But while there was plenty of discussion about the campaign and Webtoon's response, I didn't see any threads about why this campaign was made, who it was for. Any time a tweet asked "How did this get approved?" it was concluded with variations of "They don't care!" or "They want non-comic readers to join!" 

These vague conclusions bother me. Webtoon may have apologized for this poorly-written campaign, but if we don't take the time to really question why it happened, what motivated this campaign in the first place will manifest again. 

So, being the professional comic artist I am, I used the research and marketing skills I've learned to dig a little deeper. Why was this campaign made? Who were these ads for?

First of all, 'Non-comic readers' is not a marketable audience. A marketing campaign is built around who the target audience is, not who they aren't. If you're trying to sell a fantasy book to people who don't normally read fantasy, you don't design a poster that says "Not a Fantasy Fan? You will be with THIS Fantasy Book!"**

**(Shouldn't. You shouldn't design a poster saying that.)

Instead, You find out what these people DO like in their books, how your book meets that demand, and create a campaign around THAT. "Historical Fiction Fans - How would history have changed if Napoleon had Dragons? Read 'His Majesty's Dragon' to find out!" 

So let's look at these ads again - who were they made for?

Not for creators, for reasons listed above.

Not for comic lovers, there's nothing being promoted about the actual comics on Webtoon, just the Webtoon brand.

Not really for new users, either - there's nothing to informative about what Webtoon has, or what potential needs it will meet.

So if the campaign wasn't for the creators who contribute content to the platform, and it wasn't for customers who will spend money on the platform, who's left? 

I think this is an ad campaign for investors. 

The vague, gossipy vibe each caption has makes a lot more sense to me if they were written for an audience who is always looking for the next big thing to buy into. Saying "side-hustle" hints this could be the next big gig economy app. "Doom-Scrolling" and "Oops...3 AM" captions imply how addictive the app is. "Your favorite streaming platform" sparks ideas about organic buzz and potential cross-promotion opportunities.

The campaign is also specifically in NYC, where a huge population of investors live and work. One of the comments on Heidi's article also suggests this campaign was timed to coincide with a festival where a lot of industry professionals would be networking.

The need for investors can be also confirmed with a quick googling of Webtoon's parent company, Naver. Their stock price has been steadily falling all year, meanwhile they've been acquiring other creative platforms, and using the most popular Webtoon titles to start expanding into book publishing, merchandise and animation. This tells me they need money. A lot of money. New York City Investor money.

So, what does this mean?

It means Webtoon is going to change. If Naver is selling investors on the idea that Webtoon can expand their most popular Original titles into other forms of merchandise and revenue, then the burden of answering to those investors could affect how Webtoon selects new Original titles in the future.

There are some amazing Original titles on Webtoon right now, but I'm not confident they would be chosen and promoted like they are if Webtoon had to find a new Original comic series that could also be a Netflix cartoon and a figurine series and a tiktok meme. 

It means we have to keep paying attention to and communicating with Webtoon. Even if you don't to use the app or set up an account with them, the entire industry has accepted Webtoon, is holding them up as the new standard for how to operate a successful comic publishing company. If the people operating this platform make choices we don't want, we need to speak up - loudly and quickly. Otherwise, the other publishers watching will think we'll accept it as part of that new standard. 

Also,  by speaking up and telling Webtoon why we like their app and the changes we want to see in the future, it helps them know what to advocate for and vote against when discussing the company's future with their shareholders. 

Finally, this whole campaign is further proof that YOU are the best resource to share and promote YOUR work. No matter how great and helpful any platform, agent, or ad campaign is, at the end of the day they all have their own goals and priorities to meet. 

This doesn't mean they don't care, or that you shouldn't aim for success on a platform / with an agent / in an advertisement. 

It means the love you have for what you're making shines through you in a way no other company, person or campaign can capture. And if you add that love to whatever is being done to promote your work, it's going to make your future success that much brighter.