What it takes to be No. 1

Do you remember the so-called "Premiere Comic Book of the Philippines" that came out sometime in mid-2000 and then suddenly disappeared without a trace? Actually, the publisher prefers to call it the "Premiere Anime'-inspired Comic Magazine of the Philippines", but that wasn't the tag line that appeared in its posters.

Now before continuing any further, I know what you're thinking.

No, I'm not going to put it down or tear it up to pieces like I usually do against those empty and dunder-headed Pinoy comics imitations of Japanese anime' currently running around. I have such a healthy respect for what these original guys accomplished in the Pinoy comics publishing field that I'm not going to start by hectoring their achievements to the ground. They started what I think was meant to be an innocent "fun" experiment that wasn't supposed to last long, but has now unintentionally morphed into some sort of Frankenstein's monster; that is, of siring numerous brainless imitators and wannabes.

Specifically, my beef is with these empty-headed successors; Pinoy comics imitations of Japanese anime' currently yearning to be the next "Premiere Comic Book of the Philippines".

These globalized successors haughtily claim that Japanese anime' (and even manga) are the new wave of Pinoy comics to which all must conform as if all of us have no choice in the matter. These anime' media zombies claim that since the "Premiere Comic Book of the Philippines" is the only Pinoy comic that has achieved bestseller status, it constitutes a vindication and affirmation that Japanese anime' and Pinoy manga is here to stay.

With that, it is with profuse and advanced apologies that I would like to begin this ramble by stating that the following diatribe is not addressed in any way against the creative discretion chosen by the original staff of the "Philippines' Premiere Comic Book". No, my focus will solely center on the business side of things; of examing the economic and business considerations that made it precisely the Philippines' so-called "Premiere Comic Book", and whether or not from a sales and business point of view, such a tagline is indeed deserved.

With that out of the way, I now begin treading on thin ice by first describing the subject in question.

As previously mentioned, the first Pinoy Manga is in color and the drawings are Japanese anime' inspired. Language used is Filipino/Tagalog though the stories are not that original, mostly derivative, and are lighthearted. Size of publication is digest size using slick paper. And though allegedly priced reasonably (and initially) at Php 75, it appeared infrequently for approximately 4 years beginning mid-2000, reaching 14 to 15 issues until sometime in 2004, it totally vanished or "crashed" from the shelves.

Internet search disclose that the creative team involved purportedly decided to pursue their own individual interests and cease publication. However, after recently conferring with a reliable source involved with the publication itself this blogger found out some interesting facts. Foremost of these is that it never sold below 15,000 copies nor above 30,000 copies.

Now you may think that's pretty high but if you consider the fact that in Metro Manila alone we have a population of about 2.5 million households or approximately 12 million individuals, a minimum of 15,000 to a maximum of 30,000 copies is pretty low, wouldn't you agree? (Source: Basket Behavior: Understanding Buying Patterns Especially During Hard Times by Ramil Digal Gulle, Business Day, 15 August to 04 September, 2005 issue, p. 22).

Even for a target audience, the above number is still small for advertising purposes. Why spend thousands (or millions) for print ad on the First Pinoy Manga if its selling only from 15 to 30 thousand? Better that it be placed on television, on AXN, Animax, or a nationwide broadsheet newspaper in order to get results.

Another factor going against it is that the First Pinoy Manga appears infrequently if not unpredictably. Advertisers generally want to advertise in publications that appear regularly so their ads could be seen frequently. I suspect that any ad that appeared in its issues were "x-deals" or ads placed without monetary payment but in kind.

Still another point is that our 15.3 million households in the Philippines are mostly lower-income earning families that could not afford a Php 75 price tag. Specifically, our households (as of 2004) are distributed by way of income class as follows:

AB-1%

C-9%

D-55%

E-35% (Source: Forever Living in Exciting Times: A Look at Economic Trends and Filipino Consumer Buying Patterns by Gladys De Veyro, Business Day, 15 August to 04 September, 2005 issue, P. 12).

Average household spending in rural areas is Php 3,150 a month while in urban areas, its Php 3,592 (Source: Basket Behavior, Ibid.) These amounts are mostly allocated to basic necessities such as food, electricity, transportation, education, communication, and personal care products. There is almost no allocation for luxury items such as fiction books or printed comic books of any kind. So again, if I were the advertiser, its better that I advertise in an anime' television show where my target audience wouldn't have to buy anything to see my ad. All they have to do is click on the TV, watch the anime' program and voila, see my ad. Who needs the printed Pinoy Manga?

I could go on, but I think the above is more than enough to support the view that total sales of 15,000 to 30,000 copies of a Pinoy Manga is not popular (or profitable) enough to make it the Premiere Comic Magazine in the Philippines.

With the slick paper and fancy coloring used, I suspect that the printing and production cost here is pretty high. So, assuming that at Php 75, 30,000 copies are sold out, you have a total gross profit of Php 2,250,000.00. That's small because from there you still have to deduct the 30-40% distributor's share and production cost per copy that keeps rising every year because of inflation. I won't even bother computing as the results are pretty obvious.

No wonder the first Pinoy Manga closed shop. Business-wise, it wasn't managed well and it sure as hell wasn't that profitable. But hey, the westernized elite fans had fun and the magazine distributors earned a lot of money at their expense, didn't they?