Bhumi Agrawal is a first-year undergraduate pursuing a degree in BMM at HSNC University. Her hobbies include travelling, listening to music and dancing. She worked as a marketing and sales intern at Kross Komics.
How did you get this internship? Can you explain the selection process?
I got the internship through one of my college friends. The recruitment process was doing an online interview, where I was mainly asked questions regarding why I would be the right fit. Comic books to me are fairy tales for grown-ups. The interview included questions about my interest in comic books. Questions like “Which type of comics do I enjoy reading?”, “Mention some funny quotes from comics you like” and “What do you expect from this internship?” And then I received an email within a week and got started with my internship.
What was your title and responsibility in that internship?
Please elaborate by giving specific details about your day-to-day tasks. I was a marketing intern at Kross Komics. I had to conduct surveys, collect responses and analyze reports. I had to develop, execute and scrutinize marketing campaigns to constantly enhance the performance of the marketing organization. Whether you are trying to sell your new comic book during a pandemic or just beginning to plan out your next comic, it is important to identify your target audience.
As with any author, building a loyal relationship is essential and it helps to know who your readers are. LinkedIn is a treasure trove when it comes to building your writing community. By networking on Linkedln, you can access groups and promote your brand. Ultimately, your fans are the driving force behind your marketing efforts, which is why taking their feedback is essential.
Why do you think Marketing Comics fit into Content Campaigns?
Think of comic artists as gifted storytellers. Comics are a medium to give your audience a pause. You want to make them stop in their tracks and pay attention to each image and how they work together to form the message you want to convey. The limited space means that each panel must move the audience in some way, whether into laughter or introspection.
What were some of the challenges that you faced during the internship? How did you overcome it?
The only challenge is to retain enough readers/subscribers on the platform and have enough good artists to tell good stories. It’s the first app in India to bring Korean, Japanese and some American comics to India. Kross Komics have 100 titles and two million downloads as of now. The thing that stands out is that Kross Komics has different artists who want to create something unique and not similar to Marvel and DC Comics, and they can write on the platform even if they don’t have a publisher.
Webtoons are read vertically and it may be a challenge for Indian artists to get used to. Usually, webtoon titles comprise 50+ episodes, and readers can read episodes on a weekly basis. So storytelling becomes important. At times, it got difficult to get contacts and convince them to subscribe but it helped me improve my marketing and interpersonal skills. I overcame this challenge by interacting with several people and engaging on social media.
What makes Kross Komics different from other comic book apps?
In the Indian market, Kross Komics is the first-of-its-kind webtoon app. Given the growing popularity of webtoons in the digital content space and gaining a head start in India, Kross Komics aims to bring exciting, new webtoons to the country’s youth. Kross Pictures launched the Indian wing of Kross Komics in December 2019. Created to serve mobile users, Kross Komics, a truly digital comic platform for readers, primarily targets readers in the 15-24 age group. Riding the palpable Korean cultural wave in India, Kross Komics has gained rapid traction, registering 3.5 million downloads. Another reason why this app is brought to India is to create an ecosystem for the artists, where they are respected and recognized as professionals.
What have you learnt from this internship?
In addition to learning about real-world marketing, I learned just as much about being a quality employee and team member. As a college student, I am well aware that I am at the bottom of the food chain. Ultimately, being an intern means having to work under people. For people my age, it can be challenging to understand that you are (sometimes) the least knowledgeable person in these situations. That said, I learned that you have to balance listening and learning vs sharing your ideas and asking questions.