Making a PR virtue out of adversity

Manga is an  essential part of Japanese culture, providing entertainment and even featuring in educational and how-to books; you often find a manga collection when you go to a neighbourhood restaurant that you can read whilst eating. Those of you who aren’t manga geeks won’t have heard of Weekly Shonen Jump; but its Japan’s post popular manga magazine with a circulation of 3 million plus copies and is the home to Naruto and Bleach comic strips which are popular internationally. Asiajin talks about how the latest issue was released online for free. They did this because distribution was disrupted by the great earthquake. It has given the publishers an opportunity to experiment with digital comics, build further goodwill with its readership and encourage trialling by new readers. It’s a smart communications move, making a virtue out of adversity in a non-exploitative way. HT: Asiajin.