This year Comic-Con International mailed out badges to attendees ahead of time rather than having us pick them up on-site as we have in the past.
However, the plastic holder did not ship with a lanyard. Those would instead be quickly available at the convention in San Diego, California itself.
But I had a temporary solution. I attached mine to a Celebrity Cruises one that I had from a previous unrelated preview event.
I thought it would be fun to represent my love of pop culture and cruising simultaneously, and I even snapped an Instagram selfie to that effect. Little did I know that it would potentially cause some confusion among my followers, one who assumed Celebrity Cruises must be a sponsor of Comic-Con for 2017.
Alas, that was not the case, and I had to explain that the Celebrity lanyard was left over from a Celebrity Edge reveal promoting the upcoming new ship.
But it did get me to thinking: Should cruise lines actually consider sponsoring such pop culture events as Comic-Con to target new markets?
It just might be a brilliant idea.
Comic-Con is especially teeming with millennials. I know how much the cruise industry is catering to my generation as it is currently neck-and-neck with boomers as the primary source market. So, a crossover between the industries might be a very wise one.
Celebrity might not be the ideal brand to contemplate such a collaboration, but I could certainly see corporate cousin Royal Caribbean International leveraging a sponsorship deal.
The line could even integrate its partnership with DreamWorks Animation to take advantage of a film premiere at the convention as an opportunity to promote the DreamWorks Experience available onboard 10 of its ships.
Comic-Con loves giveaways, and a sweepstakes for a free cruise would certainly resonate there.
[READMORE]READ MORE: What You Missed at Comic-Con International 2017[/READMORE]
Disney Cruise Line will always be the one company with the most built-in synergy that perfectly extends from its in-house entertainment franchises to its own D23 Expo fan convention, but other brands have similar partnerships that could be boosted via Comic-Con or other pop culture events.
Carnival Cruise Line's showcase of Dr. Seuss could certainly be a focus of the children and literature fans attending conventions, while Princess Cruises teaming up with Discovery Communications could cross-promote con-favorite "MythBusters."
Inevitably, there might be opportunities for entirely new partnerships to be forged in the pop culture arena.
Cruise lines perpetually seek out celebrity chefs and television shows to collaborate with, from Guy Fieri to Oprah Winfrey. If that net was cast wider, other personalities open up to consideration.
[READMORE]READ MORE: Reviewing Disney's D23 Expo 2017[/READMORE]
One of the most ubiquitous hosts of Comic-Con over the last few years has been Nerdist's hilariously fearless leader, Chris Hardwick-also known for the "Talking Dead" companion series to "The Walking Dead." With as popular as the zombie apocalypse show has become on land and at sea with its own theme cruise, he would be an obvious choice and ace emcee for any onboard festivities.
In fact, maybe this is the perfect time for Nerdist to have its own theme cruise devoted to the passions of its followers.
Also, as Norwegian Cruise Line has recently backed away from several collaborations, it might be a prime time for the company to be the host brand. Besides, it already is home to theme cruises such as Star Trek: The Cruise.
The Nerdist Cruise Hosted by Chris Hardwick? Now that's one sailing I would hop on in a nanosecond!
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