Well, looks as if WOTC plans to hew to the
drop marketing strategy adopted by athletic wear and clothing even more
closely than it has with its previous sets as the company released a Theros
themed Secret Lair set, Theros
Stargazing, with almost no announcement, an even shorter release window
(only 3 days Feb. 14, 15th and 16th) ending after the World Championship XXV1
concludes oncludes, and even more limited quantities. I tried ordering a couple
of copies for the store and received a notice that we would only receive 1.
While earlier in the day, the website indicated that customers could order up
to 10 of each set, that language has vanished from the site, although customers
can add multiple sets to their cart, just one at a time.
The way I see it, this change accomplishes three things for
WOTC
1.
Draws attention to the Magic World Championship
series. The handy link provided on the Secret Lair website takes your right to
the Twitch Stream for the World Championships. Given the amount of traffic
driven to the Secret Lair website this weekend, I imagine a substantial
percentage of it clicked on the link just to take a look at the World’s ,
increasing traffic and awareness of the Twitch channel.
2.
Harvests emails. Prominently displayed at the
bottom of the Secret Lair website is a box allowing viewers to sign up for
notifications regarding future releases. Given that WOTC apparently plans to
keep information about new drops a closely held secret (well it is a Secret
Lair) until just before the release, Magic players and customers wanting to
know about any upcoming releases will have to give WOTC their email and, since
this is information the customers will want to know, it will be an email address
the customer checks regularly, not an email they use for signing up at websites
to get a freebie and then never check.
Nope, this strategy makes sure WOTC’s emails go right into the
frequently checked email box.
3.
Increases the cachet of the Secret Lair drops.
Much like the top clothing, show and skateboard manufacturers using this
method, by holding information back about the drop until just before it occurs,
WOTC has successfully increased the exclusivity of its Secret Lair sets and,
hence, the exclusivity of those who have access to it. Even more than with the
Mythic sets and the previous Secret Lair drops, I expect demand to increase for
these sets after the sale date ends. Sealed sets of previous Secret Lair
releases (OMG Kitties, Bitterblossom) sell in the range of $50 to $75 apiece.
Unlike previous sets, we have already had customers calling asking if we would
get any of this Secret Lair release which tells me something about how much
demand there will be in the aftermarket for the cards.
Given the success of previous Secret Lair releases and the demand for this one, I see no reason to
expect Wizards to cease using this model anytime in the near future. Increased
sales, increased perception of exclusivity and more emails to which to market,
what’s not to like?
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