If you're reading this post here, it's safe to say you care at least a little about the animation medium. To many of us, it really is a special thing. It can provide a comforting escape from reality, an immersive experience that captures the imagination in ways live action simply can not, a moving, artistic ride, and so much more. But there's been a consistent problem with it, which has always been around to some degree but has become all the more noticeable in the last several years with the rise of streaming services. However, it has almost nothing to do with the content itself, or even how they are perceived. It's all in the business side, and while there's many corporate activities that one can say hinders the medium's potential (I myself have discussed executive meddling in another post), I would argue none are more damning than marketing, or rather the lack thereof.
It goes without saying that advertisements are pretty much everywhere, and exist in some capacity for everything. They are how companies and individuals market their offerings, through whatever platforms they find are most likely to gather the desired audience in regards to criteria that include age, hobbies, location, and current world events. You are all probably thinking of methods such as TV commercials, YouTube ad breaks, brand social media accounts, and banner ads on website - but how the product itself is presented is also a major part of marketing, where all the details must be laid on the table clearly but not overwhelmingly, and in a manner that would get the target customers excited. Make sure they not only know, but are happy they know. Cartoons are no different. You most commonly see them advertised through commercials, internet trailers, and of course, social media.
However, there's a very noticeable discrepancy going on between the products themselves and how they get out to the customer. For some reason, most of the time western animation companies - no matter which one you're thinking of - seem to consistently stick to social media posts and occasionally a trailer uploaded to places like YouTube. This may not seem bad on the surface; it certainly notifies the company or brand's existing followers. However, that's all the reach ends up extending to. On the corporate front, only the people who actively seek out to look at a company's given news feed on their Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube will be able to know about these new, exciting shows. And with how many posts are generally made across them at a time, certain announcements are bound to get lost in the shuffle, especially to those who don't log in particularly often.
To an extent, this makes some business sense in that you'll want to target those who are already subscribed to your service. But the way it's set up doesn't guarantee those who are subscribed will see them, and there aren't too many options among members themselves You will occasionally get a press e-mail or two, and of course algorithm suggestions (especially enticing to the younger viewers). But those two channels are so easily glanced over, and even the banner and internal ads tend to look at what's the most popular in its broad categories. This is even present in the cable networks, where favoritism to the tried and true inevitably results in the majority of new creations getting pushed under the bus to varying extents, particularly in the current era where cable companies are hanging by a thread. Some level of all this is inevitable with any large corporation, but the lack of variety in what's promoted all across the board gets tiring and makes it easy for people to impulsively skip over - leading to any promotion of what's new to also get skipped over.
This has also led to many cases of influential people or other large cartoon-related accounts basically being pressured by fans to push their show, for the sake of it reaching their followers and therefore spreading the word from there. As great as it is when your favorite cartoon reviewer does indeed turn a lot of attention to a show you agree needs more of it, the truth is just because many of these shows can only be carried through word-of-mouth doesn't mean it should be taken as the fans' job, especially for free. These people should look at and push what they want, and even if the way you may approach them isn't the problem; if you can't find people who would be swayed into looking at it, then you probably just aren't approaching the right crowds. They can't be held responsible for the failure of the marketing teams who are supposed to make sure these reach anyone interested but, for whatever reason, don't.
In fact, this concept sometimes extends to the creators or staff of the products themselves. Owen Dennis, creator of "Infinity Train", has indirectly sparked a rather depressing conversation about this after he felt the need to repeatedly push his show just prior to book 4 releasing. Elizabeth Ito, creator of Netflix's "City of Ghosts", has in particular expressed discomfort over how much crap seems to constantly get promoted while boundary-pushing work like hers is pushed to the side. Even Dan Milano of "Glitch Techs" stated before either of these cases that the show has pretty much solely relied on free discussion just to get a following, and while he wasn't quite as rigorous in pushing his own work, he was clearly a bit disgruntled whenever the topic is brought up. Even though they understand there's a lot of business practices at play, notably how the services are being advertised and not individual programs, artists seem to unanimously agree that they all deserve better for their hard work.
To be fair, the lackluster promotion generally doesn't seem to correlate to a show's success and future. Going back to previous examples, "Infinity Train" and "Glitch Techs" were both shows that were bitterly cut before their prime, to the point where there's incomplete storyboards for both waiting to be completed. While it may seem on the surface they were robbed of more viewers due to the previous reasons, it was more the fault of management shifts leaving the new regime disinterested than anything. On the other end, "Kid Cosmic" is a show that has no fewer than three seasons set to be produced for Netflix (which has been stated to be the full intended story), but it got far less official advertising than IT and GT ever did. And while "Craig of the Creek"'s marketing is also clumsy and/or lackluster - to the point where certain episodes seemed to only get officially mentioned the day of release - it is one of CN's few mid-to-late 2010s gems continuing to live on well into the 2020s, even getting a spinoff currently in the works.
I would also argue that it's because not many modern cartoons, especially original IPs, are pushed to the masses much that you constantly see people outside of animation circles look down on modern western animation. Saying that adult animation always looks ugly, despite all the shows in the last few years like "Final Space" and "Love, Death, and Robots" trying to break the mold. Saying that all kids animation looks samey and/or juvenile when they only look at the likes of "Teen Titans Go!" and "Steven Universe", and then only on the basic surface level. Or that it consists of nothing but rehashes when original creations still very much persist all over the place. It can also cause some artificial FOMO in people who do hear of it, thinking they'll have to quickly consume it while they can to help build its audience and make sure people know this type of show does exist out there - which, in turn, can make some of these people look downright obsessed with a show they want to see catch on more.
There are of course a handful of exceptions to what I've described, each for slightly different reasons. The 2020 "Animaniacs" reboot is the one that probably comes to mind first, as it was advertised across New York and Los Angeles, special attention at San Diego Comic Con, and even a free Twitter stream of episode 1. And sure enough, this got everyone (both animation fans and everyone who grew up with the original) talking and it took the top spot on Hulu that week, even surpassing the reliable-moneymaker Family Guy. This was most likely the result of having the rich, renowned Steven Spielberg as the executive producer, but many of these feel like techniques that should go without saying in promoting any new show you want to maximize profits in but don't. To be fair, Times Square has been shown to have a "City of Ghosts" advertisement, but it appears to have been rather brief.
There's also shows on a certain level of established popularity like "Bojack Horseman". While the marketing was fairly standard at first, after it took off Netflix decided to go the extra mile in a few places like creating special recaps for each season before a new one releases, and creating a gimmick Twitter account meant to represent the titular Bojack. A consistent stream of seemingly insignificant, but frequent and fan-engaging content went a long way in making sure a lot of people were talking about the show, allowing its fanbase to grow from there. In fact, reboots and remakes seem to consistently get consistent press and tabloid attention, as nostalgia or plain brand recognition are able to open many people's eyes in and of itself. Anytime something of note can be said about the CW's live-action Powerpuff series can be written, they'll be released because they know people will generate clicks every time, especially if there's outrage involved.
Now, one must ask, when can these services do to improve buzz for new, upcoming cartoons? I would argue an ideal place to start would be to expand these services' media mix. A couple billboards or sign ads placed across key locations (as would be discovered through research) would be a good place to start, as doing so would allow them to reach a crowd not bound by their internet circles or what already interests them in general. But even for those interested in general entertainment, but don't necessarily actively seek out these things online, a print ad in publications such as Entertainment Weekly would be a good place to return to, or even space within the content itself whenever there's something to promote. These may seem old-fashioned considering part of the appeal of streaming is how new and convenient it is, but they've always been able to keep all walks of life in the know about what's there to see. And while there's heavy costs to consider for sure, with the right research they'd prove worth their while in time.
But of course, digital channels must be emphasized as well, particularly as it's for digital content. While social media activity is the one place they seem to noticeably get the word out, I think it could benefit from being more active than a simple posting wall. Make scheduled events to interact with fans in the weeks prior to a series or season premiere, possibly involving the series crew themselves - more ambitious campaigns could even mix things up on different sites to best suit the platform. They could also get influential content creators on YouTube and the like to promote a selection of shows on the service, much like what you currently see with VPN companies and other online services. I would also argue that, with how well Nintendo Directs serve as extensive updates on new products and services on their systems (be it third-party or indie), some similar presentations made by these services (perhaps done every month, as that's when the press reports release) could pay off big-time, especially if grouped by genre.
Obviously, none of these solutions are one-size fits all, and I'm sure there are potential downsides to each one that I haven't considered. There's certainly a lot of risk and money involved in pushing anything this hard that may not necessarily be a success, as is natural in business. But I would argue there is severe potential in most of these western-produced cartoons that I've mentioned, and several more that are probably on your mind, solely based off the followings they have gained from those word of them managed to reach. And more often than not, these followings seem to only grow more and more over time (occasionally even years after the fact), making it clear there's been too many cases where the audience isn't fully realized. And when you are effectively getting lot of your viewership off free marketing, then it can hardly even be called marketing at that point.