Bonfire Agency has announced the creation of a rotating 500-person panel of "comic culture" consumers for use in market research.  Bonfire is currently recruiting members aged 13 and up for its "FanPan," which it plans to deploy for focus groups, surveys, and moderated discussions.  Panel members will be paid for their participation in cash or collectibles, or via entry into a sweepstakes for prizes of higher value. 

The need for this kind of research is clear, according to Bonfire co-founder and former DC SVP Steve Rotterdam.  "[M]ost of what is passed off as consumer knowledge within the industry is self-reflective, assumptive, and not very helpful," he said.  "This is a demo that tends to be highly opinionated, iconoclastic and elusive.  We've found that one of the best ways to find out what they're thinking is to ask them what they’re thinking."

In an early phase of the creation of the panel, it's been used for testing of entertainment ad campaigns, qualitative research into the collectibles market, an evaluation of licensed product packaging designs, and polling on the appeal of consumer product-content promotions.  Bonfire's FanPan has included the participation of the Fandom Advisory Network, which is sponsored by Geppi’s Entertainment Museum.  

Bonfire was formed in early 2011 by Rotterdam and former Reed Expo exec Ed Catto (see "Rotterdam, Catto Start Bonfire").  It formed an ad network of independent comic publishers last summer (see "Bonfire's Ad Network").