ASA Professional Development SeminarsMarketing: The author as brand name

Melbourne, 27 August 2008Presented by Euan Mitchell © 2008

As requested by members, the ASA is providing papers from the professional development seminars for downloading. The information that follows summarises the content covered in the seminar and reflects the personal views of the presenter. Please note that the views expressed are not related in any way to ASA opinion or policy.

The Australian Society of Authors acknowledges the CAL Cultural Fund for its generous support of the ASA’s professional development seminar program.

Marketing: The Author as Brand Name

A seminar for the Australian Society of Authors at the Athenaeum Library on Wednesday 27 August 2008.

Morning session (10am-1pm) with Dr Euan Mitchell.

Outline of the Seminar• 10am – 1pm Euan Mitchell

includes morning tea

• 1 – 1.30pm Lunch

• 1.30 – 3.30pm David Marlowincludes afternoon tea

• 3.30 – 4.30pm Hazel Edwards

Euan Mitchell 10am – 1pm• Designing a marketing plan/strategy

• Effectiveness of book sales channels

• Comparing self-publishers’ with traditional publishers’ marketing strategies

• Putting together your promotional kit

• Launching your book

• Access to TV book shows, film contacts

• When should you hire your own publicist?

• Zines, blogs, public art/text (graffiti). Viral marketing. Establishing credibility – one's ‘platform’. Reviews/interviews on weblogs

• International/global marketing of books

David Marlow 1.30 – 3.30pm• Overview of the book industry with implications for

authors

• Identifying different kinds of markets

• Writers weeks and festivals

• Book reviews and testimonials

• Launching your book

• Bookshop signings, book tours, etc

• Networking

• Creative exposure with or without publisher support

Hazel Edwards 3.30 - 4.30pm

• Handling media interviews

• E-marketing: your website presence

• Tried and true publicity ideas

Three Key Objectives

1. Understanding the concept of ‘brand’ in the broader marketplace and an overview of its rise to prominence since the 1980s.

2. Implications of ‘brand’ for authors.

3. Applications of brand-based marketing in the book marketplace/s.

“Brand”: an innocuous idea?

• “The astronomical growth in the wealth and cultural influence of multinational corporations over the last fifteen years can arguably be traced back to a single, seemingly innocuous idea developed by management theorists in the mid-1980s: that successful corporations must primarily produce brands, as opposed to products.”

Naomi Klein, No Logo, 2001.

Products vs Images• Traditionally, the MAKING OF PRODUCTS was

the central focus of a corporation.

• Since the 1980s, many corporations have outsourced the making of their products and shifted their primary focus to MARKETING THE IMAGES OF THEIR BRANDS.

• The ‘real’ work of corporations is believed by many, such as Nike and Microsoft, not to be in manufacturing but in marketing.

Concepts not Commodities

• Traditional advertising is about selling a commodity.

• Branding is about building a ‘concept’ into a ‘lifestyle experience’ that acquires a ‘transcendental’ or even ‘spiritual’ aspect.

Examples of Branding

• Nike and Tiger Coca Cola’s “Pop it Open” boxers

Indirect Marketing Channels

• Instead of direct marketing, more effective marketing channels are seen as: - sponsorship of cultural activities and events - creating political controversies- idealising the consumer experience - up-selling the consumer into brand extensions. (From N. Klein’s No Logo.)

Implications for an Author in a Brand-driven Marketplace

• Tim Winton “now spends six months travelling around the English-speaking countries promoting a new release.” The Age 23/8/08

• Repackaging of Helen Garner’s Monkey Grip

And, of Course, Merchandising …

“It’s not rocket science.”Melbourne-based branding consultant

• 1. Know what your product is.

• 2. Understand the competitive market you are in.

• 3. Respond to your customers’ wants/needs.

Case Study Activity

• In groups, evaluate the approach to ‘branding’ in three case studies:

1. James Patterson “talking Coke bottle”.

2. Lynne Truss “repackaging her backlist”.

3. Joy Dettman “unclassifiable”.

Design a Marketing Plan / Strategy – the Foundation

• It starts with a text that is brilliantly researched, written and edited.

• Complemented by appropriate text design and graphics.

• A distinctive title.• The cover: simple and clear focus (with an

emotional tug).• Back cover blurb – second-most important

marketing instrument after word-of-mouth.

The Marketing Mix• Two Branches of Promotion:

- Advertising- Publicity

• Advertising: print media, niche publications, web (incl. YouTube), radio-TV, also public transport, billboards, merchandising, direct marketing, viral marketing, in-store promotions.

• Publicity: reviews, interviews in press, web, radio, TV, talks, signings, guerrilla marketing.

• Other channels: awards, education, overseas licensing, Film/TV, definitions of ATL/BTL.

Effectiveness of Book Sales Channels

Traditional vs Self-publishing Marketing Strategies

• Traditional publishing: concentrate promotion within 2-3 weeks. Next month move on to next books.

• Small press or self-publishing: more flexibility with time, channels and territories covered. Fewer books.

• Budgets vary widely: $100 to $100,000+

Putting Together Your Promotional Kit

• Sweat blood over an effective ‘hook’: target readership and purpose are crucial.

• Hook might be headline of media release.

• Media kit: copy of book and media release as a minimum. Also copies of reviews, features, web links, gimmicks, etc.

• Media targets: web profiles, directory listings and current status.

Launching Your Book• Pros and cons. Can you afford not to?

Cartoon by Robert Stephenson

Access to TV Book Shows, Film Contacts

• Publisher’s contacts and author’s contacts: filling in the list.

• Commercial appeal, topicality and the dreaded stammer.

• Optioning the screen rights to your book.• Writing and presenting a film treatment.• Applying for script development funding.• Returns from film/TV in current climate.

When Should You Hire Your Own Publicist?

• Your publisher’s publicist.• Knowledge of market niches/contacts.• Minimum cost of publicity campaign.• Individual freelance publicist.• Publicity company.• Yourself as publicist: pros and cons.

Alternative Forms and Channels

• Establishing credibility – one’s ‘platform’.

• Zines: Sticky, Polyester, Greville St Books.

• Blogs - reviews/interviews on weblogs.

• Public art/text (graffiti).

• Viral marketing: the ‘public’ markets your books for you.

International/Global Marketing of Books

• Having a book published overseas.• Literary agents: success rates with selling

rights to international markets.• Whether to chase agents in the USA, UK

and Asia, particularly India, and how to go about it.

• Copyright laws and controversy.• E-books via Amazon and Kindle, etc.• Print On Demand: pros and cons of

lulu.com, booksurge.com, etc.

Further Reading: The Long Tail and the World of Niche Markets

The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More

by Chris Anderson, Hyperion, USA, 2008.

Lunch Break

• Lunch from 1 – 1.30pm

• Then…

David Marlow 1.30 – 3.30pm

Hazel Edwards 3.30 – 4.30 pm