Report 2013 - Kelly Fagan HERE - Australian Publishers Association

Marketing and Publicity Department Structures (UK)
‘The media and the market for books are in flux in the age of e-books and Amazon, but publishers still
have a vital role.’ 28
In very early 2012 Stephen Page wrote a piece for The Guardian reflecting on the dramatic year that was 2011 in UK
publishing. He suggested that 2011 ‘may have signaled the beginning of the end of the era of publishers-with-accessto-the-mass-market
as the dominant model for book publishing’ and goes on to discuss the need for a shift in focus
– from trade to consumer – in order for publishers to prove their value in the 21 st Century.
Almost two years after this piece was written, I was interested to see how British publishing houses had implemented
this change in focus. Was it still largely a discussion about what needed to be done How were promotional departments
and the positions within them changing Were there new department structures New roles Appointments from
outside of the industry In what ways were publishers refocusing their marketing and communications
Faber and Faber were an interesting case study for this. Stephen Page suggested that I spend some time with
Faber’s new Consumer Marketing Director Matt Haslum in order to understand how the publisher has shifted
its marketing strategy. Page told me that during the interview process he asked Haslum (who has an extensive
background in consumer marketing across big media brands such as Sky and TalkTalk) what he knew of the book
trade. When Haslum admitted his knowledge was limited, Page said,
‘Good. If I ask you this question again in a year and your answer is still the same, then I will know we’re
getting somewhere’. 29
When I meet Matt Haslum mid-June he is putting the finishing touches on Faber and Faber’s new consumer
marketing team. There has been a reshuffle of existing staff and roles, as well as some new appointments.
‘Part of what I am trying to do here is to give people an expertise and a focus around different consumer
groups and that is a fundamental shift in the way that we are looking to market.’ 30
The team has grown from two generic campaign managers to four consumer marketing managers who are to
become experts in their assigned lists – Non-Fiction, Fiction and Crime, Arts (poetry, art, rock and pop) and Children’s.
‘Now that each member of my team has a focus, they can really get inside those consumer groups
because there is no one “arts consumer”, there is no one “crime consumer”; there are about 15 subsets
of crime before you start and the question is how do you talk to those different niches, how do you make
them interested and ultimately buy the book’ 31
Haslum believes that content marketing is the key to engaging consumer groups and appealing to readers in a
modern society. To this end he has created a content marketing team, to complement his consumer team. Heading
this up is Partnerships Editor Hannah Marshall who creates a program of content tailored for retail, media and
distribution partners ‘that adds value to our books, adds value to our offerings and promotes the Faber brand’. 32
Marshall is also the content curator for Faber Shop – an online boutique within The Book People website, offering
direct retail to customers as well as author interviews, articles and competitions. 33
In addition to this Faber also has a publicity department who feed into both consumer and content teams, but
maintain a more traditional function. Head of Publicity Anna Pallai says,
‘We focus largely on our relationships with the media – online and traditional – and with the authors, and I
think the new marketing structure will allow us to do this even more effectively, to really focus on our authors.’ 34
28 http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jan/13/way-ahead-publishing-ebooks-stephen-page
29 Face-to-face interview with Stephen Page, CEO Faber and Faber, 12 June, 2013
30 Face-to-face interview with Matt Haslum, Consumer Marketing Director Faber and Faber, 17 June, 2013
31 Face-to-face interview with Matt Haslum, Consumer Marketing Director Faber and Faber, 17 June, 2013
32 Face-to-face interview with Matt Haslum, Consumer Marketing Director Faber and Faber, 17 June, 2013
33 http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplaycategoryId=122209&storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=100
34 Face-to-face interview with Anna Pallai, Head of Publicity Faber and Faber, 17 June, 2013
Author: Kelly Fagan
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