Report 2013 - Kelly Fagan HERE - Australian Publishers Association

More documents

Recommendations

Info

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 12
Marketing and Publicity Department Structures (UK) (cont.) Pan Macmillan also announced a restructure to their marketing and publicity teams in January 2013, bringing together the formerly separate marketing and publicity teams and adding ‘an extra layer of “always on” digital resource and expertise to ensure we stay ahead of the game in developing our authors and engaging readerships through online platforms and social media, email marketing and community development.’ 35 Sara Lloyd, director of the new communications team says that one of the main goals of the restructure was to create a ‘more collaborative, less silo-ed working environment’ 36 for her staff. She insists that the mission of ‘engaging with readers’ must be a company-wide strategy. ‘We have established a Reading Group scheme, literally opening our doors to readers to invite them into the publishing process; we’ve launched Notebook Sessions, our own brand of creative writing venture in which we connect with the aspirational writer that is a feature of so many dedicated readers; we made our Tor list digital rights management-free, based on listening to what our readers wanted and daring to experiment and learn by doing; we’ve focused on our own web platform, given it a responsive design to make it mobile-friendly, and grown our email registrants by over 200%; and we’ve invested in trends insights, social media tools, consumer research, search engine optimisation, search engine marketing and the associated training.’ 37 I ask Lloyd about training and she tells me that she has invested in both ‘up-skilling and cross-training’ existing marketers and publicists, so they have a complete arsenal of communications tactics to use when bringing a book to the world. New hires (at a coordinator level) are selected on the basis that they have the ‘aptitude and disposition to complete both marketing and publicity tasks’. 38 Interestingly, Lloyd has also created a digital publicity team, situated within the wider communications team. The group of three (one head and two digital publicists) are charged with managing a digital contact database, using online activity to ‘bridge the gap between key campaign moments’, and amplifying the traditional media and marketing on social media. Trade marketing at Pan Macmillan now happens entirely through the sales team. Lloyd says, ‘Sales support their own orders, with their own budgets and their own time schedules.’ 39 HarperCollins have also experimented with some new department structures in their quest to connect directly with audiences. The ‘specialist’ structure that Faber have to a degree introduced with marketers working on specific lists, rather than across them, has long been a part of the way marketers and publicists work at HarperCollins. The company is divided into divisions, with each running as a separate unit. HarperFiction, Harper Non-Fiction & Sports, Fourth Estate & William Collins, and Harper Children’s divisions each have their own teams of marketers, publicists, and sales staff to service the respective lists. In 2012 HarperCollins appointed Barnaby Dawe (formerly marketing director at The Sun and News of the World) to the role of Chief Marketing Officer. Hiring Dawe was part of a larger shift in strategy for HarperCollins: ‘Our marketing activities have never been more strategically important. We have a fabulous team of marketeers here at HC and I believe the creation of this new role will allow them to develop to a new level, as we put the reader more firmly at the heart of everything we do,’ 40 said former CEO Victoria Barnsley when the appointment was announced. According to Director of People John Athanasiou, the role will oversee direct-to-consumer policy for HarperCollins and also provide a ‘centralised focus to divisional teams’. 41 Dawe also aims to streamline processes around ‘briefing, placement and creative’ and instill the importance of ‘proximity marketing’ in the team. With this comes a shift in marketing spend from trade and outdoor to digital, so the ‘consumer is always one click away from purchase.’ 42 35 http://www.thebookseller.com/blogs/comms-cuddle.html 36 Face-to-face interview with Sara Lloyd, Digital and Communications Director Pan Macmillan, 31st July, 2013 37 http://www.thebookseller.com/blogs/comms-cuddle.html 38 Face-to-face interview with Sara Lloyd, Digital and Communications Director Pan Macmillan, 31st July, 2013 39 Face-to-face interview with Sara Lloyd, Digital and Communications Director Pan Macmillan, 31st July, 2013 40 http://www.thebookseller.com/news/hc-appoints-news-international-marketer-new-chief-role.html 41 Face-to-face interview with John Athanasiou, Director of People, HarperCollins UK, 26 June 2013 42 Face-to-face interview with Barnaby Dawe, Chief Marketing Officer, HarperCollins Publishers, 26 June 2013 Author: Kelly Fagan 13
Page 1 and 2: A Very Long Engagement: how the new
Page 3 and 4: Overview With book marketing, every
Page 5 and 6: Key Findings 1. Differences/similar
Page 7 and 8: The Australian Retail Space In Aust
Page 9 and 10: An Australian book consumer benchma
Page 11 and 12: The UK Retail Space When I approach
Page 13: The UK Media Space (cont.) As in Au
Page 17 and 18: The Evolution of Marketing and Publ
Page 23 and 24: What Does it Mean to Connect Direct
Page 25 and 26: What Does it Mean to Connect Direct
Page 27 and 28: Cross Industry Collaboration In thi
Page 29 and 30: Conclusion jThis report led me down

Report 2013 - Kelly Fagan HERE - Australian Publishers Association

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?