Report 2013 - Kelly Fagan HERE - Australian Publishers Association

The Evolution of Marketing and Publicity Activities (cont.)
Timing is also playing a big part in the evolution of the traditional publicity campaign. Harper Fiction PR Director
Elizabeth Dawson and Head of Publicity Louise Swannell both talk about trying to stagger publicity activity across an
entire year 53 – from pre-publication awareness right through to paperback release. In her awards submission to the
Publishers’ Publicity Circle, for a campaign for Tracy Chevalier’s The Last Runaway, Dawson says:
‘I placed a strong emphasis on review coverage in the national press, gaining reviews in every national
broadsheet, thus reinforcing her credibility and ensuring both that she was firmly on-radar for spring
reading and of course longevity for the paperback. Sell-in to the media started early, with a first proof
mailing as part of a wider divisional ‘literary spring’ push in October, followed by super proofs in the New
Year as well as the final hardback mailing.
In order to re-engage a broad fan base, events and also blogger endorsements were key to the success
of this campaign … I connected with the literary bloggers early, with an exclusive giveaway via Dove
Grey Reader and a wide blog tour that incorporated reviews, interviews and guest posts, and took Tracy
from the top literary bloggers to the quilting and Quaker communities. In terms of events, appearances
began in March and are ongoing throughout the year in order to keep her in the public eye and really
cement the message that Tracy is a top literary novelist returning to her game.’ 54
While none of this is ground breaking in terms of the specific activity, what is interesting is the investment of time,
budget and personnel resource into a promotional schedule that spans two formats and a whole year.
It is also worth highlighting some campaigns that illustrate the overlap of marketing and publicity, and of offline and
online visibility. It seems again, that while the activities themselves may not be new or experimental – the importance
of a holistic effort from publishers can no longer be ignored.
CASE STUDY: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel Marketing Campaign
The promotional campaign for Jeff Kinney’s Diary of Wimpy Kid:The Third Wheel, designed by Vanessa Godden
from Puffin Books, is an excellent example of a highly evolved promotional campaign.
The campaign objectives:
▪▪
To publish the best and fastest selling children’s book of 2012
▪▪
To generate a sizeable increase on sales of the previous book, Cabin Fever
▪▪
To ensure sustained sales with the title remaining at the No.1 chart position until Christmas
▪▪
To improve positioning for the title on the High St
▪▪
To drive solid pre-orders across accounts by creating noise for the book throughout 2012
▪▪
To maximize cross-promotional opportunities with Twentieth Century Fox
▪▪
To grow Penguin Children’s Wimpy Kid databases 55
These objectives alone show the depth and diversity that is required from current marketing and publicity campaigns
in the UK. The first four points are quite conventional in their aims; they are the kind of objectives I would associate
with many book projects that I have been involved with in Australia. The final three points embody, I think, an
evolution in book promotion and publisher marketing efforts in general. Creating the sense of anticipation needed
for the all-important pre-orders of the new retail sector, working with partners and cross promoting, and growing
publisher databases are all new and important pieces to book promotion – pieces that still need to be incorporated
into broader promotional plans but not, I would argue, at the expense of more traditional activities.
53 Face to face meeting with Harper Fiction publicity team, 11 June 2013
54 Harper Fiction submission to Publishers’ Publicity Circle, 18 June 2013
55 As presented at the Book Marketing Society open meeting, 17 July 2013
Author: Kelly Fagan
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