Report 2013 - Kelly Fagan HERE - Australian Publishers Association

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What Does it Mean to Connect Directly with Consumers (cont.) So far, trade publishing houses in the UK have largely responded to this by streamlining their sales, marketing and distribution of books. There continues to be experimentation around price and format, and a focus on metadata, search engine optimisation and web presence (all of which could be the subjects of entire reports on their own). Focus on Branding Some publishers have a renewed focus on branding – publisher branding. Stephen Page believes the identity of Faber and Faber as a brand is key to the continued success of the business. Faber has a rich history in which to base its brand. When visiting the London office Page talks about ‘the house that TS Eliot built’ and tells me about the archive of letters from Eliot to his writers, ‘writers of huge importance’, that are still kept within the building. ‘We’re getting better and better at living the myth’, Page says. 58 Further to this, the publishing house has just announced a redesigned word marque as part of a branding strategy designed to ‘future-proof’ the publisher for the digital era. 59 In announcing the branding strategy to the trade press in London, Page said: ‘Faber’s trademark ‘ff’ colophon, created by Pentagram, has sat at the heart of our brand for nearly 30 years, and will continue to do so. In announcing a thrilling list for spring 2014, we are also unveiling a new design for our word marque. Reviewing our brand design in the light of the new world of reading, with its emphasis on readers online and digital publishing, we realised that we needed to find new ways to express our visual identity.’ 60 Brand and branding is ‘massively important’ at Bloomsbury too. Group Sales and Marketing Director Kathleen Farrar talked about the company’s global strategy and the importance of consistent branding of authors, of titles, and of the company across the world as integral for the company in the current publishing climate. Penguin, Faber and Bloomsbury all benefit from having a brand which is recognisable to consumers. As publishing houses continue to grapple with the challenges presented by the digital landscape, having a brand that is already known and loved by readers as well as writers is surely a huge advantage. Is it then necessary for other publishing houses to try to gain similar awareness with readers at a company level Is this even possible Looking at the film industry there are many studio brands that the general public recognise, but I highly doubt that the average filmgoer is searching the internet wondering what the latest Paramount release is. At a staff Q&A session with former HarperCollins CEO Victoria Barnsley the question of branding arose once again. Barnsley talked about the importance of publishers having a consumer-facing brand but thought that for a big house with a diverse publishing program like HarperCollins this could be more easily achieved through the branding of particular imprints: Harper’s literary imprint Fourth Estate, and Voyager, Harper’s fantasy imprint for example, offer a much easier ‘consumer brand’ than the giant umbrella that is HarperCollins. Furthermore, Barnsley said is that it is more important that ‘books and authors are the consumer face’ of any publishing brand. 61 While it is true that there are advantages to both approaches, it would be expensive for a larger publishing house or imprint without existing brand recognition to embark on self-branding exercises alongside those they are undertaking for their authors and books. Hachette, for example, has so many different publishing companies working throughout various territories that it seems pointless for them to try to turn ‘Hachette’ into a brand that readers will look to. Random House, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster all have names that many readers will recognise – and trust to a degree – but rarely would a reader believe that their offerings are so consistent that they would trust the brand in the same way they would an author and thus would automatically buy, e.g. the next book by Lee Child. Whilst the intersection between readers and these publishing brands is much more likely to happen at an author or book level, there is certainly an argument for these publishers building communities around marquee brand authors in order to promote new talent on their lists. 58 Face-to-face interview with Stephen Page, CEO Faber and Faber, 12 June, 2013 59 http://www.thebookseller.com/news/new-branding-faber.html 60 http://www.thebookseller.com/news/new-branding-faber.html 61 Company Q&A session with Victoria Barnsley, 6 June 2013 Author: Kelly Fagan 22
What Does it Mean to Connect Directly with Consumers (cont) Focus on Events The author event was also cause for much discussion whilst I was in London. Like Australia, these events have long been the property of independent bookshops (author talks) and chain/High Street retailers (author signings). Also, as in Australia, the size and success of these events were varied. I attended events run by several different independent bookshops whilst in London: Lutyens & Rubinstein Bookshop, Foyles and the Idler Academy. I also went to launches and signings hosted by Waterstones. The events programs were incredibly vibrant – particularly in the weeks following the Hay Festival and the weeks preceding Edinburgh Festival when authors from around the globe had descended on London and were available to talk. The events I attended were either free or charged between £5 and £7 for entry. Books sales at most events that I attended, however, were modest. At the Hay Festival, again much like many festivals in Australia, crowds were buoyant and many people had travelled far and wide to attend and hear their favourite authors speak. Again book sales were modest compared to the number of people attending the events, but interestingly most authors and publishers I spoke to were passionate about the importance of writers’ festivals and the longer term return on investment for both author and publisher in attending. ‘There are more and more festivals popping up in villages all over the UK. When you send an author to these festivals it can be fantastic for their [the author’s] local profile. They get great community press, and the whole town comes out to hear them talk,’ said Helen Ellis Publicity Director, William Collins. 62 Anna Pallai from Faber and Faber agrees: ‘there is an expectation from nearly all of our authors that they be invited to one festival or another. Mainly the big ones like Hay or Edinburgh. There’s also Harrogate, the crime festival. We positively encourage our authors to attend this festival. The peer reviewing and networking and tweeting that comes out of the close knit community that congregates at these festivals is invaluable. In fact, it’s really noticeable if an author hasn’t been to Harrogate and hasn’t broken into that community’. 63 Selling books predominantly online has in many ways made it even more important for authors to connect with their readers offline. To this end, it seems important to note that many publishing houses in the UK are experimenting with running their own events programs. HarperCollins had just started to run some literary salons through their Fourth Estate imprint (and have since hired Sam Missingham, late of The Bookseller, as Head of Events in the Corporate Communications team), and Random House were also in the process of ‘looking at hosting their own events for their literary and YA authors’. 64 But it is Faber Social that is really the pioneer in this area. Faber Social is an events and publishing programme curated by Faber where literature and music get together. Monthly events are held at The Social on Little Portland Street, London and are an exciting mash-up of literature, music and performance. Book sales are not the number one aim of this events program, although books and merchandise are available for sale at the events. Most importantly for the time being, ‘is that we are providing a physical space to connect with our readers, as well as building an online community that we can communicate with about upcoming events and books that will almost definitely be of interest to them,’ says Events Manager Becky Fincham. 65 While I was in London, Faber Social was the talk of the trade, announcing a nationwide tour of events to promote Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop, by musician and journalist Bob Stanley, published in October. Events were to be held during the month of release in Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and London with Stanley and a variety of guests. The event at Gorilla in Manchester featured musicians such as Paul Hanley of The Fall, while at Rough Trade East in London Stanley was joined by Green Gartside of Scritti Politti and Sian Pattenden, a former journalist for pop magazine Smash Hits. Faber Social handled all the organisation of the events from venues to talent to ticket sales. Before I leave London I ask whether there is a profit to be made from organising such events. ‘We haven’t lost any money yet,’ 66 says Fincham – and that’s not to mention the brand presence and growing community that are created around Faber Social. 62 Company Q&A session with Victoria Barnsley, 6 June 2013 63 Face-to-face interview with Anna Pallai, Head of Publicity Faber and Faber, 17 June, 2013 64 Face-to-face interview with Joe Pickering, Publicity Director at Penguin Random House UK, 16 August, 2013 65 Face-to-face interview with Becky Fincham, Events and Publicity Manager Faber and Faber, 18 July, 2013 66 Face-to-face interview with Becky Fincham, Events and Publicity Manager Faber and Faber, 18 July, 2013 Author: Kelly Fagan 23
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 and 14: The UK Media Space (cont.) As in Au
Page 15 and 16: Marketing and Publicity Department
Page 17 and 18: The Evolution of Marketing and Publ
Page 23: 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

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