Author: BMS
Key takeaways from the November BMS Members’ Meeting
Our latest member meeting took place at Penguin Random House’s offices on Thursday 1 November. It was packed full of excellent ideas, with three presentations from book marketers who spilled the secrets of their BMS-commended campaigns. For the keynote presentation, VR-guru Catherine Allen gave us a fascinating insight into the possibilities of immersive technology, from useful book marketing suggestions to VR’s ability to build empathetic connections.
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BMS summer 2017 awards announced
The best marketing campaigns for the period April-August 2017 were announced at the Book Marketing Society’s meeting held at Random House’s offices on 1st November. The Awards covered the summer reading period and there was particularly fierce competition in the Adult Fiction category, with much experimentation around ebooks used as price-promoted marketing tools for both hardbacks and paperbacks.
Adult Fiction
In the Adult Fiction category the judges gave a Highly Commended to three campaigns: Candice Carty-Williams and Chloe Healy of Vintage’s stylish, movie-like campaign for The Girls by Emma Cline; Sarah Arratoon of Pan Macmillan’s well targeted campaign for Miss You by Kate Eberlen and Stephenie Naulls of Ebury’s campaign for The One by John Marrs, veering between SF and romance. The winners, however, were Sarah Shea and Hannah O’Brien of HarperCollins for their elegant 18-month long campaign for Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman which achieved excellent sales for a hardback debut novel.
Guerrilla
There were two Highly Commended campaigns in the Guerrilla category (for spends of £2,500 or less): Fergus Edmundson of Cornerstone commissioned seven animations to explain the complex economic theory behind each chapter of Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth, while Elke Desanghere of PRH created an effective ‘virtual circle of marketing’ with the campaign for The House by Simon Lelic. The winners in this category were Caitriona Horne and Kate Sinclair of Hodder & Stoughton for their savvy, clever and very cost effective campaign for How Not to Kill Your Plants by Nik Southern, harnessing social media and Habitat to reach the target audiences.
Adult Non-fiction
In the Adult Non-fiction category, an evocative and personalised campaign for Ben Macintyre’s SAS Rogue Heroes by Rose Poole of Viking, and an issue-based campaign for Robert Webb’s How Not to Be a Boy by Vicki Watson and Jenny Fry of Canongate, both gained a Highly Commended, while Ingrid Matts and Julie Woon of Penguin Press gained the winner’s laurels for their bold and provocative campaign – inspired by the film Kill Bill – for Naomi Klein’s No Is Not Enough.
Children’s
In the Children’s category, a Highly Commended went to the mega-campaign from Grace Whooley and Tram-Anh Doan at Bloomsbury celebrating the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, with a genuinely moving video based on fan feedback achieving over 9m views worldwide. The winner, however, was Natasha Collie of Puffin for her high-energy and well-targeted campaign for Tom Fletcher and Greg Abbott’s There’s a Monster in Your Book, including toddler-height bookshop displays and chewable bookmarks.
Multi-title
Highly Commended in the Multi-title Category were Caroline Maddison, Sarah Thrift, Bronagh McDermott and Donna MacKay for their all-encompassing and emotive campaign for Start a Story, a new approach to summer reading. There was a tie in this category in the winners slot, with Rosanna Boscawen and Helen Flood’s immersive and highly successful campaign for Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Hag-Seed chosen jointly with Sarah Benton of Orion’s RebusFest, a celebration of 30 years of the iconic detective through a fabulously curated weekend of books, music, films, whisky tastings, walking tours and much, much more.
Entries open for our next round of Awards on Tuesday 2 January, for campaigns between Sept-Dec 2017. Click here for more information.
The untapped potential of podcasts, and 13 other things we learned at the Debuts Masterclass
Our breakfast Masterclass with James Spackman last month on debut campaigns was a great success — many thanks to everyone who attended and made it such an interesting event. As always, James has compiled a list of his favourite takeaways, featuring secretive male readers, billboard pilgrimages and a digital arms race!
Preorder-driving Facebook ads are a great tool to try out copy lines; Bethan Ferguson, Marketing Director of Quercus, uses them as an inexpensive test-bed.
Podcasts could have untapped marketing potential, particularly for selling audio books. Some publishers are treating individual podcasters as influencers, just like booktubers; others are buying advertising and refining which pods work for which genres.
Word-of-mouth recommendation … do men even do it? Some insight work suggests that men prefer to talk about books which reflect better on their personality (a lot more than women), and – less surprising? – overall, still talk about books much less
Sometimes simple and obvious works best. Hannah O’Brien (Fiction Marketing Director, HarperCollins) described getting scant reaction to FB ads pushing the high concept of a thriller, but then gained great results once they switched to a more straight and traditional “thriller of the year”-type message.NetGalley is at its most effective when you already have some momentum behind your book. Bethan Ferguson described the effectiveness of their solus mailings once they knew The Girl Before was getting attention.
Rival publications can lead to a digital arms race! Facebook budgets for Behind Her Eyes and The Girl Before crept up as each team responded to the others’ successes
A campaign can be all about tone. The Trouble With Goats and Sheep conveyed a memorable motif (sheep) in a witty, warm tone, rather than attempting to explain the novel or brand the author.
Saying “thank you” to retailers and influencers is important, but it has to be genuine. For example, Joanna Cannon forged very real relationships with retailers in the campaign for Goats and Sheep hardback, so her thanking them for their support was a natural – and thus effective – part of the build up to paperback publication.
POS can work brilliantly, but you have to do the groundwork up front. Sending out hundreds of packs for a handful of windows is a bad return on investment.
When a book is being enthusiastically taken up by readers, sometimes the campaign’s primary job is to feed the conversation. Katie Hall’s work for Grief is the Thing with Feathersfocused on the emotional response of readers and gave them things (including video) to share.
Working with TFL involves strict presentation rules. Any poster artwork that looks defaced/graffitied (eg scrawled font) will get rejected, sometimes with as little as 24 hours notice before launch.
Hashtags aren’t always necessary, or even appropriate. The Grief billboard was a site of pilgrimage for fans; an artwork that celebrated the book and which people shared. A hashtag would have made it “marketing”.
A font can convey a subtle message. Using Albertus on Grief was a design cue that bracketed the book with Ted Hughes and other Faber poetry greats …
Booktubers can’t recommend everything … and certainly they won’t love everything they read. Invest time in knowing their tastes and be selective in what you send them, advised Katie Hall.
Our next Masterclass on brand marketing is now fully booked but do contact [email protected] to join our the waiting list.
The BMS is having a social! (and secret book swap)
Our venue has been found and the drinks have been ordered – take the night off and come along to our Autumn social for some fun on the South bank!
The evening will kick off with a secret book swap: bring a recent proof of a book you’re excited about, wrapped up to keep it hidden but with a sticker or label on the front hinting at the content and with your name & Twitter handle.
Everyone chooses a package then tracks down the giver to find out more and hopefully meet someone new!
Benugo Loungeside @ the BFI 18th October
6.30pm till late
Drinks (on us) will be served on arrival so get there early.
The social is open to members only and space is limited. Book your place here.
Book your place at the BMS Christmas Pub Quiz
Tickets are now available for the BMS Christmas Pub Quiz!
Join us at the Betsey Trotwood pub for an evening of festive competition and book marketing miscellany, hosted by Niamh Murray and Flora Willis from Profile Books. There’ll be a welcome drink on arrival before the quiz kicks off, with snacks on offer at half time and plenty of socialising with fellow marketers.
The Betsy Trotwood pub, Thursday 30 November, from 6.30pm till 9.30pm
Admission is open to all BMS members and group registration is available — although you’ll be split up into different teams on the night…
Book your place here. Tickets cost £5 (pay in cash on the door)
Autumn Masterclasses announced with a focus on Debut & Brand campaigns
The BMS Masterclass series with Publisher and Consultant James Spackman is back with two events this autumn, offering members a chance to participate in expert discussion and more, with some of the best marketing brains in the industry.
October’s masterclass event focused on groundbreaking debut campaigns, showcasing marketers who have launched first-time writers with originality and flare. For the second session in November, the emphasis will be on ‘author brand’ marketing, featuring discussions with the people behind Jodi Picoult, Harry Potter, Alan Bennett and Joanna Trollope.
Both Masterclasses are, as ever, an in-depth look at what made them successful, key learnings from each, as well as useful takeaways that can be applied to other campaigns.
The sessions are a great opportunity to benefit from fresh insights and inspiration. Anyone part of a BMS member company is eligible to attend.
We keep the size of the masterclasses small so places are limited. Team packages are available.
Commenting on the Autumn themes James Spackman said: “Debut publications are growing in importance all the time. Creating a buzz from a standing start and bringing real momentum to publication, is one of the areas in which a marketing team can add real value for their company.
Meanwhile the challenges of maintaining and developing a lucrative author or series brand, or rescuing a failing one, are no less significant. Both of these masterclasses will get under the hood of exemplary campaigns which made a big business difference, and I can’t wait to hear more about them.”
Booking information:
When:
Thurs 5 October 2017 – DEBUTS
Thurs 23 Nov 2017 – BRANDS
Sessions run from 9.30am-1pm and include a break for refreshments (entry from 9am)
BRAND CAMPAIGNS:
- Fleur Clarke, Senior Marketing Manager at Hodder & Stoughton, will discuss Jodi Picoult’s latest best-seller, Small Great Things, and the clever ways they’ve been able to keep the Picoult brand fresh
- Ian Lamb, Head of Children’s Publicity at Bloomsbury, on the publisher’s reinvention of the megalithic Harry Potter series for its 20th anniversary
- Niamh Murray, Marketing Director of Profile Books, on Alan Bennett’s Keeping On Keeping On, and Bennett’s continued success in the literary market
- Sarah Arratoon, Head of Marketing Fiction at Pan Macmillan, and Emma Bravo, Pan’s Communications Director, will talk to James about the enormously successful marketing campaign for Joanna Trollope’s City of Friends
–> Booking for the Brands session is available here.
Plus our campaign ‘surgery’ session – bring your dilemmas and the panel will help!
The speakers at our Debuts event were:
- Bethan Ferguson, Managing Director of Quercus, spoke about The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney, and the challenge of marketing crisp new thrillers in a competitive market.
- Katie Hall, Head of Marketing at Faber, on the genius guerilla campaign for the release of the best-selling Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter.
- Hannah Gamon, Fiction Marketing Director at HarperCollins, explained the thinking behind their brilliant campaign for The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon.
Where:
Nielsen Book offices, 5th floor
Endeavour House, 189 Shaftesbury Avenue
London WC2H 8TJ
Price:
£45 per class, or book x3 spots for £120
Bookings:
- Click here for the Brands session.
Places are limited and only available to BMS members (or colleagues working for a member company). For larger team bookings please contact [email protected]
21 things we’ve learned from the BMS Masterclasses (so far)
In the buildup to our two new BMS Masterclasses with James Spackman in October and November, here’s a selection of his takeaways from leading marketers, each offering their pearls of wisdom on nostalgic tech, culinary-inspired campaigns and much more.
Partners can boost our ambition. Andrea Bowie (PRH Marketing Officer) described how the invigorating drive of Tom Fletcher’s management team and the sheer s
ize of FMCG giant Warburtons (their “crumpet partner”) helped Puffin think big with the Christmasaurus campaign.
Working with teachers is a big deal, and getting bigger. But not easier. All three of our speakers in the children’s Masterclass acknowledged it as a specialist discipline. Understanding schools’ scheduling, budgets, vocabulary even, and what makes a lesson plan genuinely useful … are all vital.
Publishers can learn from the music industry about promoting events. The Christmasaurus team didn’t announce all their dates at once, and held some back to be added “due to demand”.
“Making stuff” isn’t everything in marketing, but it’s still important. Jenny Fry (Communications Director, Canongate) described how her team reaped huge rewards from the time, money and staff creativity invested in the POS for The Girl Who Saved Christmas by Matt Haig, as indies backed it to the hilt.
An author tour can be approached like theatre. Jenny Fry was clear that Matt Haig’s events are less “book talk” and more “one man show”.
World Book Day tokens get kids reading. One in four kids (aged 8-11) in the NLT Annual Literacy Survey said the book they bought with their 2016 World Book Day book token was the first book they had owned, we were told by Kirsten Grant, Director of WBD.
Fancy dress has been crucial to World Book Day’s long term success. It is the second biggest dressing up occasion in the UK every year, after Halloween.
There’s no model for a big book campaign any more. Everything should be bespoke, said Sara Lloyd (Digital and Communications Director at PanMac): “if there’s a template, we may as well all go home”.
If in doubt, go back to the text. When you’re stuck, creatively, (said Jessica Killingley, ex-Hodder & Stoughton), remember that “we’re all muppets, compared with the author” so find a way to go back to the source and use their work …
Focus groups help you pick the right words to talk to your audience in language that works for them. Julia Pidduck (ex-Marketing Manager at Orion) explained how the verbal branding of Julian Fellowes’ Belgravia was centred around three words – secret, scandal and intrigue – because they had been found to resonate with the audience. And because they were targeting a TV audience as well as book buyers, they learned to refer to it as a “series”.
An author’s social audience gives you “feel”, not just data. Sara Lloyd told us that the team learned the tone and character of Joe Wicks’ followers simply by studying their interactions, which was just as important as their demographics.
A good designer is your campaign’s best friend. If they get what you’re trying to do and are on-board from the start, explained Jessica Killingley, while describing her campaign for Chris Cleave’s Everyone Brave is Forgiven, they will bring distinctiveness and creativity to the work.
Marketers are educators. As Julia Pidduck put it, “our colleagues don’t know what they don’t know”, so if new technologies creates an opportunity, it’s up to you to demonstrate within your publishing team how it can be used to reach readers.
You need boots on the ground. An author’s social media platform is all very well, but the ones who meet lots of booksellers, face to face, really make a difference. And, with that other old-school campaign element – proofs – new-school social media only amplifies the effect.
A big app launch is like a startup…. meaning long hours of constant vigilance, real-time results and quick adjustments … and also lots of excitement, as Julia Pidduck explained (for the Belgravia campaign). It also means you need to act like a retailer and sharpen your customer service skills for the public.
‘Behind the scenes moments’ is a key new trend (AKA Joe Wicks’s Tears). The authentic emotion of an author opening their first box of books is a big deal to their fans. Readers ARE curious about how the publishing process works. “In a world of beta testing and user-generation”, said Sara Lloyd, “consumers are interested and expect to be let in”. And this can apply to fiction too …
Marketers should learn to write like booksellers talk, explained Caroline Maddison (Head of Audience Development at Penguin) and Claire Wilshaw (Penguin’s Audience Development Director). The creators of the #ByBook multi-title campaign, they channeled their inner retailers to persuasively recommend books on their site. The difference to conventional book blurb is striking…
A hashtag is a better listening device than broadcasting tool, said Justine Gold, ex of Little, Brown, in relation to her promotion of Margaret Atwood’s backlist: the I [heart] Atwood campaign. If your message is clear and shareable, you don’t necessarily need a hashtag.
A novel is like a plate of food. Inspired by Zainab Juma at Penguin, Caroline Maddison suggested describing books as though they were dishes (ingredients, flavours, size, etc).
… by the same token, Mills & Boon novels are bars of chocolate to their readers, according to Emma Pickard, the imprint’s Senior Marketing Executive. An indulgent treat that they absolutely know will be enjoyable.
Programming nostalgia is a thing. Matthew Young, designer at Penguin and one of three creators of their groundbreaking Richard Dawkins anniversary campaign, told us that people’s fond memories of obsolete code (Dawkins’ evolution modeler) was a crucial PR draw.
The physical presence of books is a powerful draw. The #ByBook video used giant books, being carried, held, used, by human beings. Not so much glorifying the object, but showing it in use.
James Spackman is a freelance publisher and consultant leading on a series of marketing masterclasses hosted by the Book Marketing Society. The next masterclass is on Thursday 23rd November (on Brands).
About our new campaigns and awards showcase for the BMS website
Members regularly tell us that being able to learn about campaigns across the industry is one of the most valuable services we offer. We’re constantly inspired by marketers from across the industry willing to share what made their campaign tick – from how it came together to how it was executed, and especially what they learned and would do better next time.
So we wanted to find a way to take this further, and in the same spirit give members more chances to see what is behind an Award-winning or notable marketing campaign.
This has lead to the creation of a new section on our updated website, which features a searchable database of submissions for winning & highly commended campaigns.
If your campaign goes on to win an Award or commendation we want to reassure you about the information that will be available to browse. You will notice there are new features on the submission form which allow you to control the visibility of sensitive details, such as campaign budgets and sales figures. We will also send you a preview copy of the showcase page before it goes live, so there is a further opportunity to make appropriate changes if required.
In the spirit of openness and sharing we do offer access to the showcase to all members, on the basis that marketers from your team are willing to include their campaign in the showcase should they be selected.
If you have any questions or suggestions, do contact us at [email protected]
Spring Season Campaign Award winners
The Award winners of the January-March 2017 Marketing Campaign Awards were announced at the Book Marketing Society’s member meeting on 30 May, hosted by Hachette UK.
The Adult Fiction category
- Sarah Aratoon and Emma Bravo of PanMacmillan were Highly Commended for their campaign for Joanna Trollope’s City of Friends.
- Naomi Berwin of Hodder was also Highly Commended for her “stunning” campaign for Stephanie Garber’s debut, Caraval.
- The winning campaign was for Sarah Pinborough’s Behind Her Eyes, which Hannah Gamon and Cait Davis of HarperCollins lead to success by “turning a challenging ending into an asset” with the hashtag #WTFthatending.
The Guerrilla Marketing category (campaigns costing less than £2.5k)
- Aimee Oliver of Yellow Kite received a Highly Commended for her campaign for The FODMAP Friendly Kitchen.
- The Winner in this category was Tara Al Azzawi of Fourth Estate for her “fantastically successful social campaign” for Chimamanda Nogozi Adichie’s Dear Ijeawele.
![One Pound Meals: Delicious Food for Less by [Barclay, Miguel]](https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61wR9BxnRVL.jpg)
The Adult Non-Fiction category
- Highly Commended for Elke Desanghere, Julia Murday, and Josie Murdoch of Penguin Life for their campaign for Ruby Wax’s A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled.
- The winning campaign was for Miguel Barclay’s One Pound Meals, led by Viviane Basset and Rob Chilvers of Headline.
![The One Memory of Flora Banks by [Barr, Emily]](https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51CQsUwiZ2L.jpg)
Children’s category
- Roisin O’Shea of Scholastic received a Highly Commended for her campaign for Lisa Thompson’s The Goldfish Boy.
- The Winners in this category were Natasha Collie and Rachel Khoo of Penguin for their “stylist and intriguing” campaign for The One Memory of Flora Banks, by Emily Barr.
The Multi-title Campaign category
- Michael Joseph‘s Beth Cockeram received a Highly Commended for her campaign celebrating Asian Mole’s 50th birthday.
The Spring Season winners joined the winners of the May-August and September-December Awards to form the shortlist of the BMS Annual Campaign Awards 2016/2017, announced at The Bookseller’s Marketing & Publicity Conference on 13 June 2017.
Hodder & Stoughton wins Marketing Team of the Year
The winners of the Book Marketing Society’s Annual Campaign Awards were announced at The Bookseller’s Marketing and Publicity Conference on Tuesday 13 June 2017. Campaigns by HarperCollins, Orion, Penguin and Hodder & Stoughton were honoured, with Hodder & Stoughton receiving the Marketing Team of the Year award.
Jo Henry, Chair of the BMS Annual Judging panel, said: “Our judges were thoroughly impressed with the very high standard of the campaigns that were on the Annual shortlists, so much so that in one category they chose a runner-up in addition to the winner for the first time. There were long discussions over many of the shortlists but in the end judges were unanimous in rewarding each of the five category winners, plus a Marketing Team of the Year Award to recognise a consistently high standard of marketing campaigns from Hodder & Stoughton over the past 12 months – a particular achievement given such a strong year overall for book marketers.’
In the Guerrilla campaign category, which recognises campaigns under £2,500, Tara Al Azzawi of Estate/HarperCollins was honoured for her ‘genuine and authentic’ social campaign for Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Dear Ijeawele that tied in with International Women’s Day. The award’s shortlist also included Aimee Kitson of Constable and Little, Brown’s campaign for Ian Wright’s A Life in Football, and Lindsay Terrell of Faber’s campaign for Tim Book Two by Tim Burgess.
Trapeze/Orion Publishing Group’s Anna Bowen was judged the winner of the Children’s category for her collaborative campaign for DanTDM’s Trayaurus and the Enchanted Crystal. Also in the running were Penguin’s Natasha Collie and Rachel Khoo for their intriguing campaign for The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr, and Hodder’s Naomi Berwin for her campaign for Oli White’s Generation Next.
In the Adult Non-Fiction category, Paul Martinovic of Penguin/Viking was awarded the prize for the resourceful use of anenigmatic and unavailable author in his campaign for John Le Carre’s autobiography, The Pigeon Tunnel. He beat off competition from Caroline Butler of Ebury for Fingers in the Sparkle Jar by Chris Packham, and Headline’s Viviane Basset and Rob Chilvers for their campaign for Miguel Barclay’s One Pound Meals.
Claudia Toia of Penguin Books was honoured in the Multi-Title category for her unique and innovative campaign celebrating Richard Dawkins’ backlist. The award’s shortlist included Bethan Ferguson and Jeska Lyons of Quercus’ Enid Blyton for Grown-Ups campaign, and Alice Morley and Fleur Clarke of Hodder’s King for a Day campaign for Stephen King’s backlist.
In the Adult Fiction category, Hodder & Stoughton’s Vickie Boff and Fleur Clarke were judged the winners for their challenging campaign for Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult. The judges also chose a runner up, highly commending Katie Hall of Faber & Faber for her ‘visually arresting’ campaign for Max Porter’s Grief is the Thing with Feathers. Also in contention for the award was Hannah Gamon and Cait Davis of HarperCollins’ campaign for Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough.
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