Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - S11E18 - Confessions of a Book Lover: The Art of Marketing Books

Episode Date: May 7, 2022

This week, we look at how books are advertised and marketed. Over 2.2 million new books are published every year - so how do books get noticed? One bookstore uses movies to sell books, another gets prison inmates to write book reviews and one grocery store breaks all the rules by putting books in the vegetable section. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly. As you may know, we've been producing a lot of bonus episodes while under the influences on hiatus. They're called the Beatleology Interviews, where I talk to people who knew the Beatles, work with them, love them, and the authors who write about them. Well, the Beatleology Interviews have become a hit, so we are spinning it out to be a standalone podcast series. You've already heard conversations with people like actors Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, and Beatles confidant Astrid Kershaw. But coming up, I talk to May Pang, who dated John Lennon in the mid-70s. I talk to double fantasy guitarist Earl Slick, Apple Records creative director John Kosh. I'll be talking to Jan Hayworth,

who designed the Sgt. Pepper album cover. Very cool. And I'll talk to singer Dion, who is one of only five people still alive who were on the Sgt. Pepper cover. And two of those people were Beatles. The stories they tell are amazing. So thank you for making this series such a success. And please, do me a favor, follow the Beatleology interviews on your podcast app. You don't even have to be a huge Beatles fan, you just have to love storytelling.

Subscribe now, and don't miss a single beat. This is an apostrophe podcast production. Your teeth look whiter than no nose You're not you when you're hungry You're a good ham with a hot piece You're under the influence with Terry O'Reilly. David Ogilvie was one of the titans of Madison Avenue. You've no doubt heard me mention him often. He founded the Ogilvie & Mather Advertising Agency in 1948.

It is one of the largest advertising firms in the world. Ogilvie didn't start his agency until he was 38 years old. He had quite a few careers prior to that. He sold cooking stoves door-to-door in Scotland. He was an apprentice chef in Paris. He served in British intelligence during the war, and he was a pollster for the Gallup organization in America. But he had a brother who worked for a successful advertising agency in England,

and he offered Ogilvy financial help to open a New York office. But he had a brother who worked for a successful advertising agency in England, and he offered Ogilvy financial help to open a New York office. David Ogilvy showed a remarkable flair for advertising. His checkered background was the key to his success. He knew how to get past the threshold from being a door-to-door salesman. He understood pressure from his time in a busy Parisian restaurant. He could analyze

critical information due to his position in British intelligence. And his deep research experience with Gallup would prove to be the profitable cherry on his advertising cake.

Ogilvy became a star on Madison Avenue. His campaigns for Hathaway shirts, Schweppes beverages, and Rolls-Royce signaled a revolution in advertising because he didn't just produce ads, he created the image era, developing powerful branding for companies like Shell, American Express, and General Foods. He also assumed intelligence on behalf of the public. His famous line was, the consumer is not a moron, she is your wife. He also created advertising that was smart and interesting, and every bit as classy as the editorial surrounding it.

He also happened to be advertising's best essayist. In 1962, his ad agency had 19 clients. So he took a long vacation to write a book about everything he had learned from his 14 years in advertising. That book was titled Confessions of an Advertising Man. Ogilvy wrote his book for three reasons. First, he wanted to attract new clients to his agency. Second, he wanted to condition the stock market so his ad agency could go public.

And third, he wanted to make himself better known in the business world. When he handed the manuscript into his publisher, he hoped it would find a marketing audience

and assigned whatever book royalties it might generate to his son. Little did Ogilvie know it would make the New York Times bestseller list

and 1.5 million copies would be sold. Within two decades after publishing that book, Ogilvy had 3,000 clients, 276 offices around the world, his company was firmly established on the stock market, and he had become a business celebrity. Confessions of an Advertising Man remains the only book on advertising many people have ever read. And it still sells today.

There was another reason why Confessions of an Advertising Man was so successful. David Ogilvie certainly knew how to promote his book. Getting a book noticed is no easy feat. And getting a bookstore noticed is no cakewalk either. It takes luck and timing and word of mouth. And it also takes some inventive marketing. You're under the influence. If you've ever walked into a large bookstore, you can instantly see how easy it is for a new book to get lost in an ocean of options. It's equally difficult to sell a used book.

Well, there is a second-hand bookstore in Lisbon, Portugal, called Avilar Machado Antiquarian Booksellers. It has been in business since 1876 and is the oldest used bookstore in Lisbon. Recently, it wanted to change the buying habits of book lovers. Specifically, it wanted to convince people that used books were every bit as good as new books. Avila Armachado is very particular when choosing used books.

They look for almost pristine copies. Knowing that, the bookstore's advertising agency came up with a brilliant idea. They created print ads featuring classic photographs of famous authors like Agatha Christie, Mark Twain, and James Joyce. But if you look closely at the photos, very closely, you would see that Mark Twain has a tiny piece of tissue on his chin covering up a shaving nick. And Agatha Christie has a teeny tiny band-aid on her forehead

and James Joyce has a little piece of tape holding his glasses together. It was such a smart idea. It told book buyers that they would have to look very, very closely to see the barely noticeable imperfections of their used books. The tagline? Classics almost as good as new.

And those almost as good as new books were significantly cheaper than new books. The ads were so beautiful, they were suitable for framing. As a publishing brand, Penguin does a lot of interesting book marketing. In London, England, Penguin created a poster campaign to be placed in the subway there. This campaign was for classic books, except it wasn't promoting pristine classic books, but rather the opposite. It featured well-worn, tattered classic books. The books in the posters had dog-eared pages. They were torn, ripped, scribbled on, and had covers held together with tape. But there was a reason for that.

Each was a real book borrowed from a real owner. They were borrowed from fellow authors, artists, and musicians. So, a typical poster showed a well-worn copy of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, and in the right-hand corner of the poster it said, From the Bookshelf of Francis Roper. Another featured a well-thumbed copy of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, peppered with sticky notes. In the corner, from the bookshelf of Zachary Hill.

Another showed a copy of War and Peace by Tolstoy, with the torn and wrinkled cover barely held together with packing tape, from the bookshelf of Hilaria Rivera. The campaign celebrated Penguin Classics by showing books that weren't just well-worn, they were well-loved, read and re-read cover to cover by their owners, often.

The beautifully photographed posters showed that while owners left their marks on books, those books clearly left their mark on their owners too. In the left-hand corner of each poster it simply said, Penguin Classics. Happy reading. In Singapore, Penguin launched another interesting print campaign. They took photographs of crowded places like busy bus stops, subways and airports.

In the subway photo, for example, you see a packed subway car with people sitting shoulder to shoulder, except one seat is empty, and on that seat is an open book. In another photo, five people are squished together side by side in a bus shelter waiting for the bus, except for one empty seat in the middle, with just an open book sitting there. And in a busy airport photo, in the waiting area at a gate, there is one unoccupied seat with just an open book on the chair. And in each photo,

in small type, it simply says, Escape into a book. It was a meaningful reminder that we can dive into the amazing world of a book during the most tedious moments in life, like waiting for a bus, or sitting on a subway, or killing time during those pre-boarding hours

before a flight. And for those who say they have no time to read, this Penguin campaign reminds us that there are always times in a busy day when you can escape into a book. India does more reading per capita than any other nation. As a matter of fact, the average Indian reads 10 hours and 42 minutes per week, compared with Canada and the U.S US at less than 6 hours per week. Over 70 million people regularly buy English-language books in India, which makes that market larger than the population of the UK. But India has a big problem.

Nearly 40% of all books are pirated. Pirated books are sold on the streets, often by a network of organized gangs, for less than half of the cover price. The Association of Publishers of India estimates that losses due to piracy exceed $620 million per year. Because pirated books are so widespread and are made to closely resemble the real books, most Indians aren't even aware they are reading a pirated copy. So the Oxford bookstore in Mumbai, who was losing business,

created an anti-piracy campaign. They created posters for a variety of best-selling books. For example, there was a poster for The Da Vinci Code. But when you look closely at the author's name on the book jacket, it said Dan Clown, not Dan Brown. Another poster in the campaign featured the classic novel Oliver Twist. But the author's name wasn't Charles Dickens. It was Charles Dickhead.

The posters summed up the issue saying, Every time you buy a pirated book, you disrespect the author. The Livraria Cultura is a bookstore in Brazil. Recently, it borrowed a page from Netflix to market its books. As you know, Netflix has a personalized recommendation engine. After you've viewed a show or a film, you'll see a banner that says, Because you watched this, and it will recommend a list of other shows

Netflix thinks you might like based on your viewing history. The recommendation algorithms go beyond genre. That's why you'll often see recommendations that seem to have nothing in common with the film you just viewed. Maybe you just watched a comedy, and Netflix is recommending a thriller. But a closer look reveals the recommended program may have similar characters,

or the same actors, or was directed by the same person, or it has strong female leads like the film you just watched, or maybe both plots revolve around the similar theme. The because-you-watched tool is so powerful, Netflix says over 80% of the shows viewed over the last two years come directly through its own recommendations. And that sparked an idea at the Brazilian bookstore. Libreria Cultura created in-store posters and graphics for social media.

The strategy was to make connections between movies and TV shows to books. For example, one poster said, Because you watched House of Cards. Then the bookstore recommended five books on the subjects of politics, murder, and betrayal, including such classics as Shakespeare's Othello. Another poster said, Because you watched Stranger Things. Then recommended five books about strange lands and psychological twists,

including Stephen King's The Talisman and Edgar Allan Poe's Classic Stories. Another said, because you watched The Matrix, then five books were suggested about oracles and the dark side of artificial intelligence, including Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and even Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. The idea connected the dots between Hollywood and books,

creating a powerful gateway binge by putting intriguing book titles in front of people who probably never considered them before. The Because You Watched promotion was so effective selling books, the bookstore extended the idea to include record albums and board games.

They employed that extremely sophisticated, high-level marketing strategy. Fish where the fish are. Which reminds me of another ingenious book marketing idea at grocery store Fish Counters. Peloton has thousands of classes built to push you. We know how life goes. New father, new routines, new locations. What matters is that you have something there to adapt with you, whether you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need, whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power.

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responsibly. If you have any questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. I've always been fascinated by creative book covers. The jacket for Mario Puzo's The Godfather is one of my favorites. The puppeteer imagery perfectly captured the idea of organized crime pulling all the strings. I saw a new cover for Bram Stoker's Dracula recently. All it showed was a close-up of a woman's neck. That image said it all. A book titled Shutdown, How COVID Shook the World's Economy,

features a typical barcode on the cover, except little virus splotches are knocking over the lines of the barcode. The cover of Peter Benchley's book Jaws is iconic, but I saw a new design recently. Three quarters of the cover was blue water, with the word Jaws sitting just below the surface, except the top of the letter A was poking through the water, like a fin. And my latest book titled My Best Mistake

has just won several design awards. The book is about people who made the biggest mistake of their lives, but it ended up being the best thing that ever happened to them. The cover shows the words

My Biggest Mistake, but the letters I-G-G in the word biggest are partially erased, transforming the word from biggest to best, perfectly capturing the theme of the book. One of my favorite marketing ideas for books was created by the Carrefour supermarket chain. Founded in France in 1958,

Carrefour, which means crossroads, is now the eighth largest retailer in the world by revenue and operates a chain of over 12,200 hypermarkets and grocery stores in 30 countries. The stores not only sell grocery items, they also sell books. But the majority of Carrefour shoppers rarely wandered over to the store's book section. So the goal was to increase book sales. And they achieved that in the most unexpected way.

The strategy was to create a crossroad, as the grocery store's very name implies. First, the store looked for books that had a fun connection to the fresh products in the supermarket. Then they placed those books in the food section where those products were sold. So, for example, Herman Melville's classic book,

Moby Dick, was placed beside the fresh fish counter. The novel of Snow White was placed inside, of course, a basket of fresh red apples. And this was my favorite. Bram Stoker's Dracula was placed, can you guess where? In the garlic section.

So funny and so clever. And with the books was a sign telling grocery shoppers there was a 40% off book sale. I'm sure the promotion attracted book lovers, but I bet it also attracted

a new type of shopper. Because if you want to reach people who don't usually buy books, you have to show up in places where people don't usually buy books. And here's the best part. Book sales grew 12% with no additional

advertising budget. Just a smart idea to move books from one side of the store to the other. If you're ever driving through a small town called Union, Connecticut, stop off at a restaurant called Traveler Food and Books. The food is simple and good, but that's not the only reason to visit. The walls of the restaurant are lined with over 9,000 books. And every meal comes with a special side order. Diners are invited to take three books home with them, free of charge.

It all began back in the 80s. The original owner was an avid reader and wanted to declutter his home. So he started bringing the books into his restaurant. He wanted to encourage reading and recycling. So he would invite his customers to take books home with them. When new owners Art and Karen Murdoch took over the diner almost 30 years ago, they continued the tradition. Remarkably, they now give away over 2,000 books a week.

The Traveler Restaurant is a sanctuary for books. Every week, the Murdochs fill a horse trailer with books from church sales, flea markets, bookstores that are closing, and library extras, and cart more than 100,000 books home every year. Customers enjoy a tasty breakfast, lunch, or dinner, then wander the bookshelves, sometimes for hours. For many families, it's become a ritual. Kids who came with their parents years ago

are now parents themselves and bring their kids. The Murdochs say they never want books to go to the landfill, so they restock their shelves daily. They note that almost every book eventually finds its rightful reader. Even books they think will never find a new home magically disappear from the shelves. The literary theme is carried through on their menu, with great Gatsby sandwiches, a Charles Dickens wrap, and a catcher in the rye. Over the last 30 years, the Murdochs have given away over 2 million books. Some of those went to celebrities, as Susan Sarandon, Robert Redford, and Bruce Springsteen have all stopped

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Bet MGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. A publisher in Brazil called Editora Carambaya recently mounted the most unusual marketing campaign. They teamed up with a professor who does remarkable work at a local prison by helping the inmates form a book club. Karambaya then began donating a wide variety of books to the prison. That book club helped the inmates develop their analytical and communication skills. And out of that came a surprising insight. Prison inmates read nine times more books than civilians.

So together with the National Justice Council, the Karambaya Publishing House created a program called The Prison Reviews. The publisher did something that had never been done before. They turned prisoners into book critics. Because the inmates were passionate readers, they were encouraged to write book reviews. They were given 30 days to read a book,

then submit a review to be evaluated by a committee. Those reviews turned out to be remarkable and insightful. So much so that Karambaya turned those reviews into an advertising campaign. The reviews were used in magazine ads, social networking posts, radio commercials, bookstore posters, and even bookmarks and stationery. Videos were also created so the inmates could deliver their reviews on camera. And a mini-documentary was posted on YouTube showing how participating in the project had enriched their lives. But that wasn't all. The Prison Reviews program not only helped improve the prisoners' reading and writing skills

and provided the Karambaya Publishing House with an innovative advertising campaign, it did one more thing. Each Well-Written Review would shave four days off an inmate's sentence. It fueled the inmate's passion for reading. It gave them dignity. It gave them hope. And it showed the outside world that marginalized people have a voice. As someone said, the Prison Reviews Project allowed inmates to rewrite their destiny. 2.2 million new books are published every year.

Marketing guru Seth Godin says the majority of adults never read another book after high school. So book publishing is immediately faced with two obstacles. How do you get book lovers to notice a new book in a sea of new releases? And how do you get someone who doesn't read a lot to pick up a book? One answer is inventive marketing.

In Singapore, the invitation to escape into a book nudged people to read during the most tedious times of the day. Penguin reminded readers that the classics never go out of style by featuring the most tattered but well-loved novels from the shelves of real people. The bookstore in Brazil picked up on the insight that inmates read nine times more books than the average citizen, and the prison rewarded them for writing meaningful book reviews.

The Carrefour grocery store broke all the rules by putting books in the vegetable and fish sections, reaching shoppers who usually don't wander over to the book department. And the restaurant in Connecticut gives away free books with every meal, feeding the belly and the soul. The best marketing is always rooted in an belly and the soul. The best marketing is always rooted in an insight and an emotion. Often, it shows up in the most unexpected places. And good book marketing can provide long-term dividends. Just ask David Ogilvie's son when you're under the influence.

I'm Terry O'Reilly. This episode was recorded in the Terrastream Mobile Recording Studio. Producer, Debbie O'Reilly. Sound Engineer, Jeff Devine. Research, Susan Kendall. Theme music by Ari Posner and Ian Lefevre. If you enjoyed this episode, you might also like our annual Bookmarks show, where I talk about my favorite books, like Season 9, Episode 20. You'll find it in our archives wherever you listen to podcasts. And speaking of books, if you'd like a personalized

signed copy of My Best Mistake, I'd be happy to do that for you. Just go to my website, terryoreilly.ca. See you next week. Fun fact. David Ogilvie died at the age of 88 in his castle in France. A few years earlier, he wrote a letter saying he didn't like an ad Terry wrote. True story.

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Download the app today and discover why BetMGM is your hockey home for the season. Raise your game to the next level this year with BetMGM is your hockey home for the season. Raise your game to the next level this year with BetMGM, a sportsbook worth a selly, and an official sports betting partner of the National Hockey League. BetMGM.com for terms and conditions. Must be 19 years of age or older to wager. Ontario only. Please play responsibly.

If you have any questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario.