Independent Booksellers See Value Of Branding
The London Book Fair is a bit of an overwhelming affair: hundreds of stands of publishers large and small, including some of the world's biggest, plus booksellers and authors, not to mention about 40,000 visitors. A riot of brands and business, all with the core product of books (now including digital books of course), binding the whole thing together.
The London Book Fair is a bit of an overwhelming affair: hundreds of stands of publishers large and small, including some of the world’s biggest, plus booksellers and authors, not to mention about 40,000 visitors. A riot of brands and business, all with the core product of books (now including digital books of course), binding the whole thing together.
I was privileged to speak at the Fair this week, to launch my new book What You Need To Know About Marketing.
Around a hundred independent booksellers attended the launch, held by publisher John Wiley (whose frantically busy stand you can see in the picture) and The Booksellers Association. The room was rammed, with almost as many people sitting on the floor or standing as there were on the chairs, which proved just how much interest there is from small businesses in learning about marketing and branding. I spoke about some of the principles of branding and marketing in this new book and in my previous one Build A Brand In 30 Days.
Most of the audience were running very small businesses, about which they were all passionate and deadly serious: and all of them were hungry for practical tips on effective marketing.
The key message that I wanted to get across was that branding is not about clever tricks or ‘spin’ but about telling compelling and emotionally resonant stories to customers: giving them a reason to become engaged by your business and to develop heart-felt loyalty. And my key message about marketing is closely related to that. Marketing isn’t about selling products or services: marketing is about developing relationships with customers in order to find out how to give them real value. And by value I don’t mean cheap stuff! I mean products, services, experiences and emotions which they will enjoy and therefore value, and which will keep them coming back to you again and again.
These principles apply whether you are a bookseller or bicycle repairer, a software development company or a baker. Or come to think of it a new author.
