The Ad Man Answers #8

Thursday + Gregory Huffstutter = The Ad Man Answers

  Q:  Last time, you talked about ‘Upper Funnel’ advertising.  I don’t have the money to do warm-fuzzy brand advertising –- I got books to sell, rent to pay –- what are my other messaging options?

A:  Upper Funnel advertising (Ad Man #7) is great for large brands –- with large budgets –- who want to define themselves over a long period of time.  Think BMW’s “The Ultimate Driving Machine.”  AM/PM’s “Too Much Good Stuff.”  Miller Lite’s “Tastes Great, Less Filling.”

Again, Upper Funnel messages aren’t time sensitive.  They are meant to create an umbrella brand image that says, when you’re ready to buy, this is what we stand for.

For authors, Upper Funnel advertising (AWARENESS & OPINION) isn’t necessarily a high priority, because with limited budgets, most writers are trying to support their latest release, not brand themselves in perpetuity.

In the absence of overall brand campaigns, novelists struggle with low-awareness levels.  Even popular writers within the mystery/thriller space, like Lee Child or Jeffery Deaver, would rank far below Paris Hilton if you were to ask 100 random people: “Do you recognize this name?”

If you examine book advertising, most fall in the ‘Middle Funnel’ –- the CONSIDERATION stage –- where authors/publishers try to influence book buyers into considering their specific titles instead of the millions of other Amazon choices.

The Auto industry, which popularized The Purchase Funnel, has extensively studied consumer behavior in regards to purchase decisions. 

When a consumer starts thinking of buying a new car, they become an “in-market shopper” and enter the middle of the Purchase Funnel. 

The accumulation of ‘Upper Funnel’ advertising has ideally given that consumer AWARENESS and OPINION of the available brands (Volvo = Safe, Toyota = Reliable, Mazda = Sporty), which helps narrow their shopping list into models that fit their needs.  Some people are into raw horsepower.  Some must have enough seats for their son’s baseball team.  Some desire to project an image of success (Mercedes, Porsche, Jaguar) or youthfulness (Mini Cooper, Scion, VW).

Unless pressed into a quick decision (accident, theft), consumers generally start developing their shopping list 2-6 months away from buying a new vehicle.  As the purchase decision gets closer to 30-60 days, this “wish list” typically narrows from 6-7 options down to 3-4 vehicles.  Models drop off as the consumer investigates base price, available features, and side-by-side comparisons.

This is the point in the Purchase Funnel where feature/benefit advertising is most effective… like this commercial from Nissan, which touts the Sentra’s Bluetooth system, MP3 compatibility, cargo room, and a lease price of $199/month.  Even though this particular commercial focuses on available features, it actually reaches ‘up the funnel’ by having young, 20-something hipsters interact with the Sentra.  It’s not pure brand advertising like this spot, but it effectively delivers the impression that Nissan makes product that are ‘cool,’ ‘practical,’ and ‘good value’ for someone on the road to success.

‘Lower-Middle Funnel’ advertising involves direct comparisons to your competition.  Here’s an example of Dodge Big Horn trucks firing shots across the bow of Ford F-150s. Nothing subtle there. ‘Lower-Middle Funnel’ advertising is directed at the consumer who is close to a purchase decision and weighing the pluses & minuses of similar products.

Obviously, the main difference between auto and book advertising is the price point.  For most of us, outside of a home or college education, buying a car is the most money we’ll spend on any one item.  So we research, ask friends, read magazine reviews, go on test drives, and obsess about gas mileage and leather seats.  Along that journey, auto makers constantly run different levels of advertising messages to mirror our state of mind.

But with book advertising, the challenge isn’t convincing someone to part with $26,000 for a depreciating asset, but a sea of options.  The question isn’t can you afford it, but why should you buy this particular title instead of the others on the bookshelf.

The purchase cycle for a book is much shorter than buying a car.  You can pick up a novel on a whim… while buying groceries, cruising through an airport, surfing the internet.  JA Konrath had an interesting blog post on book buyers, categorizing the audience into Die-Hards, Heavy Users, Casual Users, and Johnny-Come-Latelys.

The closest cousin to book advertising is probably the movie industry.  Similar price point, glut of options, and a premium on buzz-building and opening big.

Not surprisingly, some authors are starting to take their advertising messaging cues from Hollywood. This video to support Toni McGee Causey’s debut release could’ve easily been a preview for an upcoming episode of 'My Name Is Earl.'  It is Middle Funnel advertising because it includes the “Coming to Bookstores May 2007” time element, but reaches ‘up the funnel’ by creating a strong identity (aka “brand”) for Bobbie Faye’s character, without comparing the author or novel to anyone else.

Head-to-head comparisons are a staple of ‘Lower-Middle Funnel’ auto advertising. This is also true for authors, but in the reverse.  Instead of bludgeoning their competition, author use blurbs and peer reviews to help define themselves.  The implication:  “If you like these people’s work, you’ll probably like mine.” 

Here’s an example from Robert Gregory Browne, who supports his plot description with praise from Gayle Lynds, Tess Gerritsen, and Kathryn Mackel.  Jason Pinter also has a promo piece featuring a dozen quotes from best-selling authors, showing that it’s not always what’s said about you, but who’s saying it.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if writers acted like car companies?  Instead of seeking blurbs from esteemed colleges, you’d see ‘Middle-Funnel’ commercials like this:

“Stephen King can’t write his way out of a paper bag.  I mean sure, King used to bring the goods with ‘Cujo’ and ‘The Shining,’ and that ‘Misery’ book was pretty awesome.  But since then, he’s all about recycled plots, cardboard characters, and suicidal monorail trains.  Harlan Coben is different.  Coben’s books are fresh, with twists and turns, but don’t take themselves too seriously and certainly don’t have child-killing clowns.  So this summer, pick up Harlan Coben’s ‘The Woods’ instead of Stephen King’s ‘Blaze.’  You’ll be glad you did.”

Best media vehicles for ‘Middle Funnel’ advertising:  TV, radio, print, online.

Next time in ‘The Ad Man Answers’:  'Lower Funnel’ advertising.

 

Gregory Huffstutter has been punching Ad Agency timecards for the past decade, working on accounts like McDonald’s, KIA Motors, and the San Diego Padres. He recently finished his first mystery, KATZ CRADLE. The first 100 pages of his novel are linked here. For general advertising questions, leave a comment or send e-mail to katz @ gregoryhuffstutter dot com with “Ask The Ad Man” in the subject line.

Comments

[Simon Haynes]

"You’ll be glad you did."

I realise this was tongue in cheek, but let's face it ... the publishing industry is too genteel for that sort of cut-throat advertising. Plus cars are impersonal, whereas the author you just trashed might end up publishing their next book with your house.

Interesting articles though. Lots to learn and study - thanks.

I'm particularly interested in the idea of video promos to sell books. Much more visual, and more likely for a good one to spread than it is for an effective blurb to be repeated.

[Leora Skolkin-Smith]

Fascinating. This also explains why the same authors keep getting so MUCH major media attention and newcomers rarely get any attention unless attached to big budgets. The big names are brand-names already and the pub;lishing system perpetuates the inequities.The system of huge review attention and huge publicity promotions seems to be feeding this, too.

This series is so illuminating. thanks for running it, MJ and Gregory. I agree, though with Simon that it wouldn't be in any unknown athor's interest to "badmouth" the big celebrity authors, that's how we get locked in because they also are the "Blurbers" and might in be our house any day. The hierarchy is nearly impenetrable. I mean, who would dare say, "No, Michael Chabon, though enormously gifted, is not a "genius" and so-and-so (who no one ever ever heard of) brings you an authentic, fresh Jewish writing which is rarely lauded because etc... Fear of reprove and rebuke from critics and publishers and just about everyone would work against one using comparisons. And so only brand-new authors continue to dominate the market, often quite blindly said to write "masterpieces" (when maybe their novels are just very good or quite good, but hardly genius) I think this is working across the board.
Then how can you say: well, better literature is better for you? The way a car that is better is better for you? Then how without gigantic budgets can an unknown author even dare to fight back? Very complex questions, I think.

Once in a while miraculously a truly "brilliant non-brand name writer will emerge like the recent Chilean writer Robert Bolanos, author of "The Savage Detectives" but when I think of it, I think it's really because they were able to compare him to Gabriel Marquez and Isabel Allende (the "brand-names") and say Bolanos was a fresher voice.

I wish authors had the money to break through the brand-name dynasty but that's another huge problem.

Sorry to go on but thank you so very much for such a rich and valuable analysis of how marketing really works.

[Simon Haynes]

Authors don't start out as brand names, though. Publishers don't say 'let's take this unknown and turn them into a worldwide brand.'

No, first the author has to survive boot camp, which for most involves clinging to a publisher for two, three, four books while figures - hopefully - continue to build.

It's only when the public goes wild that the brand is born, and from that point the publisher will throw buckets of money at every release.

I don't mean to sound cynical, but publishers can't just advertise an unknown and turn them into a household name. Word of mouth does that, and you can't buy it.

[gregory huffstutter]

True that authors don't start out as worldwide brand names... but publishers *could* advertise an unknown and turn them into a household name if they spent enough money.

Movies do it all the time. Was 'Borat' a household name before the massive advertising/publicity campaign?

The problem comes back to break-even cost. 99.9% of books don't generate enough income to justify a $20-40 million dollar advertising campaign like a major motion picture release.

Borat earned over $250 million worldwide -- so their advertising budget was well spent. Most books sell less than 5,000 copies, so the upside potential from the publisher's POV is much lower.

But just because most authors don't have the same budgets at Sony Pictures, doesn't mean they can't do effective advertising on a smaller scale.

I thought Toni McGee Causey did a great job of taking messaging cues from 'brand advertising' while making something that could be re-purposed in a cost-effecient manner (YouTube, rich media online banners, burned DVDs for booksellers).

Thanks for the comments... and I'm glad you didn't take my proposed Stephen King commercial too seriously.

I'm not advocating that authors turn into cut-throat smear artists. No need to turn bookselling into a political campaign.

[Leora Skolkin-Smith]

Good points, Gregory and it is indeed comforting to know there are alternatives, your suggestions are so helpful!

And, yes, I agree that right now unknowns can be turned into brand-names and then some writers end being victims because they have to produce and maybe they have been pushed so hard because the publishers has to get their money back their paralyzed in their second books. I'm really also truly sympathetic to those unknowns who are catapulted without really having a chance to just drift and grow, too.

Thanks again for your excellent column!

[JA Konrath]

Nice post. :)

I want to comment on your reply:

GH: True that authors don't start out as worldwide brand names... but publishers *could* advertise an unknown and turn them into a household name if they spent enough money.

JA: Publishers have tried this, and failed.

To posit that all a book needs to succeed is enough advertisement is like saying that every book can be a bestseller if the marketing budget is big enough. This simply isn't true, or else every book released would be a bestseller.

GH: Movies do it all the time. Was 'Borat' a household name before the massive advertising/publicity campaign?

JA: This is a chicken/egg arguement. Did dvertising make Borat big, or did Borat catch on in spite of advertising?

In other words, did the hype fuel the product, or did the product fuel the hype?

We can't ever know. But we can look at box office bombs and see how much money they spent on advertising, and it is close to what was spent on Borat.

GH: Borat earned over $250 million worldwide -- so their advertising budget was well spent. Most books sell less than 5,000 copies, so the upside potential from the publisher's POV is much lower.

But just because most authors don't have the same budgets at Sony Pictures, doesn't mean they can't do effective advertising on a smaller scale.

JA: That assumes equal ratios, which can't be proven.

Say I spend 1 million dollars in advertising, and generate X sales income.

That doesn't mean I can spent $10,000 dollars on ads, and automatically guarantee 1/100X sales income.

The money spent on big TV and newspaper ads can't translate percetage of effectiveness to a smaller campaign. Especially since many ads fail, despite their budget.

I'm all for vidlits and flashy websites, but has anyone done a study of how many fiction readers give a shit about online content?

Is James Patterson huge because he has a killer website?

Or did he get huge, and then could afford a killer website?

Spending thousands of $$$ on a book trailer, when that money could be used to tour and meet booksellers, doesn't make much sense.

As I've said before: Have you ever seen an ad which made you run out and buy the book? A website? A book trailer?

Compare that to a bookseller who says to you, "Trust me, you'll love this."

Which is more cost-effective?

[gregory huffstutter]

JA,

Give me $60 million dollars, and I could turn JT Ellison, MJ Rose, or you into a household name.

But as you're right to speculate, there is a difference between creating a 'household name' and selling product.

'Grindhouse' spent a boatload of money to promote the pairing of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodgriguez... and it didn't pan out for a variety of reasons.

After you create upper funnel awareness, things like poor word of mouth, lousy reviews, bad timing, heavy competition, or simply a bad product can sink your efforts.

Advertising is only one leg of the stool -- you also have to have a product that lives up to the hype and a competitive price point and hit the market at the right time.

I will never argue with you that word of mouth and handselling is the most efficient, cost-effective form of sales. But as more and more transactions are taking place outside the bookstore, how does the general public learn about new authors and new titles?

That is the challenge. And I wish it were as easy as coming up with a ratio: "If I spend $1 million on advertising I'll generate X sales, and if I only spend $10K, I'll get 1/100th of that."

The same way you say that a video trailer has never made you buy a book -- so they must not be effective -- I could say that I would've never heard of and never bought "Bobbie Faye's Very (very, very, very) Bad Day" if not for that trailer. It doesn't make either of us right or wrong. Everyone approaches advertising messages differently.

I believe the answer is to have a varied media plan -- not relying solely on touring, not relying solely on traditional advertising. And whenever possible, brand yourself or your main character while giving pertinent information like release dates and distribution.

[Simon Haynes]

"Or did he get huge, and then could afford a killer website?"

That's my point exactly. There has to be a load of smouldering timber before the publisher's can 'o' gas sets the whole thing raging. Throwing fuel onto cold, damp wood achieves nothing.

And the smouldering timber is mostly the author's department. It's all in the book, which is why the playing field is so much more even than it looks. A book with all the right elements CAN become a massive hit, but the combination is so rare we might not see more than one a decade.

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