Most of us can't afford (yet!) to advertise on the scale that's about to be unleashed for Jay-Z's soon-to-be released book, Decode. Andrew Adam Newman explains the campaign in The New York Times. You MUST read this article. It’s a revelation.
I've long felt that book promotion is a little too old school for our high tech times. You send out a press release. You do a press kit. Maybe if you have a strong platform, your publisher might even buy ad space for your book. All necessary but kind of boring.
Authors need to think like rock stars, or in this case, rappers. We need to think out of the box.
“Reproductions of entire pages of the book will appear unannounced in locales referred to in those pages.
“‘If in certain pages Jay-Z is talking about something related to Times Square, then those pages might be on billboards in Times Square,’ said David Droga, creative chairman Droga5, the New York agency heading the campaign. Mr. Droga declined to reveal locations beforehand ...”
This is like the tried-and-true magazine excerpt of a book, only on a massive scale. Is it possible to do a similar campaign on a smaller scale? And can we DIY? Anything’s possible!
p.s.: I suspect there will be a lot of marketing going on within the pages of Jay-Z's memoir as well. Hip hop has no problem blurring the line between art and promotion. I'll file a report as soon as I can get my hands on a copy.
p.s.s.: Here's the slick cover of Jay-Z's book. It looks like an album/CD cover. Anyway, Decoded is available for pre-order on Amazon. The release date is Nov. 16, and already the ranking is 560. Note to self: don't get jealous. Learn!!Donna Marie
No comments:
Post a Comment