AROUND THE WORLD IN 14O CHARACTERS SALES AND MARKETING PLAN Daniel Bosworth 15092779 Word count: 2976
CONTENTS 1. THE PITCH
1.1 THE AUTHORS
1.2 THE BOOK
2. DESIGN
2.1 PRICING
2.2 PUBLICATION DATE
3. MARKET
3.1 COMPETITION 3.2 USPs 3.3 DEMOGRAPHICS
4. DISTRIBUTION
5. SALES FORECAST 6. THE CAMPAIGN
6.1 MARKETING 6.2 PUBLICITY
7. THE FUTURE
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1 | THE PITCH Elena Finn and Jack Fletcher have been backpacking around the world together since 2012, when they decided to record their envyinducing gap year on Youtube for their friends and family to watch back home. This means of keeping in contact with loved ones, soon exploded into a phenomenon with hundreds of thousands of people tuning in to watch their latest vlogs. With over two million subscribers on their main channel ‘GreatGap’ and a further 500,000 subscribers on their second channel ‘GoodGap’, they have now decided to stream their passion for travel into a book. With their insider knowledge, money saving tips, enthusiastic personalities and in-built audience, their book is sure to please and surprise existing fans and delight new ones. Filled with anecdotes of visits to each country, recommendations on where to eat and drink, the lowdown on must-do activites in each area, which tourist attractions are really worth the hype and, most importantly, how to do all of this and more on a shoestring budget, Elena and Jack aim to help you do as they did, and turn one year of travel into as many as you’d like!
1.1 | THE AUTHORS Elena and Jack, are a 25 year old couple who have a substantial presence on social media, with over 2 million subscribers on Twitter and nearly 2 million followers on YouTube. Their daily tweets with updates from jungles, beaches, cities and ski slopes have proven a hit with their fans, and it is this ability we are keen to capitalise on, hence the book title. We believe that the couple’s friendly and insightful prose, combined with their popular digital content will result in a book that will be successful in both the YouTube and Travel genres.
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1.2 | THE BOOK Elena and Jack have long joked that if they’d known how popular their blog would become they would have given it a better name! Thus, the book has given them the opportunity to do a bit of re-branding which is why the title is Around the World in 140 Characters, and the authors are Elena Finn and Jack Fletcher as well as GreatGap. The book will be broken down into seven sections - one for each continent - and will focus on 20 of their favourite places from each continent (except Antarctica). The layout will include a lead photo, personalised messages from Jack and Elena, what time of year to go, plus recommendations on how to see this place cheaply.
Youtuber penned books are a recent phenomenon, but look set to continue to do well, with a quick Google Trends search, showing a dramatic uptake throughout 2015 and a more recent uplift this year. Also, for 2015, YouTube books had total sales of £1.6million, giving them a 1% share of the book market, which is impressive when you consider how few of their books are out there. The most financially successful Youtuber books are categorised as biographical or humour (if we remove the anomaly ‘Girl Online’ from the data).
Around
the World in 140 Characters promises to deliver both of these aspects, with personal, witty anecdotes about their experiences in a particular travel destination forming the bulk of the book. Thus, we feel secure in the knowledge that this is a genre of book still interesting people.
Another reason for doing a travel book at this period in time is that Nielsen Bookscan has shown a growth of 57.7% within T8.5 Travel writing this year – largely down to ‘Little Dribbing’ by Bill Bryson, but we expect that with the added YouTube cache, our book will have similar sales figures. 4
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2 | DESIGN Hardback Edition Features • Cover features a photo of the couple, their YouTube name as well as their real names • Each location included in the book, will be introduced in a Twitter-esque 140 characters • High quality photographs taken by the couple as well as location photos taken by our in-house photographers • A slight scrapbook aesthetic, as selections of Elena’s journal and Jack’s sketches will also be included • First 500 copies released will also come in a collectors’ case featuring a pullout poster of the couple’s most liked Instagram post (currently a photo of the Borneo rainforest) for no extra cost to the consumer • QR codes or Zapper codes to access the video content. Format: 19.4 x 2.4 x 25.5 cm, same as other Youtube titles 270 pages, 190 full colour, high-res illustrations 140gsm smooth coated paper for inside spreads Matte cover – this will ensure a high-quality finish and the grainy matt paper will keep this book feeling fresh and young. Other YouTube titles have opted for a gloss finish so this will help our title stand out
Paperback Edition Features • Same content as the hardback edition • Matte front cover with spot UV title • Again 500 special editions will be released, this time featuring bookmarks designed by Jack that readers can use to mark places they would love to visit. Bookmarks will also be given away at author events. Format: 12.8 x 3.9 x 19.7 cm: same as Lonely Planet guides Full-colour 110gsm smooth coated paper – provides a high quality finish to the photographic content (the lower grammage will also lower production costs, ensuring a much lower price point for the mass-market paperback)
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eBook Edition
The eBook edition is specifically designed to be read on the move. As the authors are internet celebrities, we’ve decided to include extra, exclusive digital material in the eBook, with the hope that their existing fan base will be tempted to purchase this edition in order to see more of their favourite social media stars. This will then, hopefully, act as a buffer against any further decline in eBook sales as they are currently down 7% from last year. Format: Available as .epub and .mobi files Same core content as pBooks, with the following additions: Regional offline maps – when travelling, the reader can easily and cheaply navigate without having to search for wifi or pay for data roaming Interactive content – links to existing videos and bonus tailored video content such as personalised tours of local markets or challenges of them eating unusual local cuisine Personalised itinerary – reader can choose their favourite ideas from the book and curate them in one handy place. A star will be added next to each recommendation or activity GreatGap have done. Click the star to ‘favourite it’, and it is added to an itinerary. Exclusive videos and audio of the couple embedded into the text
eBook chapter page mock-up
Trends it emulates: • Full-page photo of the vloggers taken from their social media • YouTube channel name on the front cover • Blurb written by the vloggers directly to the reader • Photograph of the awe-inspiring scenery that the couple have encountered for front and back cover like the travel guides • Vogue for matte covers for books targeting 18-30 year olds As this book is a crossover between two genres, we have thought long and hard about how to make it appear distinct and yet homogenous in both settings. Importantly, we wanted to maintain GreatGap’s crisp and clean aesthetic for the overall look of the book.
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2.1 | PRICING Looking at other YouTuber books and travel books of a similar format and extent (see graph below), we have decided to price the book as follows:
The eBook price may seem steep, but similar titles are retailing for between £8.49-£17.69, so despite the average non-fiction eBook costing £5.99 in 2015, it is clear that people are willing to pay above that for this type of book. Also, general non-fiction is up 11.7% for 2015, which helps justify the higher price, particularly in English speaking countries where eBook growth has increased (see chart below). We have decided to price our paperback fractionally lower than the travel book competition as currently most YouTube hardbacks are retailing for less than the travel paperbacks and we want to reflect this distinction, and then keep a higher RRP for hardback to match it to the travel market. General Non-fic3on Volume Growth - 52 Week yr on yr Austria Switzerland Germany SA Brazil Spain Italy US NZ Aus Ire
-5.0%
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
UK
RRP for Youtube and Travel Books Market position of our book inRRP for Youtube and Travel books yellow: £25.00
£20.00
£15.00 RRP
Youtube Hardback Travel Paperback
£10.00
£5.00
£-
Data taken from Amazon UK INSTG057 | 15092779
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2.2 | PUBLICATION DATE To tie in with their leg of their travels reaching the UK, we have decided to publish the hardback and eBook simultaneously in February 2017, this is also the five-year anniversary of their YouTube channel and both Jack and Elena will be available for publicity. The predicted drop in sales for months 2-3 will coincide with the Easter holidays when the majority of people have that time available for last-minute breaks (the book has an extensive section on Europe) but also appears in advance of the summer break so that those who are planning on taking a long-haul flight somewhere can buy this book to prepare for their once in a lifetime trip, we hope that this timing will boost sales. Comparative titles from Lonely Planet and Rough Guide released in August and September had poor sales on publication and we believe this is because those that wanted to go on a summer holiday had already been and gone. The paperback will be published in October 2018, eschewing the conventional nine months to a year wait in favour of profiting from the Christmas sales, which Nielsen data has proven to be the bestselling time of year for travel titles, and increasing the lifespan of the hardback. The eBook is to be published simultaneously with the hardback, allowing GreatGap’s fans to instantly access the content, encouraging lots of online commentary, and hopefully driving hardback sales due to early positive Amazon reviews.
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3 | MARKET 3.1 | COMPETITION This product is currently unlike anything else offered on the market, so we have split our competition into two sections: Youtuber books and travel guides. There are currently no crossover titles. The Youtube titles we have chosen are from both a male and female author with a similar amount of subscribers (as our authors are a couple it’s useful to look at both genders) and one features on a specific leisure activity (makeup) and the other is more of a memoir - our book will be a mix of biography and leisure (travel) tips. The final two books are both budget travel guides as this is more of a direct competition for our target ‘traveller’ audience.
Overall Competitive Advantage
Around the World in 140 Characters has taken the positives from across the market: authors with a social
media reach that goes into the millions, personal anecdotes, a witty writing style, in-depth knowledge of the subject matter and a wide breadth of travel destinations are covered.
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3.2 | USPs So how does this book differ from the YouTube onslaught we’ve had in recent months?
Around the World in 140 Characters is the only Youtuber book that is targeting the travel market. Almost all
of the other books focus on the leisure sector: beauty, cookery, lifestyle etc and with well-documented success. We plan to transpose this winning YouTube formula to the travel market where the only big name authors are those such as Bill Bryson and Paul Theroux who cater to a much older demographic. This truly is a gap in the market, and if we act fast we can quickly corner it.
3.3 | DEMOGRAPHIC The target audience is predominantly 16-28 year olds, and is slightly skewed towards a female audience. What is this figure based on? • YouTube visitors to their channel are aged between 16-25 years old and 60% female • Travel books tend to attract an older reader who has enough disposable income to go on the adventures mentioned in the book, however as this book is about travelling on a budget we feel it will attract a younger reader who is more time rich than money rich • Vlogging authors have posted videos to their book signings and an overwhelming female under-20 crowd reliably turn up
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4 | DISTRIBUTION The hardback and paperback title will be sold in all major retailers and will follow the industry standard sale return model. According to data from Nielsen Bookscan, Amazon and other online platforms are the places where the majority of non-fiction books are sold, with Waterstones and WHSmith being the most popular bricks and mortar retailer. For Around the World in 140 Characters we will emphasise the online outlets (including GreatGap’s blog and the publisher’s own website), to encourage B2C contact and sell the book at its full RRP. The eBook will be available on Amazon, Kobo, Kindle and Nook. For a limited period of time Elena and Jack will advertise a discount code through their videos which will enable the viewer to purchase a hardback and eBook bundle for the same price as the hardback. 120
100
35.2
80
36.8
Amazon
Percentage
Other The Works 60
Independent 25.8
22.4
Asda Tesco
40
20
0
4.5
5.2
WHSmith
4.5 2 2.9
4.6 1.6 2.8
Waterstones
11.7
10.6
17.7
18.2
Non-Fic4on 2014
Non-Fic4on 2015
Sales Channels Amazon - we expect most of our sales to come from here, and are going to push hard for pre-orders so that when the book is published it hits the bestsellers chart straight away. Metadata will be manipulated to increase maximum search engine visibility. We will also aim to establish a Kindle daily deal in the months after publication to rekindle interest. WHSmith- strong high street presence,with a reputation for successfully promoting YouTuber books, especially Zoe Sugg’s Girl Online. Waterstones - we will offer Waterstones exclusive access to the authors due to their expertise in handling Youtuber book signings - Waterstones Picadilly managed to crowd control over 8,000 people who turned up to Alfie Deyes’ book signing. The Supermarkets - specifically Asda, Tesco and Morrisons to increase mass-market potential of the book. Indies - we will also target specialist shops such as Urban Outfitters and Joy as their clothes and furnishings tie in with the young, hip aesthetic of GreatGap. They also already stock several Lonely Planet titles and Youtuber offerings. The publishers currently hold world English language rights and have deals set up in USA, CA, AUS, NZ, SA. We are currently looking at coedition thus the majority of the text will be black text for easy translation. GreatGap have a strong international following and the book includes locations from around the world and benefits from not being Euro-centric. INSTG057 | 15092779 11
5 | SALES FORECAST For the hardback sales forecast, I have used the ASP of £7.60. This takes into account the average 60% discount given to most retailers. The full breakdown of retailer discounts is shown in the table on the right.
For the hardback edition published in February 2017, we have looked at the sales of two Youtuber books who have a similar amount of subscribers to GreatGap and the sales of two of the more popular budget travel guides. As you can see there is a substantial difference between the two.
We believe that the author’s social media fame will lead the book to have sales similar to Love Tanya and Life with a Sprinkle of Glitter, however we have given a forecasted first month sale of £70,000 as opposed to over £100,000 to take into account the much lower travel guide sales.
We are aiming to sell the majority of the editions within the first four months, as YouTube books often make over a quarter of their total year sales in the first month. Easter holidays will prove to be a key sales period as people are apt to buy travel books around then in preparation for Easter breaks and more carefully planned summer holidays. Then the next key sales period will be Christmas where travel books sell approximately 30% of their total year volume.
Year 1 Sales Forecast
Our title
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Love Tanya (year 1 data)
S.America on a Shoestring (data over two years, to show repetition)
Due to the lack of UK eBook sales data available at the moment, we predict that eBook sales will equate to a quarter of all editions sold. On average for the whole book market, 23% of 18-29 year olds buy eBooks, due to the digital inclination of our target demographic, we predict that this will be slightly higher. For the eBook forecast I have used the average eBook discount of 30% to find an ASP of ÂŁ5.59. Year 1 Sales Forecast in brief:
The paperback will not be published until year 2.
5 Year Sales Forecast For the five year forecast, it is increasingly difficult to predict as Youtube books are such a recent phenomenon there exsists little sales data for a period of time longer than a year. However we anticipate a sharp drop off in year 2 as the new and revised paperback will be released then as the book may become outdated due to the specific recommendations made in it. We then predict a steady decrease in sales from years 3-5 as other editions outsell it, plus who knows if YouTube will still be a relevent and influential media outlet by then.
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6 | THE CAMPAIGN Campaign budget: ÂŁ21,831 5% of year 1 sales forecast for all editions published that year.
6.1 | MARKETING GreatGap are an online sensation, so the majority of our marketing will be online too. The campaign will be based primarily on three social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, plus YouTube. We will mostly use GreatGap’s existing social media rather than creating a new website for the book as this would waste their inbuilt fan base. We are fortunate to have enthusiastic authors who are willing to selfpromote for free. The marketing team will provide Elena and Jack with materials and they will use their social media skills to promote it to their audience.
ONLINE
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Facebook advert mock-up
Around the World in 140 Characters
OFFLINE
Total marketing spend: ÂŁ17,290 If the budget becomes too tight, or other money is needed for debut authors, we will relocate the launch party to a smaller, cheaper venue to save money.
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6.2 | PUBLICITY
Total publicity spend: £1,652 Total spend:
£18,942
Saving of £2,889
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7 | THE FUTURE Sustained marketing: GreatGap will regularly tweet about the book, as well as featuring it in vlogs (even if it is just carefully placed in the background) to keep reminding their viewers about it, behind the scenes video of the book making process – see the success of vlogs by Zoella and Danisnotonfire, and a compilation video of vlogs sent in by fans of them reading out their favourite chapter or reviewing the book. Year 2 - paperback is released. Year 3 and beyond - depending on the success of the paperback, we will consider reusing material from this book and creating a range of 6 cheaper, lightweight, mass market paperbacks each focusing on a continent (except Antartica) and filled with more practical information, that people can buy as specific destination guides for holidays.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Referenced throughout Google Trends, N.p., n.d. Web. 23 March. 2016. Nielsen Bookscan, N.p., n.d. Web. 23 March. 2016. Amazon UK, N.p., n.d. Web. 23 March. 2016. Kenyon, Hazel and Woodfield, Annie, “Nielsen Book Research: the book market in 2015” HarperCollins powerpoint presentation Powerpoint. 10 Feb 2016 Demographic Blattberg, Eric, “The demographics of YouTube, in 5 charts” Digiday, 24 April 2015. N.p., Web. 23 March. 2016. Zickhur, Kathryn and Raine, Lee, “A Snapshot of Reading in America in 2013” Pew Research Centre, 6 Jan 2014. N.p., Web. 23 March. 2016. Competition Singh, Anita, “Zoella breaks record for first-week book sale” Telegraph. Telegraph 2 Dec 2014. N.p., Web. 23 March. 2016. “Youtubers Shelf” Good Reads, N.p., n.d. Web. 23 March. 2016.
Book Costing Drabble, Emily, “Teens prefer the printed page to ebooks” Guardian. Guardian 16 Dec 2014. N.p., Web. 23 March. 2016. Jones, Philip, “The UK e-book market in 2014” The Bookseller, 20 Jan 2015. N.p., Web. 23 March. 2016. Lonely Planet eBooks, N.p., n.d. Web. 23 March. 2016. Marketing Facebook Ads Manager, N.p., n.d. Web. 23 March. 2016. https://www.facebook.com/ads/manage Twitter Adverts, N.p., n.d. Web. 23 March. 2016. Publicity Event costing: Chef de la Maison, N.p., n.d. Web. 23 March. 2016. (Catering) Hire Space, N.p., n.d. Web. 23 March. 2016. (Oval Space Hire) iChauffeur N.p., n.d. Web. 23 March. 2016. (Private car) Australia flights: Skyscanner Australis, N.p., n.d. Web. 23 March. 2016.
Meet and greets: Deyes, Alfie, “My First Book Signing” PointlessBlogVlogs, YouTube 7 Sept 2014. N.p., Web. 23 March. 2016. Summer in the City, N.p., n.d. Web. 23 March. 2016. Sugg, Zoe, “Seeing My Book Being Printed”, MoreZoella, YouTube 6 Nov 2014. N.p., Web. 23 March. 2016.
Book tours: “The Amazing Tour Is Not on Fire has sold out venues across the UK”, PenguinRandomHouse, 01 Nov 2015 N.p., Web. 23 March. 2016.
Magazine and Newspaper reviews: “The Amazing Book is Not On Fire by Dan Howell and Phil Lester – review”, Guardian. The Guardian 7 Feb 2016 N.p., Web. 23 March. 2016. 18 15092779 | INSTG057