{"id":8024,"date":"2014-04-23T09:57:11","date_gmt":"2014-04-23T13:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/herculiz.com\/dev\/?p=8024"},"modified":"2018-10-18T20:12:43","modified_gmt":"2018-10-18T20:12:43","slug":"twisting-book-trailers-to-boost-any-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/advertising\/twisting-book-trailers-to-boost-any-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Twisting Book Trailers to Boost Any Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/b>Book trailers bring big business.\u00a0These video spots don\u2019t stand out for their star-power alone, but for their formal inventiveness and willingness to take risks as well. In this guest post<\/a><\/strong>, Liam Powel shows how your business can take what publishing houses are doing to market their authors and products and apply those same ideas to your business for big marketing and brand-building benefits through video trailers.<\/p>\n

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LITTLE FAILURE’S<\/em> BIG SUCCESS.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not up on literature, you may not have heard of Gary Shteyngart, but odds are you will soon.\u00a0 The quirky satirist \u2013 whose novel Super Sad True Love Story<\/i> garnered him a spot on the New Yorker\u2019s \u201c20 Under 40\u201d list two years ago \u2013 is known for his biting wit, bumbling characters, and stunning backdrops. Little Failure,<\/i> a memoir released early in January, 2014 by Random House, has already garnered glowing reviews, and if history is any guide, sales are radiant as well.<\/p>\n

To hype the title, Random House released a \u201cbook trailer\u201d \u2013 if you\u2019re not familiar with the form, it\u2019s exactly what it sounds like \u2013 and Shteyngart\u2019s are grade-A satire.\u00a0Little Failure<\/i><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0has already made a splash because of its star-studded cast, featuring James Franco, Rashida Jones, Alex Karpovsky, and of course, Shteyngart too. Random House, no stranger to the medium or its capacity to push publicity, had previously released a similar trailer for Super Sad \u2013 <\/i>it\u2019s just as hilarious, and can be seen here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, these video spots don\u2019t stand out for their star-power alone, which any hefty budget could use to garner attention, but for their formal inventiveness and willingness to take risks as well.\u00a0This <\/i>is what we\u2019re interested in. Let’s look at a few lessons from the art of the book trailer that you can apply to your brand and business.<\/p>\n

DON’T BE AFRAID TO BREAK NEW GROUND.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The vast majority of book trailers are fairly one-dimensional, composed of excerpts from a work read over a series of simple images or videos. Few build a narrative, and among the small number that do, fewer still are as cunning or generally well-composed as those for Little Failure<\/i> or Super Sad<\/i>.<\/p>\n

So aside from it seeming strange, or stunt-ish, for a piece of literary non-fiction to engage potential consumers through such an infrequently, and often ill-used media form, Shteyngart\u2019s piece distinguishes itself for its wryly inventive quality. Particularly when compared to other book trailers, Little Failure\u2019<\/i>s <\/i>comes off as sketch comedy, worrying less about clearly pushing the product (the memoir itself) and more about conveying core value propositions in an engagingly slant, indirect way.<\/p>\n

So what if you won\u2019t be able to hire out a Hollywood star to shill your brand anytime soon?\u00a0 This\u00a0release, Worst Case Scenario Survival Video Series: BREAKUPS,<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>couldn\u2019t either, nor could this\u00a0Skagboys<\/i><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>video, but each crafted compelling content \u2013 well within their means \u2013 and made efficient, inventive use of a quirky medium to engage their audiences, new and old. The latter trailer, for Skagboys<\/i>, is particularly on point, a wonderfully executed example of consistent <\/i>brand identity \u2013 note how the skeleton from the video is modeled after the novel\u2019s cover image, and how the whole tone is very much in line with Irvine Welsh\u2019s writing \u2013 that only required a Final Cut video editing program and some papier m\u00e2ch\u00e9 to get up and running.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, especially if you\u2019re a solopreneur, all it takes is going the extra mile, even if you have to run it alone.<\/p>\n

SO YOU DON’T RUN A PUBLISHING HOUSE?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Whatever industry your brand is competing in, don\u2019t be afraid to go beyond convention when reaching out to potential consumers. Brands, particularly emerging ones, too often fear venturing beyond a simple benefit analysis or overt calls-to-action while representing themselves \u2013 from taglines and logos to small collateral. Slant approaches aren\u2019t only for the industry bigwigs: they can be for everyone, if you\u2019re willing to take the risk.<\/p>\n

Successful trailers use inventive, thoughtful approaches to innovating an established medium. \u00a0They convey how<\/i> their product functions, who<\/i> uses it, and where<\/i> it\u2019s used\u00a0to inform and <\/i>entertain.<\/p>\n

What if a video, or a trailer, isn\u2019t right for you? The point is to reach out to your consumers in engaging, surprising, direct ways \u2013 trailer or no trailer. Here are a few tips and lessons we can take away from Random House\u2019s \u2013 and other\u2019s \u2013 use of an innovative form.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Ask<\/strong> yourself: is there a particular aspect of your brand \u2013 logo, tone, media presence \u2013 you think could benefit from an overhaul or re-imagining? If so, isolate it and take a moment to ask yourself how<\/i> it could be better and what<\/i> could be gained by crossing a line of convention here or there.<\/li>\n
  2. Think<\/strong> lateral<\/strong>.\u00a0 Make a list of potential media you\u2019d like to engage in that you haven\u2019t already. Is it video? A social platform? If media isn\u2019t at the forefront of your concerns, what elements of design, or tones of voice, would be exciting and new for you to experiment with?<\/li>\n
  3. Spend the time<\/strong> to develop a high concept, and stick with it. Measure twice, cut once.<\/li>\n
  4. Think lifestyle<\/i> <\/strong>and\/or novel, layered tones. Slant, or indirect, approaches to brand development aren\u2019t just for established presences in the market \u2013 emerging brands can use them too.<\/li>\n
  5. Always assume the most of your consumer<\/strong>, and expect the most from your brand.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    About the author:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Liam Powell is Lead Copywriter at Imagemme, a Brand Innovation Lab based in TriBeCa, NYC. He recently received a Masters from Columbia University, where he would catch the occasional glimpse of the man himself \u2013 Gary Shteyngart \u2013 walking the long, marble halls. You can connect with Liam on Facebook<\/a><\/strong>, and on Twitter he is @YazooStScandal<\/strong> <\/a>(from the Dylan song).<\/p>\n

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    Book trailers bring big business.\u00a0These video spots don\u2019t stand out for their star-power alone, but for their formal inventiveness and willingness to take risks as well. In this guest post, Liam Powel shows how your business can take what publishing houses are doing to market their authors and products and apply those same ideas to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,22,23,24,253,56,148],"tags":[647,648,40,41,60,42,45,76,649,52,650,651,54,652,78,125,162],"class_list":{"0":"post-8024","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-advertising","7":"category-brand-experience","8":"category-brand-fit-and-stretch","9":"category-brand-implementation","10":"category-guest-bloggers","11":"category-social-media","12":"category-verbal-identity","13":"tag-book-trailer","14":"tag-books","15":"tag-brand","16":"tag-brand-building","17":"tag-brand-school","18":"tag-branding","19":"tag-brandtwist","20":"tag-entrepreneur","21":"tag-gary-shteyngart","22":"tag-julie-cottineau","23":"tag-liam-powel","24":"tag-little-failure","25":"tag-marketing","26":"tag-random-house","27":"tag-small-business","28":"tag-solopreneur","29":"tag-video"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8024"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16320,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8024\/revisions\/16320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}