Books work well as premiums and incentives, especially when you select a title that ties in neatly with the product or service you are promoting. This article explains how you can have a book customized for your program at a price that's far from prohibitive, and it provides other useful facts about the publishing business.

T A B L E     O F     C O N T E N T S
Overview Pros and Cons of Books Choosing the Right Book Theming and Customization Cost Versus Perceived Value Turnaround Time Case Histories	Finding Suppliers Associations Conferences and Trade Shows Publications Related SMN Articles

OVERVIEW

Books have a wide variety of promotional uses in both consumer and business-to-business marketing. To boost sales of packaged goods, for example, there are on-pack and in-pack offers, and free-standing inserts (FSIs) in newspapers. In business-to-business, books can be used creatively as gifts, trade-show giveaways, and dealer-loaders. Books are ideal for medium-sized or large incentive programs aimed at consumers, employees, or channel participants. For one thing, they can be readily customized; for another, when used with imagination, they can convey a special message to participants. Thus when theming is essential and trophy value the objective, books make for an unmatched promotional vehicle.

PROS AND CONS OF BOOKS

The biggest single advantage of books is their versatility. Whatever the nature of your promotional message, whatever the audience you are trying to reach, there is probably a book that addresses your needs. You don't have to rack your brain trying to engage the emotions of your target audience with a new promotion or incentive program; a collection of talented writers, artists, and editors has already taken care of that. By the same token, however, you can fall victim to the very things that make books a good bet: their endless variety and the subjective nature of book appreciation. Don't order 5,000 copies of something just because you find it enlightening. The rest of the world may not agree.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT BOOK

When selecting a book for your next promotion or incentive program, try to be general enough to cover the various tastes among your target audience. Specifically, keep in mind:

• Reference books are hot movers in the special-markets game because of their broad appeal.
  
  
• Golf and gardening books and other categories that have become enormously popular at the retail level are beginning to make their presence felt in the premium/incentive field.
  
  
• Other popular categories include health and well-being, travel, cookbooks, personal finances, and real estate.
  
  
• Children's books. If you are marketing to kids, remember that what's likely to work is what's hot right now. With kids that changes seasonally, so do your research well.
  
  
• Avoid books that are too specialized. For instance, it is a good idea to steer clear of fiction, even best-sellers, because of the subjective nature of their appeal. Also, half of the members of your target audience may have already read the new Stephen King novel.

THEMING AND CUSTOMIZATION

You can literally have a book re-made to your specifications, so let your imagination run wild. Customization can be as simple as a one-color imprint over the existing book jacket. Or you can have a cover custom printed for either hardcover or paperback. You can even have the book re-sized and edited to your specifications. Of course, the quantity ordered will determine the feasibility of an extensive customization. If it's a few dozen copies purchased as a trade-show giveaway, you probably don't want to bother. But the economics of publishing are such that most incentive buys (5,000 copies or more) require that the publisher go back to press anyway, so there is ample opportunity to customize without incurring enormous expense. You pay only for the design, production, editing, and manufacturing required for your project.

COST VERSUS PERCEIVED VALUE

One of the big advantages of using books as premiums and incentives is their high perceived value. And this is made even sweeter by the discounts you can get off retail price. For an order of more than 1,000 copies of a single title, discounts run in the 50-60 percent range. That is even better than the 40 percent typically granted to your local bookstore, and there's a good reason: Unlike the store, you will not be able to return unused stock to the publisher. Nevertheless, being able to buy a popular reference book for $8 when your recipients would pay at least $20 even in a chain bookstore is a good deal. That kind of value beats the numbers for most merchandise used in premium and incentive programs, even gift certificates.

TURNAROUND TIME

Turnaround times vary considerably in the book business. For orders of less than 1,000 copies, you will likely be ordering from existing stock. If the books are in the warehouse, the time frame will depend largely on how much you want to spend on shipping. For a custom print run, the turnaround will depend on whether the printing is done in this country or abroad. Simple books without a lot of glossy artwork can be run off and delivered by a domestic printer in four to six weeks. More intricate printing is typically done overseas, however, and the expected turnaround is 12 to 16 weeks. Extensive customization can add considerably to these times, especially if a lot of new artwork and editing is involved.

CASE HISTORIES

The following examples demonstrate how marketers are using books in a variety of programs:

Ciba-Geigy. Pharmaceutical companies, which spend millions of dollars promoting their product lines to doctors, rely heavily on premiums to help in the effort. Typically, they give away such things as note pads, pens, and coffee mugs. In a recent promotion, Ciba-Geigy took a more creative approach. While introducing its product line to interns and residents, the company's sales force distributed free copies of The American Medical Association Encyclopedia of Medicine. Not only did this make for a useful premium, but, by offering a valued reference book that will be used almost daily, the company increased its awareness among young doctors at the most impressionable stage in their careers.

Acura. The biggest challenge in selling cars is getting buyers into the showroom. While using premiums to accomplish this is not new, the usual choices of T-shirts and golf balls do nothing to tie the promotion to the driving experience. And they offer little in the way of repeat impressions. Acura bucked this trend by offering a copy of Fodor's Great American Vacations to consumers who test-drove the Acura Legend. The cover of the book was customized with a picture of the car. Potential customers could then plan their next vacation while being reminded of a new Acura's potential for making the trip a pleasant one.

Anchor Bank enticed home buyers with 100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask as an incentive to increase mortgage applications. Customization included a cover imprint and a page listing all the bank's branch locations. By offering a source of answers to the very questions that have home buyers scratching their heads, Anchor made friends with these first-time buyers during a time of high stress. The book served as a trust-builder in a way that few other premiums could match.

FINDING SUPPLIERS

Major publishing companies have special-markets departments, and even many of the smaller presses that don't are well-versed in the premium/incentive market. Don't look to middlemen, such as brokers, to do deals involving books. The best way to get quality, prompt turnaround, and discounts is to go to the source. Remember, unlike many other premium/incentive manufacturers, publishers have the in-house creative talent to pull off even the most demanding customization project.

Trade shows are a good place to find some of the smaller suppliers (see Conferences and Trade Shows), and the associations listed in the next section can provide names of members that are in the publishing business. Two online directories:

• To find a supplier, go to #9520, Supplier Finder.
• The Motivation Show directory has an extensive list of industry suppliers. 

ASSOCIATIONS

For related associations, go to the Industry Associations page.

CONFERENCES AND TRADE SHOWS

For a list of Industry Events, go to #9510, Calendar of Industry Events.

PUBLICATIONS

For a list of relevant publications, go to the Industry Publications page.

RELATED SMN ARTICLES

For information related to this article, see Doc. 3020, Strategies for Success.