Brent Lewis: Digital Strategy And Action

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Harlequin Enterprises Limited

Digital:Strategy Into Action

[email protected]

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• Over 120 titles published each month• 26 languages• 109 international markets• 1,300 authors• 18 branded series• 10 imprints

Harlequin

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Harlequin

Loyal audience:• 50 million women readers worldwide• 131 million books sold

New Audiences:• NASCAR branded publishing partnership• Non-fiction

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Wal-Mart Series SectionWal-Mart Series Section

Harlequin is a destination

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Harlequin Romance Radio

a digital destination

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Harlequin uses digital to develop and sell entertaining content in a variety of formats, nurture reader relationships, and build our brands.

playground rules

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Environment

• fragmentation

• entertainment competition

• digital economics

• discovery

• digital generation

• customer conversation

• devices

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TechnologyEnablersRelationships

Commerce

Marketing

Content

Framework

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Technology Enablers

Relationships• Community• MySpace• Facebook• Applications• Shelfari• iHeartPresents

Commerce• Sony ebooks• Amazon• Sprint• Audible• Fictionwise• Verizon

Marketing• Paid Search• Widgets• Natural Search• email • Banners• Social Media

Content• Digitaized print works• Bundles• Chunks• Repurposed• Digital Only• Other Entertainment

• Audio

• ebook

• RSS

• Mobile

• Digital

Warehouse

Outcomes & Enablers

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Strategic Considerations

• technology will change, outcomes shouldn’t

• no one knows how it will unfold

• go beyond the restrictions of the physical world

• do customers care?

• what will you do and what won’t you do

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Strategy Into Action

…ebook Program

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Myth: ebooks are only for Techno Nerds

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Myth: only kids get ebooks

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Reality: Women are ebook Readers

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Myth: ebooks are for Sci Fi Geeks

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Reality: Romance is a Fast Growing Genre in ebooks

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Myth: No Good ebook Reading Device

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Reality

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ebooks are about the Benefits, not the gizmos and gadgets

ImmediateImmediate

Volume -- StorageVolume -- Storage

PortabilityPortability

Product OpportunitiesProduct Opportunities

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Harlequin ebook Program

•Launched 9 titles/month in Oct 2005

•100% front-list in Sept 2007

•Priced lower than print version

•Work closely with eRetailers, software providers and industry groups to learn and educate

•Published eBook exclusive content May 06; Launched eBook originals Aug 07

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But…

• Buying process needs to be simplified

• Interoperability

• Price

• Focus on benefits not technology

• Diversity and breadth of content

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…other commerce

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mobile: Harlequin On The Go

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audio

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emerging opportunities

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…marketing

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retailer support

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partner marketing

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partner marketing

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hard to ignore

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…content

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digital only content

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digital content

Author Collections

New Seasonal Anthologies

Themed Collections

Popular Characters / Stories

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mobile content

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content considerations

• digitizing books is only the beginning

• forget limitations of the physical world

• embrace long-tail principles

• attention span

• readability on device

• internal

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…relationships

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why did you choose that book?

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harlequin community

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harlequin community

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harlequin community

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• Monthly podcasts• Author interviews• Behind the scenes @

Harlequin

podcasts

• Insider Tips on how to get published from the Editors at Harlequin & Silhouette

• Goal: Looking for new talent

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myspace

Brand Focused

Author Focused

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blogs

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blogs

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XM radio

• serialized novels• three times a day

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second life

M.J. Rose Reading

Victorian Ball

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relationship considerations

• takes time to maintain two-way dialogue

• experiment

• value-add – exclusivity, insight,

• internalan attitude, not a technology

systems get better the more people use it

perpetual beta

cooperate, don’t control

small pieces loosely joined

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next?

•phones are the ebook reader

•in 2007, 5 of the year’s top ten bestsellers were originally written on and for mobile phones

•after their mobile success the titles were published in print

Business

Brent Lewis: Digital Strategy And Action