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The latest Book Marketing Society Seasonal Awards have recognised the marketing campaigns for Stephen King’s Dr Sleep (Hodder & Stoughton) and the Minecraft books (Egmont), among others.
Hodder’s campaign for Dr Sleep, run by Ellen Wood, was the winner in the Adult category. Wood was recognised for the book’s cover reveal with hotspots via a Thinglink platform, media partnerships to promote the book’s link to Stephen King film adaptations, projections on publication night across London and a high profile outdoor campaign. The successful campaign saw fan page numbers increase by 166% and 2,000 fans signed up to read the book pre-publication. The book was a number one bestseller and had a 6% increase in sales compared to King’s previous book.
In the Children’s category, the Minecraft book launch by Egmont’s Sarah Bates, Tony Loughlin, Katy Cattell, Linda Beavis was awarded with the top honour for what the judges described as its "perfect execution". They were praised for identifying what the target audience wants and for the targeted and extensive list of collaborators with the campaign. The campaign delivered three bestselling titles with a “truly impressive” return on invest that has seen 647,044 copies of the official Minecraft books be sold through BookScan, racking up £3,236,403.
The joint winners in the Shoestring category were Square Peg’s campaign for Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh (Square Peg), run by Alice Palmer Brown and the campaign for crime compilation #Youdunnit orchestrated by Tim Broughton of Penguin Random House. The judges were impressed by the Hyperbole and a Half Twitter and Facebook campaign and how the approach to Mental Health Charities to link with World Mental Health day boosted support for the completely unknown author. The #Youdunnit campaign was lauded for the partnership with Specsavers, as well as for its crowdsourcing of themes to produce a free crime book. The campaign also received lots of social media attention, leading to 7,500 e-books being downloaded.
HarperCollins Children’s Books’ campaign for David Walliams’ Demon Dentist (Harper Collins Children’s Books) was the judges Highly Commended Children’s choice, while Little, Brown’s campaign for Very British Problems by Rob Temple (Sphere) was Highly Commended in the Shoestring category. The marketing campaigns for Alex Ferguson: My Biography (Hodder & Stoughton), S by JJ Abrams and Doug Dorst (Canongate) and The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (Little, Brown) were all Highly Commended in the Adult category.
The judges also picked out for mention Penguin’s marketing campaign for Conn Iggulden’s War of the Roses (Michael Joseph), Harvill Secker/Vintage’s for Police by Jo Nesbo (Harvill Secker), Cornerstone’s for Jeeves & the Wedding Bells by Sebastian Faulks (Hutchinson) and Penguin’s for Jamie Oliver’s Save with Jamie (Michael Joseph).
The judging panel comprised Sophie Rochester of The Literary Platform, Alistair Giles of Agile Ideas, Dominic Gettins of agency Havas Worldwide, The Bookseller's Benedicte Page and Jo Henry, BMS executive director.