"Book ads?"

Katsuko Sakai was the first to notice the Scholastic Group's logo that flashed first on the screen of her phone.

She said casually: "Gu Jun, have you noticed, now more and more publishers and film companies have begun to adjust their publicity centers to related fields on the Internet. My younger brother Gangchang wanted to collect a poster of the promotional illustration of "Slam Dunk", which was released in good condition this year, as a souvenir, and he ran several streets to find it. ”

Major foreign book publishers have their own traditional publicity and distribution methods with a long history.

From posters on the street to meetings with readers, these methods were well developed even in the 19th century when Maupassant and Alexandre Dumas published their books.

By the way.

Don't underestimate the publisher's poster illustrations posted on the street. They have always been an important category of illustration art.

It not only has publicity value, but also collectible value.

Early promotional posters such as Mickey Mouse, Puff Bear, Cat and Mouse, and Iron Man are willing to be collected by many enthusiasts in various pawn shops and flea markets in North America.

The famous Larry Gagosian art business empire started by selling 50-cent illustrations on the balcony of New York's red-light district.

AND WITH YOUTUBE, TIKTOK BEGAN TO OCCUPY THE SOCIAL CENTER OF PEOPLE'S LIVES.

The focus of book promotion and distribution channels has also begun to shift to Internet advertising.

LAST YEAR, BARNES & NOBLE, THE LARGEST PHYSICAL BOOKSTORE SELLER IN NORTH AMERICA, SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED ITS BORING BLOODY MARIE SUE CAMPUS LOVE "HOW I BECAME BEAUTIFUL IN SUMMER", WHICH ATTRACTED THE ATTENTION OF NEARLY ONE MILLION READERS THROUGH MARKETING ON TIKTOK.

After it topped the New York Times bestseller list for six consecutive weeks, making more than 10 million profits, and was announced by Amazon Streaming to buy the rights to adapt it into a TV series.

Even in book marketing, the term "BOOKTOK" was born.

Regardless of the quality of the book.

As long as it can attract enough viewers to discuss on the self-media video platform, which is a battleground for soldiers.

It means the success of sales.

"It's a pity, maybe it's a commercial innovation, but the publicity of this kind of video is becoming more and more homogeneous, and it is difficult to attract my attention, and there is no beautiful and exquisite poster on the street that can attract my interest. It's not necessarily good for illustrators either. ”

Katsuko Sakai cut a piece of beef and put it in her mouth, not showing the slightest interest in what was playing on the screen.

Her perception of this kind of online book marketing is a bit negative.

It was the first time that Ms. Sakai had seen an advertisement for the Scholastic Group on YouTube.

But now that the paper publishing industry is so volatile, all the new books featured by large publishers will be desperately pushed on short video websites.

As long as people who come into contact with Twitter and Douyin, it is almost inevitable to brush up on similar drainage exposure.

Katsuko Sakai has seen a lot of similar advertisements.

All kinds of similar scholars promoted, invited a few movie stars, sports stars and other celebrities to endorse the book in front of the camera, and talked about how much they loved the book.

The same script routine changes the title of the book and shoots it back and forth.

After the initial novelty, people are tired and tired of watching.

Katsuko Sakai is a painter.

In her mind, this kind of face-to-face promotion of books is not even as timeless and profound as the colorful illustration posters carefully designed by first-line illustration studios.

The previous propaganda illustrations can be preserved for a hundred years, two hundred years.

The illustrator who drew the poster for Hugo's romantic drama Ernani when it was released at the Opéra de France on February 25, 1830 is still hanging in the hall of the opera house.

And these self-media push advertisements are nothing more than a burning nicotine cigarette in the era of fragmentation.

After the initial numbness and stimulation, it will be completely forgotten.

The average time they stay in people's brains is really only the time of a cigarette.

Katsuko Sakai is also not optimistic about the Scholastic Group, which can shoot any special and innovative promotional works.

"My YouTube Family membership account, there are still two places that can be shared and no one is used, I'll send you an email later, and click on the link to pull you in. In this way, you can skip these boring promotion ads without wasting time in the future. ”

Sakai Katsuko suggested while hovering over the screen of Gu Weijing's mobile phone standing by the window with her left hand, which had not touched the food.

She was going to skip the ad after waiting for the first 10 seconds of forced viewing.

While talking,

The publisher's logo has been hidden, and the advertisement has begun to be officially broadcast.

It was completely unexpected by the girl.

No boring promotional messages.

Nor is there any shot of Katsuko Sakai's expected actress Jennifer Lawrence sitting in a chair and talking about how she draws the power of women from her new book (Note).

(Note: This is the most classic book promotion ad template available today.) Colin Hoover is the most famous Douyin Internet celebrity writer in the West in 2021 and 2022, with annual sales of nearly $100 million. At its peak some time ago, two-thirds of TIktok's overseas book promotion column was an advertisement for the best-selling queen. ）

The first scene is a close-up of a little girl with a crying nose.

"Wow......"

All footage is a real-life scene clip.

However, due to technical reasons, the cry was re-recorded by the advertising team in the later stage.

The little girl's characteristic aggrieved crying voice came from the speaker of the mobile phone, startling Katsuko Sakai and Gu Weijing, who were eating.

"What kind of unconventional god unfolds this?"

Katsuko Sakai raised an eyebrow.

In the field of homogenization of advertising, putting a little girl crying is simply completely confusing.

But no matter what.

Miss Sakai, who was waiting to skip the advertisement, had a sense of anticipation that she wanted to watch it, but she was pulled up by the strange opening of the advertisement.

Gu Weijing was just picking up the mussels on the plate.

He didn't stare at the screen, so startled by the abrupt little girl's cry that he almost pressed his finger into the still hot sauce.

Gu Weijing's first reaction was that she thought it was Jasmine's child crying.

He turned his head to see Jasmine, who was sitting next to them, with only one head and half a neck just exposed, sitting upright, dealing with a stack of white truffle buns.

He breathed a sigh of relief and complained, "What? It's a little girl crying, is this a book ad or a diaper ad. ”

"Jasmine is better than this little friend, she never cries."

Katsuko Sakai patted Jasmine's little head and said with a smile.

As soon as they joked, counting the few breaths of the logo at the beginning, ten seconds had passed.

The "Skip" logo for the skip ad has appeared in the bottom right corner of the YouTube video.

"Wait a minute, watch it for a few more seconds, it seems to be quite interesting." Katsuko Sakai said to her boyfriend.

She didn't skip it right away.

If your curiosity is not satisfied, it is quite uncomfortable.

When people watch a short video, when they see a particularly eye-catching title, even if their fingers have inadvertently swiped the video, they will deliberately rewind it to see. That's it.

And Katsuko Sakai is now ready to wait until she sees what happened to this little girl before skipping this ad.

Especially when a line of English description appeared in the upper left corner of the advertisement, "The content of this advertisement is real collection, real scene capture, and non-plot deduction effect".

The kind of inquisitive psychology in Sakai Katsuko's heart that wants to see what the advertising team is playing is even more seduced.

It's just that the shooting team is unwilling to play cards according to the routine.

The advertisement is not a lengthy TV series, the point is to be fast, accurate and ruthless, and to instill all the information to the audience in a very short time.

Just caught the interest of the audience.

The screen turned black abruptly without warning like a movie trailer, and a line of golden promotional text was quickly inserted -

[This Easter, 130 illustration books, 987 popular science books, 3753 books for teenagers and adults, and countless eternal text classics, meet you. 】

Then it immediately cuts back to the little girl's shot.

At this point, a blonde girl hands a little girl with missing teeth a colorful fairy tale book.

The little black girl rubbed her head in her mother's arms and carefully took the book.

The plot is simple and straightforward, and it doesn't need any dubbing or subtitling, so anyone can understand what's going on.

It's just that the next few seconds of footage are magical.

With that golden fairy tale book passed in the hands of adults and children.

The cry fades,

Gradually fell silent.

The black girl quietly looked at the cover of the illustration in her hand.

The sadness between her eyebrows and eyes dissipated naturally on her cheeks.

There were still shallow tears on the girl's face.

The last unshed tears still hung on his lips, but the corners of his eyes were already bent like crescent moons.

glacial fragmentation,

Spring.

Such a drastic change in facial expressions, if the actors of a stage play were to perform it, they would inevitably be criticized by critics for being too vigorous, thinking that the expressions were unnatural and the emotions were incoherent.

But when everything is not arranged by the script, the true feelings are revealed.

Then there will be only shock.

The smile of the little girl is the most touching image in the world.

It is rooted in the human genes to protect the young instinct, whether male or female, even the murderer of the most vicious serial murder, as long as the last trace of humanity in the heart has not been wiped out, then will be moved by such a smile.

"It's so beautiful."

Katsuko Sakai sighed lightly, and her face couldn't help but reveal a look of motherhood.

That kind of ignorant, innocent, and heartfelt smile.

Even if you invite a professional girl actor, the most famous child star of the new generation of Hollywood, McKenna Grace, to play the role, it can't be so natural and unadorned.

It was a smile that was enough to refresh her heart, and it moistened Miss Katsuko's heart.

"It's beautiful."

Katsuko Sakai only felt that this smile reminded her of a masterpiece by Dante Rossetti that she had seen at the Taylors Gallery in London, "Smiling Little Angels" - in that painting, a beam of light from the clouds hit the face of the girl with flushed cheeks, melting the sad feelings on the face of the girl in the painting, and joy began to flood from the bottom of her heart.

"I see the kingdom of heaven, I see all the goodness of the world, I see the holy light shining, and I smile from the top of my heart, without dust and dirt." She whispered Rossetti's religious-flavored essay in the corner of the canvas.

Conceptually, Rossetti's work is actually a painting of revelation, that is, a work that depicts the so-called "divine revelation" or records of "religious moments of enlightenment".

In the early days, the important political task of Western painters was to paint such propaganda posters as the mouthpiece and meat trumpet of the Holy See.

The creativity of the painting is not too new.

It is nothing more than an expression of the love of the Father for the world no matter how difficult life is, and when the light from heaven shines down, there is peace and joy in it.

In the religious paintings of that era, the protagonists of the pictures must of course be white people.

Miss Katsuko still felt that the expression on the black girl's cheek in front of her was so similar to that of the protagonist of the religious revelation painting.

The smile comes from the heart, no dirt and no dust, this description is placed here and now, it is extremely appropriate.

Fairy tale books are a child's divine revelation.

The kind of child who sees the beauty of art, the fascination and happiness that exudes between his eyebrows and eyes.

No matter how many times you look at a painter like Katsuko Sakai, you can't get enough of it.

"Gu Jun, this smile is so cute. If one day I can draw a picture that makes a child smile like this, it will be one of the most meaningful works of my life. ”

Katsuko Sakai said with her heart in her heart.

Gu Weijing didn't answer, from the moment Goldilocks took out the fairy tale book, his expression was a little strange, and he was looking at the screen without saying a word.

But the little jasmine girl next to her, who was busy stuffing her finger into her mouth a French ham bun the size of a potato, was also attracted by the close-up of this smile.

She blinked her eyes and asked curiously, "Sister, what is the book that girl is holding in her hand?" ”

Hear Jasmine's question.

Katsuko Sakai wanted to pause the picture and save the smile as a drawing material on her phone.

She was also curious about the title of the fairy tale book that made the little girl cry into a smile.

Which children's picture book is it, and what kind of cover illustration should be drawn to achieve such an effect?

Is Jane Arnaud collaborating with Scholastic Group on a new book?

Or maybe there's nothing special about fairy tale books.

It's just that the time, place, and people just formed a coincidence that impressed this child?

Katsuko Sakai pressed the screen and found that there was no pause. Instead, I jumped to the Scholastic Group's promotional homepage on Amazon, and it dawned on me that it was an ad that couldn't be paused.

Katsuko Sakai hurriedly returned to the page, wanting to press the volume and menu keys at the same time to take a screenshot of the screen.

It's a pity.

At this moment, the advertisement turned black again, and entered a new slogan.

Scholastic Publishing Group allows children to meet the world through reading. 】

The live-action feature film about a little black girl ends.

When it lights up again, the screen begins to show the only shot in the commercial that is composed of computer-generated special effects.

In a huge bookstore.

The video camera moves quickly across the shelves, and every book in the camera is a classic from the Scholastic Group.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Miracle of Oz, The Grand Bazaar of Trains, Memoirs of the Second World War, ......

Countless well-known literary IPs skimmed by in front of the camera.

The camera flashes faster and faster.

At first, you can see the book cover with all the beards and tails. Later, there was only a vague shadow. Until the last picture rests on the cover of the book in the little girl's hand.

"This is ......" Katsuko Sakai muttered to herself as her eyes widened to read the name of the book.

The advertising camera pauses slightly, then sinks instantly, submerging into the cover of the book.

Let the golden sand of that illustration occupy every corner of the screen.

The previous slogans were all gold letters on a black background, but at this time, the advertising team cleverly reversed them and turned them into black letters written on the golden desert, leaving a deeper impression on the audience.

[Easter book season, Scholastic Group's main bibliography, March 25, shocking listing.] 】

[Major book dealers and Amazon e-commerce platforms all have sales. 】

[With you, see you or leave!] 】

Exactly thirty seconds later, the advertisement officially ends.

Begin to officially enter the body of the YouTube video.

"Wait, shocking listing? Hey, what's the shocking listing, why don't you even say the title of the book, and deliberately blur it, damn it. ”

Katsuko Sakai doesn't remember that she originally wanted to skip the ad.

Seeing that this promotional video of the Scholastic Group ended without a beginning or an end, a huge sense of loss surged in her heart.

"Smack!" of a bit.

Miss Katsuko paused the main part of the video that had just started.

"Which team designed this ad?" She complained helplessly.

It seems that the advertising team is specifically trying to arouse people's curiosity, and then they say "I want to know, I won't tell you".

The close-up of the fairy tale book in the little girl's hand just now only stayed in front of the camera for less than half a second.

The advertising team also put a layer of matte texture filter on the lens very cheaply, and it was impossible to see the specific content and text clearly.

Katsuko Sakai could only vaguely feel from the hazy impression that it should be a very well-designed illustration.

However, it just made her unable to see the specific content.

The ad sets the mood for everything.

In the end, only one listing time was suddenly announced, allowing the audience to wait for themselves in anticipation.

It's so cheap!

To put it bluntly, this is actually a typical "mystery gimmick" technique in advertising psychology.

The deep-pocketed film industry doesn't use this method much, but more of a means used by some technology manufacturers or fashion show publicity meetings.

Similar to a few months before the press conference of a large factory, various technology KOLs have frequently released the wind, and the factory will make some "epoch-making ruthless goods" at that time.

Or every year before the E3 game show, there are also rumors that a certain manufacturer wants to make a new triple-A game IP and so on.

The advantage of this method is that it can win more attention with the same publicity cost.

Mystery can be contagious like a virus, and everyone's curiosity can be transmitted from person to person, and non-target groups who are not interested in this field can also be hooked into interest.

The disadvantage is that everyone is curious, and the pants are taken off, and as a result, you pretend to be mysterious.

If the quality of the final product does not achieve the desired effect, then it will immediately arouse rebellion.

Products that could barely reach the passing line, under this kind of marketing style, once the audience's expectations are raised, they are not satisfied in the end.

There is absolutely no escape from the scolding, and the ending of the bad reviews is flooding.

This method of advertising is also the result of the joint consideration of many aspects of the publishing house.

The budget for the campaign was $3.6 million.

It's not as big as the marketing budget of big-budget films, and it's a far cry from the group's global warm-up for Ms. Rowling's last two Harry Potters, The Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows.

No matter how classic the IP of "The Little Prince" is, it can only be regarded as an old rice and a new fry.

The accountants in the finance department are not stupid.

Each book is priced at £20, and even if the first 300,000 copies are sold out this year, it will only be an estimated total of £6 million.

In the next 20 years, excluding inflation, the total sales of 30 million pounds will already be one in 10,000 in the book market.

The original marketing budget for "The Little Prince" was only $400,000, and he invited Dean Hawke of Oxford University to hold more than a dozen reader meetings and book signings in large physical bookstores in several major countries in the English-speaking region, and he could barely get it with a frugal $300,000.

With the remaining $100,000 on a few trendy book-pushing podcasts, hire a book reporter to write two articles, and you're done.

The $3.6 million advertising budget is not for the "Little Prince" project team, but for the entire publishing house's Easter book season.

The board of directors can give the little prince a free ride, and if the main boss blatantly promotes a group sub-project, other parallel project groups will rebel.

Secondly, Osborne was also very confident in the quality of the book "The Little Prince", so after communicating with the advertising team, he decided on this kind of publicity plan.

Don't reveal what the main book is.

It's just for the readers to guess for themselves, think for themselves, and discuss it on online discussion groups.

People who are seduced out of curiosity go to such great lengths to find out for themselves.

In the end, when the book is released, I can't resist the urge to buy a copy and read it, right?

The 30-second ad on YouTube should have lived up to Osborne's expectations.

It's just that with the help of that black girl's true colors, the effect may be a little too good. Even a gentle and peaceful person like Katsuko Sakai is tickling in his heart, as if a cat is scratching and scratching.

How was she going to find it?

Katsuko Sakai couldn't help but open her phone, open Google Chrome, and type in related keywords such as "Scholastic Group, Easter Book Season".

A large number of association entries automatically popped up on the browser——

What is the main title of the Scholastic Easter Book Season?] 】

[Ask, what is the new book that Scholastic Group will launch on March 25th?] 】

[In the Scholastic advertising video, what is the fairy tale book that the little girl laughed at?] 】

……

Many questions about these keywords have been specially crawled by the Google Chrome background because they have been typed by different users many times.

The girl had just finished typing the English letter of the word Scholastic, and there were already a large number of related question entries below.

Noticing the mysterious gimmick in the advertisement, the person who was seduced was definitely not the only one who was seduced by Katsuko Sakai.

"No need to check, I know, it's "The Little Prince"."

(End of chapter)