Vampires and cannibals find prey online
The Financial Times
Parents already anxious about whom their children mix with online have someone new to worry about – a 67-year-old classical music fan with a penchant for cannibalism and Chianti.
Dr Hannibal Lecter has joined social networking website MySpace, thanks to the marketing efforts of publisher Random House.
Random House UK created Hannibal’s page on the user-generated website to promote next month’s publication of Hannibal Rising, the new novel in the best-selling series by Thomas Harris.
The Hannibal page is the latest example of a mainstream media group using a social networking or user-generated website to market a hot property instead of simply creating an official, dedicated or “destination” website.
As internet traffic migrates from official websites to unofficial pages on the likes of YouTube, Bebo and Xanga, Random House’s initiative follows a spate of similar promotions by film studios such as Disney and record companies such as Warner Music.
The trend reflects efforts to reach young people, who are resistant to traditional marketing channels including official websites.
In addition, because social networking websites such as MySpace encourage the formation of online communities of “friends”, they have allowed media companies to engage with young people on a deeper level.
Fans sign up to the pages, add their own personal details and interact with other people listed as the page’s friends.
“You can be much more focused and creative in your marketing with these sites,” says Eamonn Forde, editor of FiveEight, a music marketing magazine.
According to Mr Forde, media groups were stung into action by the chart success of musical acts that have come to prominence through unofficial pages on user-generated sites – such as the Arctic Monkeys and Lily Allen.
Last month, 20th Century Fox invited the MySpace “friends” of Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen’s spoof Kazakhstan TV reporter, to advance screenings of his film. Part of a wider MySpace screening initiative, the invitation followed the studio’s earlier promotion of John Tucker Must Die with a MySpace page based on the eponymous character.
In August, Disney used MySpace rather than a destination site to launch the blockbuster Step Up.
Exit polls for the two teen films showed more than half of the audience had heard of them through MySpace.
MySpace is defensive over accusations of a sell-out. “This is not about commercialisation. It is about increased content,” the company says.
Although publishers have been slow to move into user-generated sites, they are learning fast. As well as Hannibal Rising, Random House has posted pages for characters in its new manga series on the youth-focused Bebo.com. HarperCollins has created its own page on MySpace as well as pages for its books.
Claire Round, Random House’s divisional marketing director, admits that publishers are on a steep learning curve. She argues that they have been held back by the need for a title big enough to make a global splash. “You need a pretty big property to make an impact,” she says. Thomas Harris fulfils the criteria. The sales record for his last novel was beaten only byJ.K. Rowling.
Below the level of corporate marketing departments, authors have become the latest creative community to join the estimated 4m bands making use of user-generated websites. Most writers use sites to bolster lacklustre marketing by publishers.
British novelist Toby Litt’s MySpace blog aims to create a buzz around his latest work in progress, Hospital. Last week, Macmillan author Roger Morris held a virtual reading of his novel Taking Comfort on MySpace.
American Jon Merz published a chapter a day last month of his vampire novel The Courier on the site. The 37-year-old Boston writer publishes his new book, The Kensei, in the US next month and says film and television companies have been drawn by the exposure as well as new readers.
“I’m trying to push my vampire series in as many ways as possible,” he says. “MySpace has 120 million users, and if I am able to tap into even one per cent, I am doing incredibly well.”
7 Responses to “Vampires and cannibals find prey online”
MySpace is, however, to some extent yesterday’s news. Not to mean that it’s not a valid and useful marketing channel, but that people being marketed are increasingly savvy and increasingly resistant to anything they percieve to be overly commercial. I am on MySpace and linked up to at least another 50 authors all there to promo their books, so it’s pretty crowded already.
So rather than MySpace, what interests me is the possibility for product placement in games, and in online gaming communities. Film industry is there, and I have heard of authors participating in virtual communities but the book trade as a whole hasn’t woken up to it yet… but I think we’ll be hearing more about this in 2007/8.
Keep up the good work darling!
)
The point isn’t that these social networks are new or that they are being used for marketing but that the big companies are switching from destination sites to social networking sites. Publishers are late arrivals in the market – and not spending anything like as much as Disney and Fox etc. Also, their efforts are a bit dull – like much book trade marketing. When you look at the Borat site, which is completely in character, it shows what a wasted opportunity the Hannibal site.
You’re right. Borat on MySpace is brilliant.
I know, it just shows what fun you can have with these sites. I just wish publishers would have more fun with these things. Jagshamesh! as the man would say!
I think it all depends what you expect from myspace – but Kate’s right, it is overcrowded with writers. However, that in itself is an interesting story I think. Really myspace is just another channel or opportunity to reach a potential audience. The element of selection involved means that the people you come in contact with are – in marketing terms – more or less warm leads.
Then again, if you’re using it as a marketing rather than networking or friendship tool, I think you do have to put some thought into engaging the people who come to your page. I tried to get a blog going which became something of a writers’ forum – got lots of great comments. It was difficult to sustain but worked. As Danuta mentioned in her article, I also put a virtual reading on there, as well as a trailer. I knew from my own experience that readings are a great way to get interest in the book, as well as sales. But obviously there’s a limit to the number I can do. Plus my book comes out in the States next year, and as far as I know, there’s no promotional tour planned. So the virtual reading was a way of getting a reading to as many people as possible.
I think the way myspace has worked for bands is that myspace has generated a kind of virtual word of mouth effect. Theoretically it could work the same way for an author – but there are no guarantees.
Interestingly, I’ve had far more people viewing my trailer on aol uncut than on myspace or youtube. So maybe aol uncut is the way to go!
Leave a Reply