You can't be all things to all accounts. That fact was made clear at the Audio Publishers Association's first Audio Buyers Convention, held April 4—6 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Publishers had the opportunity to hear from distributors to truck stops, convenience stores and bookstores, from audio book clubs and catalogues and audio-only stores. The event was attended by 20 buyers representing 14 companies, and 27 audiobook publishers.
Listening to each informative speaker, one couldn't help but conclude that you can't please all the people all the time. Case in point: truck stops want more unabridged titles and more CDs, and even unabridged CDs, according to senior sales account manager Marlena Richards, speaking for Audio Adventures, which runs audiobook rental kiosks in truck stops and travel centers. But convenience stores want more $16— $18 product, according to Don Paddock, director of sales and marketing for Barjan Entertainment, which distributes to 10,000 convenience stores and 1,000 truck stops. In contrast, the Audio Book Club wants audiobooks with a price point of $25—$30, stressed v-p of editorial, Traci Cothran.
Even offering multiple formats doesn't necessarily help. Hastings's customers are "confused about the difference between abridged and unabridged," said book buyer Jeff Willman. And truck stops find it "hard to manage lots of different price points," said Doug Evans, purchasing agent of KSG Distributing. "The fewer price points, the better."
But all agreed that, armed with information about accounts' preferences, publishers can maximize their success by targeting each account with product that best meets the needs of that particular market.
Certain points came up repeatedly during the speakers' presentations. Several buyers lamented that too many audiobooks still hit store shelves weeks after their hardcover counterparts, instead of being released simultaneously.
Another big issue was standardization. Accounts want consistent pricing, packaging and labeling. "Some stores won't even take product if it doesn't fit into their basic price points: $27.99, $24.99, $17.99, $9.99, $7.99," noted Evans of KSG. Standardized pricing would solve that problem, the buyers agreed.
Audio Adventures' Richards made several sensible suggestions. She advised publishers to print both the narrator's name and the word "abridged" or "unabridged" prominently on both the outer package and the inner cassettes. In addition, "If your cassettes are numbered, then use A and B for the sides, or at the very least write out 'Side One' and 'Side Two' instead of using numerals. It's too confusing otherwise," she said. "And when there's a series, the audio packages look too much alike. Consumers aren't sure which ones they've heard already, or in what order they should listen. You can have a uniform look, but at least make them a different color."
Publishers also gained insight into nontraditional sales outlets for audio. "The most important thing I learned at the conference is that the truck stop market is now interested in CDs," said Brilliance director of sales Steve Woessner. "The truck-stop market was always behind the times with CDs, even for music. Now that the CD format has caught up, and truckers are purchasing audiobooks on CD, that's going to be a big opportunity for us."
Mass merchants, in contrast, remain elusive as an outlet for audiobook sales, judging from the detailed presentation of Sheri Stewart, product manager for audiobooks at Levy Home Entertainment. Levy's accounts, which include Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buy, have scaled down their audiobook inventory due to poor sales. The biggest problem is lack of awareness, Stewart said. Customers don't go to mass merchants specifically to buy audiobooks, and the audiobook titles are often mixed in with the paperbacks, with no signage drawing attention to them.
The morning following the seminars was devoted to 10-minute round-robin meetings between publishers and buyers. "The combination of listening to the buyers and then presenting my list was perfect," said B&B Audio president Beth Baxter, who organized the event. "Because I knew about the accounts from the talks, I was able to highlight exactly what titles were appropriate for them."
Other attendees likewise praised the event. "This was a very imaginative idea. We learned a hell of a lot," said Richard Fish, president and founder of Lodestone Audio Theatre. "We learned so much from the buyers about what they were seeking and what worked for them and what didn't work. Then having the chance to talk to them one-on-one in a focused way was also very valuable. I've been in the field for 30 years, and this was by far the most receptive situation I've experienced."
"I was impressed by the amount of preparation the buyers brought to the conference, even putting together detailed information packets," said Brilliance's Woessner. "The whole conference was very well run and well organized. As far as productivity, it's so much about meeting people and relationship building. For those who hadn't been introduced to the buyers, it was an opportunity to learn how they could penetrate those markets. For me, it was a great opportunity to talk with other publishers and compare notes."
On the distribution side, Don Paddock, director of sales and marketing for Barjan Entertainment, said, "We got a lot of good information and made a lot of good contacts. This gave me a chance to talk one-on-one with the publishers and communicate what our needs are. I'm still in the process of following everything up." His one suggestion was to lengthen the round-robin meetings: "I would have liked more time. But they should continue this next year and build on it."
For the distributors, the very act of analyzing their audiobook data and sales strategies in order to prepare their presentations for the conference helped them focus their attention on audio, Baxter said.
