For audio publishers, snagging new listeners is still very much about creating an awareness of the audiobook medium—among both retailers and consumers.
In 2002, audio publishers found a number of ways to get consumers to prick up their ears. HarperAudio executed a major, year-long publicity campaign celebrating the 50th anniversary of Caedmon Audio, the venerable imprint Harper acquired in 1987. The Caedmon push included a celebrity reading/bookstore event, the release of a Dylan Thomas boxed set and a new recording of The Great Gatsby, archives-inspired promotional materials and giveaways at major conferences. This major push garnered national media attention, including a recent National Public Radio feature, and increased interest from retailers. According to Suzanne Balaban, assistant director of publicity for William Morrow, with responsibilities for Harper Audio, sales of Thomas's recording of A Child's Christmas in Wales "have increased by 375%" as a result of the campaign, landing the title as high as number 72 on the Amazon 100.
This past fall, Simon & Schuster Audio partnered with General Mills to literally hit consumers where they live: specially designed cereal boxes came packaged with CD recordings of S&S bestsellers including The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. As S&S publisher Gilles Dana sums it up, "This kind of huge promotion is proof that audio is really becoming mainstream." Other S&S efforts to reach mainstream consumers included the summer 2002 launch of the value-priced Encore imprint, sold largely at discount stores, and a joint discount promotion with Media Play and Valvoline Instant Oil Change stores, that provided oil change customers in the Buffalo, N.Y., area with a coupon for an audiobook redeemable at local Media Play stores.
Believing the tenet that audiobooks will sell themselves once people discover them, Brilliance Audio CEO Michael Snodgrass founded and funded a publisher-neutral Web site for audiobook fans, www.IListentoBooks.com. Using a viral marketing premise, the site encourages listeners to discuss their favorite audiobooks and also suggests leaving an audiobook (marked with a special sticker) in a place where another listener will find it and be able to listen to it before passing it along.
Consumers were also treated to greater exposure for audiobooks in such places as Wild Oats and Whole Foods Markets, where Sounds True Audio places end-cap displays, and the Cracker Barrel chain of restaurants/general stores, which are found along major highways across the country. The Cracker Barrel audiobook program offers travelers a low-risk opportunity to try popular titles. Customers who purchase (at retail price) a new audiobook at any Cracker Barrel may return the audiobook to any other Cracker Barrel store and receive a refund of the purchase price, minus a small ($3 per week) "exchange" fee. Also on the consumer awareness front, AudioFile magazine celebrated its 10th anniversary and www.audiobookstoday.com made its debut.
Though consumers saw more audiobooks in the mainstream in 2002, bookstores, in many cases, proved a confusing place to make audiobook purchases. As there is still no standard format for audiobook recordings, both retailers and publishers face significant obstacles in bringing titles to market. Sales of the CD format have been on the rise, though cassette sales remain strong (mainly because many automobiles still have cassette players). Publishers' sales (and anecdotal information) indicate that a majority of listeners prefer unabridged titles to abridged. But when publishers release frontlist titles by big-name authors in multiple formats (CD, cassette, abridged, unabridged), retailers, who have limited shelf space, face difficult stocking decisions. As a result, consumers can't always find the format they want, and have trouble navigating the plethora of choices in an audiobook section. Those booksellers who took advantage of cross-merchandising opportunities, including promotions from Random House, shelved audiobooks with print books and other items outside the audiobook section and saw improved sales. Hopes are that in the future, more retailers and publishers can see eye-to-eye on stocking and merchandising strategies.
Looking ahead, the audio industry will be watching closely how technology will affect the marketplace. In addition to the several traditional formats, audiobooks are currently available as download purchases on publisher Web sites as well as sites like Audible.com. MP3-CD and other technologies are certainly garnering more attention from publishers and consumers. To that end, the Audio Publishers Association has been working with companies that manufacture sound systems for automobiles as well as the Consumer Electronics Association to help define and set standards for audio playback devices (in the home and in the car) that will afford audiobook listeners "an enjoyable experience," according to APA president Eileen Hutton. The APA and CEA plan to present the standards during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas January 10.
