About five years ago, Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas, a sales executive for Good Housekeeping based in the San Francisco Bay area, noticed that most of her female friends were so busy doing for others that they put off pursuing their own passions.
So she began writing a book to inspire women to seek out new experiences and learn new skills by following the guidelines contributed by "mentors" in everything from surfing to knitting to getting published. For extra motivation, she borrowed from the Girl Scouts, suggesting women award themselves "merit badges" to mark their accomplishments (provided at the back of the book). After receiving encouragement about the project from book packager Caroline Herter, Grandcolas, 38 years old and pregnant with her first child, flew to New York to quit her job at Good Housekeeping so she could devote herself full-time to finishing the book.
Her return trip to San Francisco was on United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. But Grandcolas's dream didn't die in the plane crash in a Pennsylvania field. Her sisters, Vaughn Lohec and Dara Near, finished the book. With the May 3 publication of You Can Do It! Chronicle Books hopes to launch not just a book but a national movement. To do it, the San Francisco house has teamed up with Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. With more than 150 retail events booked nationwide so far, a $250,000 publicity and marketing campaign, and 275,000 copies in print after two trips to press, this robust launch outstrips Chronicle's push for the bestselling Beatles Anthology (2000).
"The Beatles didn't need this," said Jack Jensen, Chronicle president and publisher, referring to the major internal support for the project. "I've never seen a book we've worked on with a more universal sense of pride in bringing it to market."
Partners Sign On
From the very beginning, Chronicle saw You Can Do It! as more than just a book. The house didn't have to do much selling to get Ogilvy involved. "It just struck a chord with so many of us, to not only sell the book but to be a part of a movement and to build this woman's legacy," explained Barby Siegel, Ogilvy's managing director, who accepted a reduced fee.
This isn't the first time Ogilvy has set out to create a movement. In 2002, the agency forged governmental and private sector partnerships to launch the Red Dress campaign, to raise awareness of the risk of heart disease for women. Fashion designers Vera Wang, Calvin Klein and Oscar de la Renta all created red dresses for the cause, for which first lady Laura Bush is the spokesperson.
For You Can Do It!, Chronicle is using Ogilvy's connections to build corporate sponsorships outside the book trade, while firing up bookstore buzz and what it hopes will be a media blitz. So far, Lauren's sisters are booked on Good Morning America for April 19, and Parade, Good Housekeeping, Glamour, Self, Shape, Parent and even the Costco Connection magazine have signed on with feature coverage and mentions.
With Ogilvy's help, the Fred Meyer department store chain and Black & Decker have also agreed to undertake national retail promotions. The PR firm is also coordinating a "First 500" campaign, appealing directly to female executives in all businesses to sign on, earn a badge and share their experiences at www.youcandoitbook.com.
Retailers are bullish. "The backstory is compelling, but the book is pretty fun and interesting even without that," said Edward Ash-Milby, buyer at Barnes & Noble. From mid-April to mid-May, B&N stores will display You Can Do It! with self-help, crafts and other titles that relate to the areas covered in the book. B&N's Donna Passanante said she saw great potential for events around the pub date. "The mentors live all over the country so, for us, it's an opportunity to do promotion in stores that don't always have big authors," she said.
In Southern California, Vromans Bookstore is creating a You Can Do It! bus with several of the book's contributors on board to take customers to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at the end of the month. Jennifer Ramos, the store's promotions director, is also planning events at her store, including a follow-up gathering at which people will report on their accomplishments.
Whether the book ends up sparking a nationwide movement, Grandcolas has already succeeded in inspiring those closest to her to try something new. "There was a lot of You Can Do It! in finishing [the book]," said Herter. "We all felt like we earned our badge."
