In publishing, what is the brand and what is the product?

When considering the question for this week’s blog post, “What is the difference between brand marketing and product marketing?” I began to wonder if this question would cause quite as much confusion if applied to any other industry. A car manufacturer makes many different models (products), but they all clearly belong to that manufacturer (brand). For example, Volkswagen would never release a car without their brand—represented by a VW emblem, in this case—firmly affixed to the hood. And while Volkswagen markets each of their products individually—each model has its own ad, for example—the Volkswagen brand is apparent throughout. A consumer can typically spot a Volkswagen car, or recognize a Volkswagen ad, without needing to see the familiar VW sign. This is because the brand has been developed and marketed so effectively and consistently.

In publishing, however, the line between product and brand is not so clear. Sure, a book published by Random House will have a Random House logo printed somewhere in the front matter. But when a consumer sees marketing material for a Random House book—on a poster in the bookstore or on a booksellers’ website, for example—the logo is difficult, if not impossible to find. And thus the consumer has no idea who published that book. And they don’t usually care. This is because the Random House “brand” is not consistent. They don’t publish in only one genre. They don’t have a standard book cover. They don’t have a catch phrase. I would be surprised if a person who has no interest in the book industry even knows what the Random House logo looks like. (It’s a house, duh.)

The reason the question “what is the difference between brand marketing and product marketing?” is so confusing for the book industry is because it is not entirely clear what is the brand and what is the product.

Merriam-Webster defines brand as “a class of goods identified as the product of a particular firm or producer.” The Marketing Spot blog describes a brand as “the emotional and psychological relationship you have with your consumers. Strong brands elicit thoughts, emotions, and sometimes physiological responses from customers.” According to traditional understanding and consumer expectations, Random House is the manufacturer and would thus create the brand awareness for their products—the books. And using this logic, a consumer should be able to spot a Random House book from a mile away.

This isn’t the case, however, because Random House books, and just as importantly, Random House authors, are brands in themselves. And I believe that is just how Random House wants it. Random House publishes Suze Orman, Dan Brown, and John Grisham. Doesn’t each of these authors have a class of good that can be identified with them? Do they not elicit thoughts and emotions from the customers that buy their books? And even Random House titles published by unknown authors don't sell because Random House published them; they sell because they have affected some thought or emotion in the reader. In this way each book becomes a brand in itself—or a good that is identified as the product of a particular movement, thought, etc.
It could be argued that using Random House as an example for the entire book industry isn't 100 percent accurate. Harlequin, for example, publishes romance novels, and their readers are very loyal to that brand, reading every book in a series as they would watch every episode of a soap opera. But the Harlequin model, which has been successful for them, doesn’t represent the traditional book publisher as we know it today. Harlequin markets their books as products, with consistency in genres, cover design, and even authorship. It's not too hard to spot a Harlequin from a distance because they employ a consistent branding model, much as a car manufacturer would do.

So, in answer to the questions “do publishers rely primarily on brand marketing or product marketing?” and “are both forms of marketing equally effective?” I would have to say yes. Although books are a publishers’ product, they are each branded and marketed as single entities, thus falling under the category of brand marketing. And historically, this has been an effective way to market books. People are not interested in the publisher (manufacturer); they are interested in the book (product) they hold in their hands. See how blurry this line can become? Can you imagine buying a car with no care for who the manufacturer is?

As the face of the publishing industry evolves, it may make sense for the book industry to transition to a more traditional form of brand marketing, much as Harlequin has successfully done. Publishing books in a single genre, to a niche market, under a consistent brand may be the key to success as the Long Tail theory proves true.