A
full-page advertisement in The New York Times recently showed how a company can
team up with books in a smart and productive way. No, it wasn’t an ad from Amazon trying to
clean up its negative workplace image, as depicted in a recently published story about such
horrors of working for the online retail leader. This was an ad from Starbucks, promoting a
cause, a book, and a great company.
Starbucks
is selling books at some of its stores.
Awesome. The ad said it would
donate 100% of the profits from the sale of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and
Redemption, by Bryan Stevenson, to the Equal Justice Initiative, which provides
representation to Americans denied fair treatment in the legal system. The ad encourages people to learn more at www.eji.org.
How
nice. It seems like something that can
be repeated by other companies. They
don’t have to donate 100% of the profits – or any amount at all – but they can
hijack a quality book and adopt it, making it their own. Why can’t McDonald’s, the Gap, or Toyota take
out ads to align itself with books we can all believe in? It’s a win-win-win. Books get sold, companies
look good by association, and consumers learn about a good book.
Amazon, take note!
There’s
a book about everything, so anyone can highlight a book that addresses a major
problem or issue, including books on:
Peace.
Literacy.
Free
Speech.
Love.
Faith.
The
list goes on. Corporations, seeking new
ways to sell a positive image, could do what Starbucks did or go a different
route. Companies could:
·
Give
books away for free
·
Package
books with their product
·
Use
the author as a spokesperson
·
Sponsor
events for the author’s appearances
·
Highlight
positive excerpts from the book in the ad
·
Partner
with the author to form a charity
Starbucks
has been doing the right thing for years when it comes to publicly speaking out
on social issues. It makes you feel good
to be their customer, as I have been for more than 15 years. They are not like any other coffee place.
From the quality of their product, to the environment we consume it in, to the care they take to recruit, train, and retain talent, they rock!
From the quality of their product, to the environment we consume it in, to the care they take to recruit, train, and retain talent, they rock!
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Brian Feinblum’s views,
opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his
employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him
at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the
third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2015
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