Creating an Integrated Marketing System

I was able to secure a contract for our firm to help a fiction and non-fiction book publisher develop an integrated marketing system. They felt that they did not present a consistent face to their customers. Every division was doing its own thing when marketing. They believed this to be inefficient, frustrating, and not cost-effective.

I and our team researched the firms’ front and backlist to get an accurate picture of the firms’ products, as well as the firms’ closest competitors. From this research we were able to determine that the companies marketing strategy was all over the place; but the main reason why the company did not have an integrated marketing system was the fact that the company had no real brand image. I was able to convince the company’s principals that they would have to first define a brand image for the publishing company. A powerful brand image would give the company a direction, a mission, and an image they could pursue.

We were able to develop a brand image by analyzing the companies past products at looking at what some of their closest competitors were doing. The key to accomplishing this was to look for a common thread in the publishing companies past published materials. After a brainstorming effort we were able to find it.

The new branding image for the company was that they would specialize in brand topics. They would create lines of books on various topics. This would be the companies branded image; the specialization of topics and very specific subjects that they would cover extensively. This process that I developed would also take less time and less money that what the firm had originally projected and what they were spending at the moment.

The new image gave the firm a direction that they could now pursue and would allow them to integrate their marketing system now that all of the personnel had a defined goal or mission that they could pursue. Some of the new titles that were created from this project gained critical acclaim; which helped them even more with their branding image. The company enjoyed an increase in profits by 150% over the previous year, by adapting this new marketing and branding plan.


About the Author

William F Dupree was the owner of IMPS (Interactive Marketing & Promotional Solutions Inc.) a sole proprietorship marketing firm located in New York City that specialized in developing interactive marketing, promotional and branding strategies for primarily publishing and publishing related businesses. Prior to founding IMPS in 2005 Mr. Dupree was a senior marketing manager at EDL Business Development Group for seven years. Before joining EDL he worked for Diamond Marketing Group where he developing sales strategies, branding, product planning, event planning, and created interactive marketing strategies for an assortment of businesses. William Dupree can be contacted at http://www.linkedin.com/in/wlliamdupree