{"id":15684,"date":"2020-12-16T08:00:35","date_gmt":"2020-12-16T08:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/?p=15684"},"modified":"2020-12-15T14:30:20","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T14:30:20","slug":"media-shower-quick-wins-the-blockbuster-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/media-shower-quick-wins-the-blockbuster-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Media Shower Quick Wins: The Blockbuster Book"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWouldn\u2019t it be cool to bundle a book with bitcoin?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

It seemed like a simple idea. Little did we know the idea was radical: so radical, in fact, that the author’s publisher and many bookstores wouldn\u2019t touch it. But we knew that our target audience \u2013 early adopters of new technologies \u2013 would love the idea. They\u2019d tell two friends, and they\u2019d tell two friends, and so on.<\/p>\n

How we got cryptocurrency bundled with our book for a promotion at our local bookseller is a case study in modern-day marketing. Here\u2019s how Media Shower transformed Blockchain for Everyone\u00a0<\/em>from a niche nerd novel into a bestselling beach book.<\/p>\n

\"Blockchain

Bitcoin beach reading. (Photo courtesy Laura Coverstone.)<\/p><\/div>\n

The Big Idea: Bundle Bitcoin with Books<\/h2>\n

You\u2019ve probably heard of bitcoin, the most well-loved cryptocurrency. It\u2019s a kind of digital money that can be sent as easily as sending an email. Over the last decade, the popularity (and profitability) of bitcoin has launched a new industry of digital currencies. There are now thousands of these so-called cryptocurrencies, each a bit different \u2013 but all are built around a new technology called blockchain.<\/em><\/p>\n

Blockchain for Everyone<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>is a user-friendly guide to these digital currencies, wrapped in an entertaining story about one man\u2019s journey into this Bizarro World of money: he bets it all, loses it all, then wins it all back (and more). The book is both educational and entertaining, which is why Simon & Schuster\u2019s Gallery Books was eager to publish this \u201cbible of blockchain investing.\u201d<\/p>\n

To help promote Blockchain for Everyone<\/em>, the Media Shower team had a simple idea: what if copies of the book were bundled with a little bit of bitcoin?<\/em><\/p>\n

This was a crazy, audacious idea. The price of bitcoin fluctuates wildly \u2013 it can increase by 10x in the space of just a few months \u2013 so this promotion could reignite the publishing industry, rocketing independent bookstores past Amazon, and fueling publishers with new power. Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say the book came bundled with $10 in bitcoin when it was shipped to a bookstore. By the time that book hit the shelves, it could be worth $100, i.e. more than the <\/strong>price of the book<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

We pictured stacks of books flying off the shelves at bookstores around the world. You wouldn\u2019t be able to keep them in stock! We had fantasies of bookstores hiring security to protect the Blockchain for Everyone\u00a0<\/em>displays, like Fort Knox. But even more valuable than the bitcoin would be the knowledge inside.<\/p>\n

Our publisher felt confident in the strength of the content and was not in the business of distributing cryptocurrency. \u00a0So they opted to publish the book without any bitcoin. But we, Media Shower, soldiered on ourselves, and created a special promotional bundle \u2013 pairing a unit of the book with cryptocurrency \u2013 that would be was sold at a local bookstore. But there were challenges in doing so.<\/p>\n

One Problem: Physical vs. Digital<\/h2>\n

Turns out, bundling bitcoin is more difficult than it seems. And if special promotional copies of the book were to contain bitcoin, units would be shrink-wrapped. There was the question of how a bookstore would handle returns.<\/p>\n

In a nutshell, books are physical objects. Bitcoin is a digital currency. How could you combine the two?<\/p>\n

Media Shower reached out to Coinbase<\/a>, one of the biggest companies in the digital currency industry, to help us solve these problems. They connected us with the team from MakerDAO<\/a>, which has one of the most successful digital assets, a stablecoin called Dai<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dai is a digital currency like bitcoin, except it\u2019s designed to be stable \u2013 meaning it\u2019s always worth just about a dollar. Our Blockchain for Everyone\u00a0<\/em>book promotion was a perfect use case for Dai: we needed to give away a \u201ccoupon\u201d for cryptocurrency, and be sure this \u201ccrypto coupon\u201d held its value, no matter when it was redeemed.<\/p>\n

But how would those who received the coupon from the promotion redeem the Dai? You couldn\u2019t print multiple copies of the same coupon, since every coupon needed its own code (like a gift card). How could you get a unique code bundled into a book?<\/p>\n

Coinbase next put us in touch with the team from Linkdrop.io<\/a>, who helped us create a QR code that would automatically open a Coinbase account pre-loaded with $10.00 in Dai. We could create thousands of these codes at scale, with MakerDAO generously investing a small fortune in Dai cryptocurrency toward the promotion.<\/p>\n

This created a \u201cwin\/win\/win\u201d situation, where everyone\u2019s incentives were aligned.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is all great,\u201d said one of our Media Shower team members on a planning call. \u201cBut why bundle $10.00 with the book? Why not $25.00?\u201d<\/p>\n

The reasoning was simple: the book retailed for about $25.00. For those purchasing the promotional copies that were bundled with the coupon, by getting $25.00 in digital currency when they bought the book, readers would effectively be getting the book for free<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The plan was coming together. There was just one remaining hurdle: distribution<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Independent Bookstores to the Rescue<\/h2>\n

Because of the challenges mentioned above \u2013\u2013 we thought the best way to execute the promotion was to partner with a local bookseller who could work with us to securely package and distribute these blockchain-bundled books.<\/p>\n

We were fortunate to have Wellesley Books<\/a> in our own backyard: one of the country\u2019s premier independent bookstores, with online ordering and global shipping. Wellesley Books ordered case after case of the books, which we bundled with bookmarks in the break room.<\/p>\n

\"Blockchain

Just one of the many cases of books we bundled with blockchain.<\/p><\/div>\n

Readers could use the Wellesley Books site to order their copy of Blockchain for Everyone.\u00a0<\/em>They\u2019d receive the book in the mail a few days later, then tear open the shrink-wrap to find an autographed book bundled with a beautiful, full-color bookmark. On the bookmark, they\u2019d find a QR code, which they could scan on their smartphone to automatically open a Coinbase wallet and redeem their $25.00 in Dai.<\/p>\n

\"Blockchain

The reader experience: an autographed book with a bookmark\u2026<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Blockchain

\u2026 and a QR code worth $25.00!<\/p><\/div>\n

Blockchain blogs were eager to write about this new promotion at Wellesley Books: it was the first time cryptocurrency was bundled with a trade book.<\/p>\n

Once we got a few smaller publications to take notice, we traded up the chain<\/a> to bigger blogs and media outlets, accelerating the buzz with press releases, marketing support for the book itself from the publisher, and a massive social media campaign.<\/p>\n

\"Blockchain

This book costs $25.00. Inside is digital currency worth $25.00. And knowledge worth $1,000,000.<\/p><\/div>\n

The books at Wellesley Books flew<\/em> off the shelves. And even at outlets that did not contain the promotional coupons, the book gained traction. At Barnes & Noble, for example, Blockchain For Everyone\u00a0<\/em>ended up sharing shelf space with classic business books like Good to Great\u00a0<\/em>and Principles<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Top

The unbundled book benefited from the bundle.<\/p><\/div>\n

At the Hudson News airport book chain, Blockchain for Everyone\u00a0<\/em>was a tremendous hit with business travelers, making the Top 10 bestseller list:<\/p>\n

\"#8

The blockchain bestseller.<\/p><\/div>\n

As word of mouth spread, the book climbed the digital charts as well, eventually hitting #1 in the New Release category list on both Amazon and Audible.<\/p>\n

\"Blockchain<\/p>\n

Media Shower managed the innovative media campaign for the Wellesley Books promotion, from coordinating the ecosystem of players (Coinbase, MakerDAO, and LinkDrop.io) to launching an online ad blast across Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.<\/p>\n

\"Blockchain<\/p>\n

The idea started with \u201cbundling a book with bitcoin\u201d and evolved into an industry-innovating \u201ccrypto coupon\u201d: the first time a physical book was enriched with digital currency. It was a pioneering promotion, paving the way for millions of books to be similarly sold and marketed in the future.<\/p>\n

In the end, it wasn\u2019t just about selling more books to read on more beaches: it was also about getting digital currency into the hands of more people, more easily. Every new reader who purchased one of the specially bundled promotional units was a new investor; every buyer became richer.<\/p>\n

Our marketing mission, quite literally, was Blockchain for Everyone.<\/em><\/p>\n

Next Steps:\u00a0<\/strong>At Media Shower, we\u2019re building a better media company. Read the manifesto<\/a>, or get a free trial<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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