BOOKS
Pitch Perfect Marketing & Publicity matters
Throwing Shade: James shrugs off critics to deliver another hit with Cornerstone pair
E L James’ first standalone since her record-breaking Fifty Shades titles may appear to have been a sure-fire bestseller but, as the two women behind her campaign reveal, the proposition for The Mister proved a tad trickier
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Miriam Robinson @miriamkate
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here is a certain pragmatism required to promote a new novel by E L James. With only 12 weeks from announcement to publication, Cornerstone
director of publicit and media relations Charlote Bush and deput marketing director Sarah Ridley knew there would be elements of the press and consumer reaction to The Mister—James’ first novel since the Fiſty Shades series—which they could control, and elements they would have to let go or work around. Bush said: “We knew that some media hostilit would
be inevitable, and that reviewers would come to the book with their minds made up.” The team were also concerned about possible “Fiſty Shades fatigue”, and whether James’ most devoted fans would willingly explore new storylines. Their strategy needed to deflect from the former, and blast through the later. James’ availabilit for PR was limited: she was sched-
uled to be in the US for the global launch, and was wary of the UK press, where she had not had an easy run with crit- ics of her Fiſty Shades titles. The team maximised its time with her, beginning with the London Book Fair, where photographers captured James meeting her international publishers in one place. This reinforced a key message about the global reach of her work, and created valuable buzz on social media.
SARAH RIDLEY LEFT AND CHARLOTTE BUSH WITH THE MISTER PIANIST
28 26th July 2019
Bush also focused on targeting key media she knew would be most likely to deliver positive coverage along with impacting sales. James pre-recorded an interview for ITV’s “Lorraine” to run on publication, and on her return from the US appeared on BBC Radio 2 with presenter Steve Wright. Bush also secured interviews with Elizabeth Day for You magazine in the Mail on Sunday, the T2 cover in the Times, plus other Q&As in the Metro, Sun on Sunday and Hello! This positive coverage was complemented by key features, including in the Sun, which used readers instead of critics to review the novel. The rest of television, radio and print was leſt to a marketing blitz, masterminded by Ridley. National TV advertising ran on ITV throughout the week of publication on “Good Morning Britain”, “Loose Women”, “Lorraine” and “This Morning”, all shows with a strong female audience aged 35 and over. The day before publication the team ran four five-second adverts with the message “He’s Coming” on “This Morning”, then shiſted its messaging
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