How Contemporary Publishers Reach Out to Their Customers: Transition from B2B to B2C Marketing in the Publishing Industry

This study focuses on business-to-consumer (B2C) e-marketing in the publishing industry. Random House CEO Dohle suggested a transition from B2B marketing to B2C marketing and Shatzkin, CEO of The Idea Logical Company, added this transition would be a good way to strengthen brands in publishing, and attract loyal individual consumers. Publishers are already making varying use of the internet and social media in 2011. This research first analyzes existing literature on marketing and e-marketing, particularly in the publishing industry. It then focuses on seven publishers' online presences, and their interaction with individual consumers on the internet and social media, based on the author's education in computer sciences, management, and publishing. The case study research is exploratory, phenomenological, and framed within an interpretive research paradigm. The findings are recorded in a structured dissertation, with screenshots of the relevant publishers' websites. The seven publishers are categorized according to Bernoff's stages in Managing Social Technology, and the research findings are linked back to literature, discussed, and best practices are identified. As there is very little literature on B2C e-marketing in the publishing industry, this dissertation sets out to offer information on publishers' efforts in B2C e-marketing: a literature review outlines marketing in the publishing industry, and case studies illustrate seven publishers' B2C e-marketing efforts, thus contributing to closing the gap in literature on publishers' B2C e-marketing. It also sets a foundation for further research on the transition of marketing in publishing, either in qualitative case studies with publishers or quantitative research that is based on consumers' perception of publishers' B2C e-marketing. After her first degree in computer sciences, Kim Maya Sutton held various positions in different industries, and thus, she acquired broad practical knowledge. She has furthered her academic education with a Bachelor in International Management and completed a Master of Arts in Publishing in Cambridge. During her time in Cambridge, she started teaching various undergrad and postgrad management classes; today, she teaches at Jade University of Applied Sciences in Wilhelmshaven. During her studies, she co-founded an independent publishing house and researched new marketing possibilities and customer loyalty schemes arising through the Internet. Kim Maya Sutton hat nach ihrem ersten Studium der Wirtschaftsinformatik in verschiedenen Industrien sehr unterschiedliche Positionen innegehabt und so ein sehr breit gefächertes Praxiswissen aufgebaut. Sie hat einen Bachelor im Studiengang internationales Management absolviert, darin aktuelle Forschungsergebnisse und Methoden kennengelernt und dann einen Master im Verlagswesen in Cambridge erfolgreich abgeschlossen. Während der Zeit in Cambridge hat sie bereits eine Lehrtätigkeit für betriebswirtschaftliche Fächer aufgenommen, heute lehrt sie an der Jade Hochschule in Wilhelmshaven. Schon während des Studiums gründete sie einen unabhängigen Verlag und erforschte neue Marketingmöglichkeiten und Kundenbindungsmaßnahmen, die sich durch das Internet ergeben.