If Barnes and Noble has your email (and your spam protection isn’t very aggressive), then you most likely get Barnes & Noble “This Week” newsletter delivered to your inbox every seven days. My most recent edition of This Week had most of what I would expect in a holiday season issue– new products, sale items and gift ideas.
One thing that was conspicuously absent, however, was any mention of e-books or the Nook e-reader device. Instead, the email showcased pretty much everything but the much-hyped Nook. Why this might be I’ll get to later, but I find it interesting to take a look first at what B&N is marketing.
In-store events: Apparently, a Bob McGrath Christmas Sing-Along is taking place at my local brick and mortar B&N. Goody. I’ll give B&N credit for dutifully tracking down my current location, as I’m pretty sure my billing address as listed with them is at least six months out of date and roughly 200 miles away from where I sit now. Anyway, it is certainly fascinating that the first thing B&N throws at me is an in-store event. The bookseller seems to be stuck vacillating between marketing its digital prowess and the in-store experience, when it would probably be better off finding out how to leverage the strengths of both aspects of their business and then marketing the heck out of whatever that resulting product may be. Also curious–it is only when I click on the “see more events” link under the in-store events that I learn my location is one of the chosen ones that offers in-store demos of the Nook.
The main attraction: Deals on gift books! That’s right—good old fashioned, dead tree coffee table books. Maybe I am reading too much into this, but it is very interesting that B&N would push what is perhaps the type of book LEAST adaptable to any sort of e-reader: the big, shiny statement piece. Ansel Adams in Color, an example advertised in the email, is of little use on a black and white e-ink screen.
The remainder of the newsletter promotes products and services like in-store pickup of online orders, Harry Potter 6 DVDs and Beatles CDs.
DVDs and CDs for the holidays? This seems so 2003. Where are the Nooks? Why is the e-book store not even mentioned?
For one, it nearly impossible to “gift” an e-book. Second, the Nook has been sold out for the year for weeks, so B&N probably doesn’t want to bother wasting space and time on a product that has its own nice publicity buzz going for it already. Third, the e-mail reminds customers of the warm and fuzzy aspects of books and bookstores. Now I know that I can go into my local B&N this week to catch some free Christmas carols and browse some discounted coffee table books.
Still, this is the first piece of marketing material I’ve seen from B&N in quite some time that doesn’t mention an e-anything. Is B&N backing off of pushing their e-products because of demand backup? Maybe, but it seems more likely that B&N is taking a more holistic approach to marketing for the rest of the holiday season.
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