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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
• Over 120 titles published each month• 26 languages• 109 international markets• 1,300 authors• 18 branded series• 10 imprints
Harlequin
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Harlequin
Loyal audience:• 50 million women readers worldwide• 131 million books sold
New Audiences:• NASCAR branded publishing partnership• Non-fiction
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Wal-Mart Series SectionWal-Mart Series Section
Harlequin is a destination
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Harlequin Romance Radio
a digital destination
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Harlequin uses digital to develop and sell entertaining content in a variety of formats, nurture reader relationships, and build our brands.
playground rules
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Environment
• fragmentation
• entertainment competition
• digital economics
• discovery
• digital generation
• customer conversation
• devices
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
TechnologyEnablersRelationships
Commerce
Marketing
Content
Framework
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Technology Enablers
Relationships• Community• MySpace• Facebook• Applications• Shelfari• iHeartPresents
Commerce• Sony ebooks• Amazon• Sprint• Audible• Fictionwise• Verizon
Marketing• Paid Search• Widgets• Natural Search• email • Banners• Social Media
Content• Digitaized print works• Bundles• Chunks• Repurposed• Digital Only• Other Entertainment
• Audio
• ebook
• RSS
• Mobile
• Digital
Warehouse
Outcomes & Enablers
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Strategic Considerations
• technology will change, outcomes shouldn’t
• no one knows how it will unfold
• go beyond the restrictions of the physical world
• do customers care?
• what will you do and what won’t you do
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Strategy Into Action
…ebook Program
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Myth: ebooks are only for Techno Nerds
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Myth: only kids get ebooks
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Reality: Women are ebook Readers
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Myth: ebooks are for Sci Fi Geeks
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Reality: Romance is a Fast Growing Genre in ebooks
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Myth: No Good ebook Reading Device
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Reality
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
ebooks are about the Benefits, not the gizmos and gadgets
ImmediateImmediate
Volume -- StorageVolume -- Storage
PortabilityPortability
Product OpportunitiesProduct Opportunities
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Harlequin ebook Program
•Launched 9 titles/month in Oct 2005
•100% front-list in Sept 2007
•Priced lower than print version
•Work closely with eRetailers, software providers and industry groups to learn and educate
•Published eBook exclusive content May 06; Launched eBook originals Aug 07
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
But…
• Buying process needs to be simplified
• Interoperability
• Price
• Focus on benefits not technology
• Diversity and breadth of content
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Strategy Into Action
…other commerce
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
mobile: Harlequin On The Go
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
audio
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
emerging opportunities
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Strategy Into Action
…marketing
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
retailer support
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
partner marketing
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
partner marketing
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
hard to ignore
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Strategy Into Action
…content
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
digital only content
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
digital content
Author Collections
New Seasonal Anthologies
Themed Collections
Popular Characters / Stories
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
mobile content
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
content considerations
• digitizing books is only the beginning
• forget limitations of the physical world
• embrace long-tail principles
• attention span
• readability on device
• internal
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Strategy Into Action
…relationships
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why did you choose that book?
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harlequin community
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
harlequin community
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
harlequin community
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
• Monthly podcasts• Author interviews• Behind the scenes @
Harlequin
podcasts
• Insider Tips on how to get published from the Editors at Harlequin & Silhouette
• Goal: Looking for new talent
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
myspace
Brand Focused
Author Focused
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
blogs
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
blogs
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
XM radio
• serialized novels• three times a day
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
second life
M.J. Rose Reading
Victorian Ball
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
relationship considerations
• takes time to maintain two-way dialogue
• experiment
• value-add – exclusivity, insight,
• internalan attitude, not a technology
systems get better the more people use it
perpetual beta
cooperate, don’t control
small pieces loosely joined
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Harlequin Enterprises Limited
next?
•phones are the ebook reader
•in 2007, 5 of the year’s top ten bestsellers were originally written on and for mobile phones
•after their mobile success the titles were published in print