Samantha H. Kim
Create a Publicity Tool
Assignment:
In addition to pitching traditional and social media contacts for a campaign, media companies often create physical or digital assets to assist in their promotional efforts—from videos to virtual conversations and events, to launch parties, press kits, hashtags, swag, and more. Identify a book, magazine, podcast, app, or website and create a publicity tool that could help to promote it or its brand. In 2 pages, explain what you plan to create, how you plan to distribute it, how the tool will help the book, magazine, or website you’ve selected, and what the goal of the tool is as part of the overall publicity campaign.
Paper:
CONNIE: A Memoir, tells the story of trailblazing journalist, Connie Chung, in her own words. Influenced by her family's Chinese heritage while growing up Americanized in the United States, Chung describes her career as an Asian woman in a white, male dominated society. She made history as the first woman to co-anchor the CBS Evening News and first Asian to anchor any U.S. news program. Chung gives readers a behind-the-scenes look into her life. Writing about showdowns both in and out of the newsroom, to the stories behind some of her most breakthrough reporting, nothing is off the table in her book.
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To promote Chung’s memoir, the plan is to create a book trailer. It will begin with a news segment introduction of Chung from CBS and transition into an interview with her describing and looking back on her career with photo overlays of when she was younger and working in the industry. It will then switch to a video of Chung working as a news anchor at the end of a CBS news segment, signing off for the night. The trailer will conclude with the cover of her book highlighting critic reviews of her memoir and more information about the release of it.
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To distribute the book trailer, it would be posted on social media. It would be shared as a reel on Chung’s Instagram (@conniechungpovich with 81.4K followers), posted on her husband Maury Povich’s Instagram (@officialmauryshow with 1.3M followers), on Hachette Book Group’s Instagram (@hachetteus with 48.3K followers), Grand Central Publishing’s Instagram (@grandcentralpub with 60.9K followers), and as a TikTok on Maury Povich’s page (@officialmauryshow with 3M followers) which would be an advantageous way to reach the targeted audience. It could be posted and shared in a joint Instagram posts with other Instagram accounts like the Asian Hall of Fame where Chung was awarded in 2016 as their Person of the Year and received the Centennial Medal for Inductee Lifetime Achievement.
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The book trailer will help promote the book and elevate readers’ experiences by forming a connection to the story through visuals. It introduces her memoir in a way that makes people want to pick it up and read. The audience will get a glimpse into Chung’s story in another way which may not be noticed if it was only conveyed in writing. It brings her story to life by adding a visual element to it. The trailer naturally sets her story apart from other memoirs and encourages readers to conclude that this story is worth telling and sharing. If done successfully, the trailer will help improve the online presence of the book and will allow for expansion to new potential readers.
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The goal of the trailer is to pique the interest of readers and capture their attention. It introduces them to the book in another format and encourages them to interact with and share the trailer with others. It sparks conversation and buzz and is a great means for building anticipation for its release. With the help of book trailers, new audiences can be reached outside of the genre due to its captivating format which would create more exposure. As a result, there is the potential of more sales to give readers a taste for what is in store. Overall, with the correct formatting and content, promoting Chung’s memoir through the book trailer will be a strategic method for creating excitement.
Book Trailer Concept:
Note: The video segments used were taken from YouTube, but according to copyright and fair use guidelines, footage for educational use is allowed.