Many noted marketing experts, in their blogs, presentations, and even books, have utilized the story of author Naura Hayden, who is said to have released a book in the early 1980s that flopped, and later re-published it with a new cover and title, in the early 90s, to then become a New York Times best seller. Wow! That’s some impressive marketing magic!
Can simply changing the title of book, without changing its content, really create such an impact? This legend certainly seems like an excellent example of just that.
We sure were intrigued, but we operate with a healthy dose of skepticism over here at Kuware, so we took it upon ourselves to hunt down both of these books, in order to verify this popular anecdote, and learn as much as we could about it.
As it turns out – THESE ARE NOT THE SAME BOOKS.
While the author was attempting to serve the same audience in the same way, her shift in success was not as simple as changing the cover and the title – she had to write a whole new book to better communicate her message and more effectively serve her target market.
At the end of the day, this tale definitely expresses how important it is to appropriately craft the messaging of your marketing efforts, and how critical it is to speak to your customers needs and desires, but there’s no quick fix for a failure to do that effectively.
For our efforts, our guiding philosophy was once again confirmed: We are committed to remaining irreverent of any and all marketing dogma.
Our message to you, dear reader: Don’t accept everything you encounter at face value. Good marketing is based on factual evidence that is tested, tried and true – not just catchy ideas that get passed around.
CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, expressed our sentiments perfectly as, “It is better to be a ‘learn-it-all’ than a ‘know-it-all’.”
We only use proven methods, and we guarantee our work. We’re eager to help you DOUBLE or TRIPLE your sales whenever you’re ready!