IN-DEPTH STORIES

Rinjini Mitra, Publicist, Penguin Random House India

Rinjini Mitra (r) with author Durjoy Datta.

When I started working with one of our most popular romance author, Durjoy Datta, on his upcoming book, WHEN I AM WITH YOU, I had the most unique experience and wholesome experience as a marketer.

To be innovative and creative in an utterly cluttered space—especially with Durjoy being a brand author for a decade and delivering nineteen best-selling novels—was quite a challenge. Moreover, a post-pandemic, changed marketplace with evolving behavioral patterns needed to be considered as well.

Deep diving into the author’s social media personality and understanding his target audience became my key. From crowd sourcing book design covers through Durjoy’s Instagram profile, to conducting fun activities like asking the readers to guess the title of the book, to eventually revealing the cover with a huge bang, we kickstarted the marketing campaign on social media that resulted in magnificent buzz of over 3,000 pre-orders.

We opened at #3 overall on the Nielsen charts and within top 10 on Amazon, and continued to be a best-seller in many categories.

Leveraging Durjoy Datta’s significant following, we focused on digital activations in the initial phase. Over the next few months, we had regular on-the-go brainstorm sessions with Durjoy to create unique and interesting content to promote his title and engage audiences through his profile.

Identifying the author’s top performing markets—both in retail and on Amazon—and then conceptualising, strategising, and executing a 20-city book tour across India was our big plan! Brand partnerships for Durjoy’s travel; coordination with bookstores and internal sales teams; amplifying the outreach through bookstagrammers, media, and user-generated content led to never-seen-before turnouts in each of the cities.

The retail outlets, which had suffered a hit during the pandemic, were excited to host Durjoy and receive a great footfall. It is also heartwarming to witness how readers across the country have been pouring out their love for Durjoy and his books, thanking Penguin for bringing their favourite author to the cities! That’s the power of the world of books!

While working on the marketing campaign rigorously for months and managing many other titles alongside, I couldn’t have imagined for the book tour to come alive in this extraordinary way. But the best reward was when Durjoy attributed the book and tour’s success to me, even though he was the one travelling to a new city daily for a month, engaging with his audience!