Books Alive appoints manager for 2010
The Australia Council for the Arts, and the Chair of Books Alive, Sandra Yates have announced that Books Alive will be managed for the next four years by marketer Cheryl Akle.
Cheryl, who brings more than 20 years of book industry experience to the role, has successfully managed the Australian government initiative for the previous two years. Chair Sandra Yates, attributed Cheryl with reinvigorating Australia’s largest annual promotion of books and reading.
“Cheryl's energy and execution have been outstanding over the past two years, and her engagement and enthusiasm for the campaign have been widely recognised by the publishing industry” she said.
Early research indicates that Books Alive 2009 boosted the market by 2 per cent during the campaign with a 175 per cent increase in sales of the 50 recommended ‘books you can’t put down’. More than 233,013 units were sold at a value of $5.4million
“I’m delighted to be reappointed project director for the next four years and am looking forward to getting started on next year’s campaign,” Cheryl said.
“We’ve certainly had a terrific response to the campaign this year, both from the industry and from readers. So we plan to continue the current model, with some refinements as we go.
“The free adult book this year was a collection of Australian short stories. It was very popular with booksellers and readers, so next year expect a new collection. Plus, in 2009, we introduced a free children’s book. It was enormously popular, so that will stay” Cheryl said
Cheryl said she was also planning to beef up the digital marketing strategy, and continue with television advertisements featuring some well-known faces.
Developed via the Australia Council, the campaign has directly resulted in the sale of an estimated extra 1.5 million books in Australia, valued at over $15 million to the Australian economy.
The next campaign is slated for September in 2010.
Media contact: Emma Heath, ph: 0413 768 588
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