Core77

'How this publisher is engaging more readers with penguin books by responding to consumer demand for more active, creative engagement with companies.'

Penguin are a huge global corporation, that began in the 1930s with an innovation—Allen Lane spotted a market for providing affordable quality paperbacks. Anna Rafferty, Digital Marketing Director at Penguin, claims that risk-taking is 'part of the DNA of trade publishing.'

Which has allowed her to try some untested approaches.

Penguin's problem was around the teen reading market. They knew the readers were out there but couldn't get to them through the same routes as older readers (no credit cards to buy on amazon, alienated by the traditional bookshop environment and the literary press).

The solution was an online space for those readers to communicate. Rafferty was savvy enough to realise that as a high-heel and pearl wearing Kew resident who was likely to make embarrassing dad gaffes like 'yo kids', she was not the best person to set this 'online space' up.

So Penguin recruited a series of user groups, who, in return for the opportunity to have their opinions heard (and now by music corps as well as Penguin) and an endless supply of free books, helped design said online space, entitled 'Spinebreakers' (see picture above).

They now have a 'crew' of 20 who give regular feedback through pitching sessions in the office, often yielding surprising results about what was loved and hated, and a wider network of 80 'deputies' up and down the country to help maintain the website. So, Rafferty said - apologies for the spelling mistakes: they're not mine. A good example of allowing people to provide a service for themselves, and it also means Penguin have a very useful ongoing relationship with their user group.

Penguin have managed to match an altruistic ambition (we think it's morally important that people read) with the commercial bottom line (we need to protect our future market).

For another example of keeping up with the the Jones's, see Penguin's thoughts on the iPad here:

[Blogged live from The Economist's Big Rethink Conference]