Case Study: How a publisher exploited a bestseller

The story
In 2007, the enthusiasm of China’s white-collar workers for novels set in the modern workplace led Beijing Booky Publishing, now CS-Booky, to invite a blogger to turn her writing into a novel. A Story of Lala’s Promotion was published as a fashion novel with a professional workplace angle for female readers.

The initial challenge and strategy
Sales were sluggish and the little-known author, Li Ke, was reluctant to do publicity. Noting that male readers of the novel said they felt awkward reading it in public because the cover featured a woman’s high-heeled shoe, the publisher recalled unsold copies.

A new edition was marketed as a career novel, with a unisex cover sporting the line “even more inspiring than the story of Bill Gates”. Noting that online sales of the new edition were booming, the publisher made the two biggest online retailers the primary outlets for publicity, while staff visited stores to check the book was on display with other “inspirational novels”. By the year-end sales had exceeded 100,000.

The next challenge and strategy
By late 2007 a newspaper had serialised the novel, and other media were interested in the Lala phenomenon.

The publisher faced a choice: sell the rights for adaptations such as film and television or proceed cautiously to develop the Lala brand with a focus on the long term.

Within a year it had sold the TV rights (for about Rmb200,000), the radio play rights (undisclosed), and the stage rights (Rmb50,000 plus a share of profits). As sales of the book topped 600,000, the publisher sold the film rights for Rmb200,000.

The producers of the play raised its profile and its appeal to the white-collar audience by inviting five well-known Chinese chief executives to act as consultants and by casting leading actress Yao Chen.

Du Lala became the first play in China to have product placements, from labels such as Roewe, Citibank, Apple and Louis Vuitton. The popularity of the play, which took Rmb30m at the box office, and the buzz about the forthcoming film boosted book sales, which by May 2009 passed 1m, while sales of its sequel, Those Shining Days, topped 500,000.

The film version, Go Lala Go!, starring and directed by leading actress Xu Jinglei, was positioned as a fashion movie. The stylist from the Hollywood film The Devil Wears Prada oversaw the wardrobe of international brands.

Beijing Booky Publishing linked its book marketing with the other versions of Lala. The cover of reprints advertised the film and TV series. The third Lala book appeared around the same time as the movie, and material from the film’s promotion was used to market the three books.

The result
By August 2010, the Lala trilogy had sold more than 3.5m copies. The film had 22 sponsors and 23 product placement deals. The latter brought in nearly Rmb20m. The movie was a hit, grossing Rmb120m at the box office. The TV version, largely because of product placements, had a profit margin of more than 50 per cent, much higher than the average for Chinese television. The film and TV versions boosted sales of the three books.

By August 2010, the publisher estimated the total value created by the Lala brand to all authorised parties reached Rmb300m. In addition, many unauthorised merchandisers used the Lala theme to market goods such as bags, clothes, shoes and cosmetics.

When it came to selling film and TV rights to the second and third books, Beijing Booky Company successfully asked for several million renminbi.

Seeing the success the Lala series had in ancillary markets, the publisher now requires a share of the profits in all subsidiary rights deals it negotiates.

The lessons
A brand such as Lala will not last forever. Before its popularity diminishes, the owner should reap the value rather than protect the brand.

In addition, sharing the rights with others helped the success of the novels, and was mutually beneficial.

- Financial Times, Feb 25. 2013