Barnes & Nobles Adds Social Media Features
I have written several times in the past about Borders foray into social media. Borders has been modestly successful with its partnership with Gathers.com, so I was not surprised to read that Barnes & Noble is launching a new site with social media features built in.
“We are introducing many new interactive content and community features that our customers expect,” says BarnesandNoble.com CEO Marie Toulantis.
The new site features “One on One” Podcasts hosted by public radio veteran Katherine Lanpher, “One on One” interviews are in-depth conversations with today’s leading writers, musicians and filmmakers. Hermione Lee, Robert Dallek and Frances Kiernan launch the “One on One” podcasts. Updated weekly, future podcasts will feature Amy Bloom and Ann Patchett.
Barnes & Noble.com’s says its online book clubs are the equivalent of social networking for book lovers. The new site features more clubs, including author-led discussions and partnerships with cultural and literary organizations. In the “First Look Book Club,” participants are given a free advance reading copy of upcoming books and join exclusive discussions with the author. The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff is the first selection. The book is scheduled to be released in February 2008 by Voice, an imprint of Hyperion. Other clubs include the Crime Book Club, with the publisher and authors of Hard Case Crime; the History Book Club, with the New-York Historical Society; the Jewish Encounters Book Club, with Nextbook.org; and the Book Explorers Club, with Literary Ventures Fund.
Meet the Writers. The company’s archive of hundreds of exclusive multi-media interviews with writers will be prominently displayed on relevant pages of the site, available for immediate viewing, and download.
“Live at Barnes & Noble.” Readings, discussions and interviews with authors and musicians, live from Barnes & Noble stores. The company plans live webcasts of its “Upstairs at the Square” series, hosted by Katherine Lanpher. The first “Upstairs” event will take place on October 16, with Nick Hornby and Josh Rouse, from the Union Square Barnes & Noble in New York City. Other in-store events will include Richard Russo on October 12, a tribute to David Halberstam on October 15, Alice Sebold on October 18, and Stephen Colbert on October 24. All events will be archived for later viewing.
I love the variety of choices that Barnes & Noble is offering. I can interact with them in the format that I want. Whether that is via Podcast, Webinar, Video, or group discussions I can get my book fix however I want it.
Barnes & Noble’s move means that two of the three major book sellers have taken steps to incorporate social media into their web sites. The next move is Amazon’s. What will Jeff Bezos do?
Filed under Brand Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization : Comments (3) : Oct 4th, 2007
October 6th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
[...] Barnes and Noble’s revamped website includes an area called Barnes and Noble Media and it’s a treasure-trove of author interviews as well as interviews with musicians and filmakers. Thanks to Social Media Optimization for alerting me to this. Here are the relevant sections from the B&N press release: The new site features “One on One” Podcasts hosted by public radio veteran Katherine Lanpher, “One on One” interviews are in-depth conversations with today’s leading writers, musicians and filmmakers. Hermione Lee, Robert Dallek and Frances Kiernan launch the “One on One” podcasts. Updated weekly, future podcasts will feature Amy Bloom and Ann Patchett. Meet the Writers. The company’s archive of hundreds of exclusive multi-media interviews with writers will be prominently displayed on relevant pages of the site, available for immediate viewing, and download. [...]
October 24th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Just popped over and took a quick look at the Nick Horby video, being a huge fan of his work. Great production values, etc etc - but my one comment:
No itunes? I prefer to watch content on my “pocket TV” (As i’ve now christened my ipod) - unless i’m missing the link to download and watch the video outside of the website.
Fully understand concerns about copyright etc that a company the size of B&N might have -but really, putting excellent content out there and then locking people into one destination to view it is only going half the way to really socialising the content.
FREE THE VIDEOS
Alex
November 29th, 2007 at 11:42 am
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