Dan Pink, author of A Whole New Mind, is releasing a new book on Monday, April 7. When I talked to Pink, several months ago, he talked about working on the book, The Adventures of Johnny Bunko, a career guide in the form of manga.
Between a link to a promo for the book that Pink sent me and the website for the book, I immediately saw principles at work about "the way the world is going," many related to ABV.
The book, promo, and website are all designed to connect with twenty-somethings, using forms they are familiar with–online video, movie trailers, and manga. In ABV language, Dan uses a strategic mix of technology to create a conversation with his audience. The website encourages visitors to sign up for a "news, updates, and giveaways" and shows blogs that have already started talking about the book.
The blogs that are cited are ones that appeal to innovators, trend-setters, marketers, and you guessed it, college students. Obviously, Pink has networked with each of the bloggers to spread his remarkable wisdom on managing a career.
The feel of the book is hip, light, edgy. See this preview of the book as a pdf. Oddly enough, even though I haven’t seen any of the career lessons from the book, if I were a twenty-something, I would trust what he has to say. Why? Because he shows that he understands me. The approach and language create connection. This is a great example of the product being the marketing. Great branding. Great marketing.
On the website is a link to a Business Week article, talking about the book as start of a new genre in the U.S. What I found most intriguing was this quote:
""We’ll have online strategies, social networking, video," says the publisher, Geoffrey Kloske. "We’re not doing anything we haven’t done before. But there will be a shift in emphasis." Pink’s own Web site will be built around contests: Readers will be asked to send in photos of the Johnny Bunkos in their offices, suggestions for the seventh lesson, and narration to accompany drawings."
This is community-building, by bringing together kindred spirits, providing a way for individuals to contribute and be recognized. The community shapes the remarkable wisdom into something new.
The Business Week article also points to combining old media with new media and using a bit of a "top-down" approach to change to complement a "bottom-up" strategy. No one authoritative has to declare manga as a new way to write a business book. All Pink has to do is attract his tribe, the people who "get it" and then evangelizes it.
I can’t wait to read the book, to get a first-hand look at the full expression of Pink’s remarkable wisdom. Interestingly enough, Pink says manga provides "maximum efficiency of expression."
Finally, I’m hoping that Pink’s own story, the Innovator’s Story, comes through clearly in the book. It’s what provides the magic of any individual’s remarkable wisdom.
BTW–I learn from failures as well as successes. Contrast this site, promoting a book on the same topic, career advice for new grads, released a couple of years ago. I’ve blogged about the author and interviewed him. I have great respect for him. He, too, has remarkable wisdom about careers. And the book has not sold as he had expected. The buyers have been parents of twenty-somethings, not the digital natives it’s clearly aimed at. At first, I didn’t understand why this would be. Now, since exploring what it takes for a bigger voice in today’s world, it all makes sense.