Innovation League Table 2013

Editor's Notes

• #15: Introduction to B&N and nook mediallcKey statsBarnes & Noble is the largest bookseller in the worldTopline revenue of $7B and 1,400 stores, including bookstores in 50 states and college bookstores serving over 4.6 million students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the countryEntered UK market in 2012 with full portfolio of award winning products
• #16: A long history of product – AND CONTENT – innovationThanks to our deep understanding of readers, we’ve been able to invent products that solve consumer problems and address their reading and entertainment needs. With NOOK Color, we created the first color touch device and pioneered a whole new category – the Reader’s Tablet. NOOK Simple Touch, NOOK Tablet, and NOOK Simple Touch GlowLight followed.Glowlight is a particularly interesting product because it captures our focus on innovation and our consumer understanding.For people who love to read, E Ink’s paper-like readability, no-glare screen and long battery life have made it a favorite and nearly perfect device choice – with one exception: reading in bed or other low-light environments. And according to a recent Barnes & Noble national survey of adult readers, reading in bed is what 75% of Brits do on a regular basis – even more so than Americans, at 64%. Given those statistics, it’s not surprising that the number-one request from E Ink customers is the ability to read in the dark to avoid bothering a significant other. We surveyed US and UK customers on their bedtime reading habits and learned that US bedtime readers are actually a bit more accommodating than their UK counterparts. Specifically, US consumers are almost twice as likely to go into another room to read so as not to disturb the person who wants to sleep – 42% vs. 23%. UK consumers were also more likely – 16% vs. 10% of Americans – to start an argument with their partner if he or she is using a light to read.
• #17: Incite’s presentation talked about innovation in marketing. nook’s innovation goes far beyond, and encompasses truly ground-breaking ideas to get people reading.As an example of finding new and exciting ways to engage readers in the UK, nook and leading UK publishers have donated a selection of top children’s titles to support NOOK’s efforts to make reading more accessible and affordable across the UK. The donation is part of NOOK’s recent partnership with the London Evening Standard’s groundbreaking literacy campaign, Get London Reading. The partnership includes adonation of 1,000 NOOK® Simple Touch eReaders and supports Beanstalk, a national literacy charity that recruits, vets, trains and supports reading volunteers in schools.As Jim Hilt, pictured here, said: “We came to the UK to be a part of the fabric of the community by creating affordable access to reading and believe that this donation will help us further this campaign.”S
• #19: Looking at our heritage, it is essential for us to innovate not just in the products on which we consume content, but also in the ways in which content is generated. I’d like to draw your attention to nook press for a moment. It’s our next generation self-publishing platform that takes over from our highly successful PubIt! platform. This new platform includes many new tools, features and services for authors that were created through the hard work of teams across NOOK Media. It’s not just the flashy stuff that makes a successful product but also the infrastructure and with NOOK Press we have created a stable, scaleable product from which we can rapidly iterate and innovate.NOOK Press builds on the success of PubIt!™, Barnes & Noble’s original self-publishing platform. In just two and a half years since its launch, PubIt! has propelled many writers to become national bestselling authors, and the program continues to achieve incredible growth:• PubIt! continues to attract 20% more independent authors every quarter.• Titles from self-published authors continue to increase by 24% each quarter in the NOOK Store. • Customer demand for great independent content continues to dramatically increase as 30% of NOOK customers purchase self-published content each month, representing 25% of NOOK Book sales every month. Leveraging technology from partner FastPencil, and designed with input from PubIt! authors, NOOK Press now offers unique collaboration, content creation and publishing tools in an elegant and intuitive interface. With NOOK Press, Barnes & Noble continues its long tradition of connecting authors with great stories to millions of readers.NOOK Press provides authors with simple tools such as:• Instant Access: The “Quick Start” option lets writers try out the tools before they commit to becoming a vendor, all they need to sign up is an e-mail address. “Live Chat” offers writers instant support and personalized answers to questions at every stage of the publishing process. The service is available Monday through Friday between 9:00 am and 9:00 pm EST. • One-stop Service: Authors can write, edit, format, and publish their work in one place with exclusive content tools all at no cost, and sell books to millions of NOOK customers within 2-3 days.• Easy ePub Creation and Editing: With new content creation tools, authors can easily upload a manuscript just once, then continue to write and edit directly within NOOK Press, quickly and easily turning their work into a professional-quality ePub file. • Integrated Collaboration: NOOK Press allows authors to safely and quickly invite their network of friends and editors to read and comment on any NOOK Press project in a secure environment.• Easier-to-Read Sales Reporting: Visually-enhanced sales report allows authors to easily track daily sales and track month-over-month progress. • Pathways to Passionate Readers: With NOOK Press, authors can publish once and reach millions of customers using NOOK and NOOK Reading Apps™ in the US and UK.• Unbeatable Merchandising Opportunities: NOOK Press offers authors robust merchandising opportunities in the NOOK Store™ and NOOK ecosystem, including a new NOOK Press NOOK Channel on NOOK® HD and NOOK® HD+ coming soon. Select content will be in social media campaigns, e-mails and newsletters directed to millions of NOOK customers, resulting in broader audience reach, more sales and new independent bestsellers.
• #20: In short, innovation is at the heart of nook media llc. It is driven by a profound passion for reading, a deep understanding of our readers and incredible technology and publisher relation teams who are all dedicated to the idea of reading forever. In order to do that, we need to be innovative in everything we do – it’s a culture, not a project-based way of thinking. A forensic approach to the totality of the customer journey and identifying all the problems both authors and readers face help nook media llc deliver on that promise.