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Multi-million-selling books to inspire gifting, promotions and much more
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Haynes Publishing, world-famous for over 50 years for its technical and practical lifestyle manuals, has announced the relaunch as a Haynes imprint of the Bluffer’s Guides – a bestselling publishing phenomenon for over four decades – accompanied by a wide-ranging licensing and promotional campaign. The books have been available at retail since June this year. The Bluffer’s Guides gained fame – and massive sales – as witty, pocket-sized manuals that aim to bring a novice up to scratch on a number of topics – from wine and etiquette to fishing and management. They are designed to be funny and easy to read, but also informative, giving a reader enough basic information on a topic to allow him or her to take part in any conversation on the subject – to bluff, in other words. So successful has the concept been that the Bluffer’s Guides have sold over five million copies in the four decades since their original appearance. Haynes has now relaunched and redesigned the guides, updating the topics covered and introducing new ones, but always emphasising the qualities that make them so popular: hard fact masquerading as frivolous observation in one witty, easy-to-read, portable volume. It’s a long-term commitment, which will see 12-15 new titles added to the existing 16 every year, each written by an expert in his or her field. The very first new title, the Bluffer’s Guide to Brexit, has been specially produced for the relaunch and is available now. The range of topics and accessibility of the Bluffer's Guides also make them ideal vehicles for a focused licensing campaign, based either on the Bluffer’s brand or the topics covered, with logos, illustrations or witty quotes from the guides that can be used to memorable effect on a number of products. And with areas already covered ranging from wine, golf and beer to dogs, opera and etiquette, there will be no shortage of possibilities in gifting, t-shirts, houseware and even topic-specific categories like petware, bottled ale and golf equipment. A number of attractive cross-marketing and promotional opportunities, such as packaging the books with gifts, are also being explored. |
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Haynes is already making available licensing rights, initially aimed at the gifting market. The Bluffer’s brand will be highly visible in the coming months, both through the books themselves and at a number of trade shows where Haynes will focus on the many opportunities this brand offers.
Haynes is a perfect fit, both for the Bluffer’s Guides and for the associated licensing campaign. A publisher of world-famous car and motorcycle manuals, Haynes also boasts an extensive practical lifestyle list, which includes manuals based on a number of licensed brands, such as Star Wars, Wallace and Gromit, and Thunderbirds.
Iain Wakefield, Brand Licensing and Licensed Publishing Manager at Haynes Publishing, says: “Bluffer’s is a wonderful and well-loved brand and a great fit for Haynes. Licensing and retail interest is already strong as partners become aware of the potential of the brand, both in its own right and linked with topic-specific product categories. We're enormously excited about what we believe is a great all-round licensing opportunity.”