Improv and Reading People
by John Cremer
What was most remarkable about this project was that it was done so quickly. Within four weeks of our discussion and agreement, John had written the book, I’d designed and set it, we ordered a batch and he had them in his hands. That timescale is very quick, probably too quick, but it does show what can be done when decisions are made. It also highlights the beauty of self-publishing, that the deadlines are your own. The only delay to you having and using your product to further your success and make money with it - is you.
John Cremer is an improvisation expert and performer. He had recently turned his expertise into training workshops which had proved successful with chief executive groups. He created new material on a new topic of ‘Reading People’ where some personality attributes and motivational characteristics can be gleaned from and understanding of the physicality of the body. He came to me to ask for help to brand this new programme. Although it sounded complex it can be explained very simply. But the danger there was that we made it too simple that it got confused with other systems or with the study of body language.
The approach we took was to treat the material as ‘ancient wisdom’, which the essence of it was, and brand it classically to reflect that. The device used for the cover of the book comprises a glass ball with engraved metal surround. The idea was that it hinted at being some kind of device like an alethiometer or the Antikythera mechanism. The background of purple velvet reflected the type of material you would find lining a wooden box that housed such a device.
 The purpose of the book was to sell at the back of the room after John’s events as well as use as a promotion tool to gain a wider audience for the programme. It worked: John recouped the cost of design and production within a month from extra workshop sales as well as doing the same again from profit from sales of the book. The fact that Reading People became a usable brand for John meant that all his promotional materials carried the purple velvet and the gold; his website, business cards and exhibition banners and marketing flyers.
It was such a success that we did the same for his previous product, Improvisation. A decision had been made early on that unlike many professional speakers we decided to brand the programme Reading People, i.e. the expertise, and not John himself. The brand puts the expertise first with John’s name as almost a signature. This strengthened the product and made it straightforward to add a second offering. ‘Improv’ became the second book. Like the first it took the same classical approach. We created a new device, a gold embossed symbol of ‘the fool’ stepping out into the unknown. The velvet was retained but the hue shifted to blue.
This book was an even bigger success than the first. It helped strengthen John’s approach to improvisation as a relevant creative tool for big business: you need to be able to think of your feet, accept change, stay positive and be able to perform well in the most stressful of situations.
The books we created help John to prove that his expertise is not only of interest to business, but actually essential. The brands position him as the most unique, definitive and most able expert to deliver those messages. |
