Okay, so Amazon has the largest slice of the digital bookselling pie. And for the next decade, Ian Fleming's legendary Bond novels will be exclusively available from Amazon publishing. How did they beat the spectre of Apple and other online publishers? Says Corinne Turner, Managing Director of Ian Fleming Publications, "The reason we're going with Amazon is we believe that their online abilities will bring our books to a much broader audience than we've had before." Turns out sometimes bigger is better.
This is obviously quite a coup for Amazon, who has more than one horse in this race. Not only will Amazon use Bond to power book sales and brand cred; Amazon also happens to currently sell the crowd-favorite device for the digital viewing of that content: the Kindle e-reader.
For your eyes only, The 2012 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Index e-Reader Rankings:
- Amazon (Kindle)
- Barnes & Noble, Inc. (Nook)
- Apple (iPad)
- PanDigital
- Sony (Reader)
- Kobo
The e-reader customers Brand Keys surveyed identified brand value as the #1 driver of loyalty in the category. Just as Ian Fleming Publications are buying Amazon, the brand platform, with the Bond book deal, so customers also buy the brand as much as the e-reader device. Because according to readers, Amazon, with its online convenience and massive inventory, is truly the brand that loved them. The Kindle is not just a device, it's an Amazon brand extension, backed by Amazon brand equity.
And until competitor brands can rouse these kinds of Amazonian levels of brand delight, the Kindle will remain on the top of the e-reader rankings, neither shaken nor stirred.
