Q&A with Jamie Raab, the Publisher Behind Warner Books’ New NameWarner Books announced earlier this week that the New York-based publishing company is changing its name to Grand Central Publishing. The name change was agreed to in the acquisition last year by the French Company Hachette Livre. The new title notably drops the word “books” to embrace publishing in the broader sense of content delivery. Book Business Extra spoke with Senior Vice President and Publisher Jamie Raab, the creator of the new name, to gain insight on the process of rebranding a well-known publishing company.
Book Business Extra: Warner Books hired paid consultants and solicited Warner authors for ideas for a new company name. However, the name you came up with, Grand Central Publishing, was chosen in the end. What do you feel this new name represents in terms of brand image?
Raab: It’s true, we were presented with a lot of names before we hit on Grand Central Publishing. Obviously, the new location of our corporate headquarters at 46th and Park, near Grand Central Terminal, played a part in the choice, but the real reason was because I liked every word in the new name, and what it represented. When I deconstructed it, ‘Grand’ suggested all we strive to be as a publisher: big, impressive, even magnificent at times. ‘Central’ spoke to our mission to publish books that speak to the large and diverse readership between New York City and the West Coast. And, finally, it was important, given the rapid changes in the way content is becoming available, that we drop ‘Books’ in our name and embrace ‘Publishing’ in a fuller sense.
Book Business Extra: What do you feel Grand Central Publishing will mean to future generations of readers?
Raab: Another reason I like the name is that it sounds so solid and seems to promise that we not only exist now, but will continue to publish well into the future. I don’t know that readers are as concerned with a publishing entity as much as they are with particular books and authors. And what we intend to do is what we’ve always done: bring readers wonderful books and authors across the broadest range of tastes.
Book Business Extra: A name change is an expensive transformation with costs from new business cards to updated Web sites, lines of products and advertising. Describe the importance of getting a name change right for other publishing companies thinking of changing their name?
Raab: At first, all I thought about was the difficulty in making people aware that we were ‘the same great publisher, just a bit grander.’ It was recognition and perception that concerned me. But as the process evolved, it became clear that there were so many details and concerns tied into a name. The logo on the book spine and elsewhere. Letterhead, Business cards, Web site, down to details like how the phone is answered. What to do as we reprint books that had the “Warner” name and logo. The list goes on and on. Yes, it’s expensive and the process is time-consuming. And you’ve got to get it right because there really are no second chances when making a change like this. One thing we did was find the best graphic designer we could, who came up with a consistent ‘style book and look’ that we never had in the past.
Not only a new logo, but a color scheme, a new look for ads and catalogs, etc. In the end, it was a wonderful opportunity to create a new and better ‘look’ for our brand. And to use the opportunity to shine the spotlight on the company and remind people of our strengths and successes. We also had to reassess our various imprints and come up with new names and logos for those imprints that had ‘Warner’ in their names (Warner Wellness, Warner Business, Warner Vision). But that’s a story unto itself.
Book Business Extra: From your perspective, what was the most difficult part of the name-change process?
Raab: All of the above. Really, taking a known brand and turning the downside of losing our name ‘identity’ into an opportunity. There were certainly perceptions about the company ... [including] a particularly unattractive logo, that I welcomed the chance to change. And so, in the end, I focused on the opportunities more than the challenges.
- Companies:
- Warner Books Group
- Places:
- New York City
- West Coast