Ten years in search of marketing excellence [626015]

Library Review
Ten years in search of marketing excellence!
Dinesh K. Gupta
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Dinesh K. Gupta , (2013),"Ten years in search of marketing excellence!", Library Review, Vol. 62 Iss 1/2 pp.
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Ten years in search of
marketing excellence!
Dinesh K. Gupta
Department of Library & Information Science,
V M Open University, Kota, India
Abstract
Purpose – The IFLA International Marketing Award was brought out in 2002 to libraries to employ
marketing and bring out better results and identify the best marketing practices the world over.
Now, the award has become a success story and through this paper efforts have been put up toshowcase the award before library and information professionals around the world.
Design/methodology/approach – The primary data relating to award applications received each
year have been collected and used to analyse and interpret in a meaningful way.Findings – The IFLA International Marketing Award was introduced in 2001 and was awarded for
the first time in 2002. Since then, this award recognises the first, second and third runner-ups each year
based on the marketing project in all kinds of libraries, worldwide. The award has attracted276 applications from 55 countries during the last ten years. The paper analyses the award applicationschronologically, geographically and by type of library. It also discusses the winning libraries and theirmarketing activities. It concludes that the award has become a success story and is expected to reach twonew countries each year and 750 libraries from 75 countries in the next ten years.
Originality/value – The paper will be useful for library and information professionals to
understand the value of marketing being practised around the world and will encourage them to
employ a better marketing approach in the libraries.
Keywords IFLA Award, IFLA International Marketing Award, Library marketing,
Excellence in marketing, Best practices in library marketing, Library and information services marketing,
Customer-based marketing, Libraries, Marketing
Paper type Case study
Introduction
The need for successful marketing practices in libraries throughout the world is evident
in the literature. While it is agreed that there is no single best way to market library and
information services, it is acknowledged that some are marketing ideas better than
others and it is beneficial to the profession to recognise best marketing practices.
Various awards recognise excellence in LIS marketing; the widely acclaimed award is
the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) International Marketing
Award. The award is international in its scope and is open to all kinds of libraries and
organizations. For the first time, applications for the award were invited in 2001 for
announcing the winners of 2002, and such practices have been continued. Applications
for the 11th award in 2013 was announced in October 2012 on the IFLANET withThe current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0024-2535.htm
This paper is a critical appraisal of the IFLA International Marketing Award,
organised by the IFLA Management and Marketing Section in collaboration withEmerald, and presented annually to three finalists, selected from organisationswhich have implemented creative, results-oriented marketing projects or campaigns.
Published with the kind permission of IFLA.
www.ifla.org/Received 16 November 2012
Accepted 30 November 2012
Library Review
Vol. 62 No. 1/2, 2013
pp. 67-80
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0024-2535
DOI 10.1108/00242531311328186In search of
marketing
excellence!
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15 January 2013 as the last date of submission of applications for the award.
For standardising the marketing terminology and educating library and informationprofessionals a glossary of marketing terms is annexed with the award application andkey marketing terms included. The application is designed in a manner that library andinformation professionals can put up their efforts in marketing frameworks.
This annual international award was created to identify best marketing practices
and to encourage others to take an interest in marketing. The award, through the voicesof its many applicants, can best communicate the types of marketing activities thatlibraries successfully engage in, not only to colleagues around the world, but also topeople who use libraries or may want to use libraries, or to those in charge of providing
funds for library services. This award has completed its successful ten years by
continuing to offer the opportunity for all types of libraries to showcase marketingcampaigns and programs, rather than simple publicity efforts. In all, 276 libraries from55 countries have participated in this award process during the last ten years.The present paper discusses the award, its history and geographical representation, andin brief about the marketing projects of winning libraries.
Review of literature
Savard (2006) describing the history of IFLA Management and Marketing Section,mentions that an:
[…] interesting innovation offered from the Section was the IFLA-3M Marketing Award.
John Berry, Member of the Standing Committee and also President of the American
Library Association, created the idea of organizing this award and convince 3M to be main
partner. Over the years, the Section gained a lot of expertise in organizing the competition.
The Jury was formed with members from different areas of the world and also from the
different linguistic communities to make sure the propositions could be evaluated in all the fiveIFLA languages.
The stories of the award have been covered in the literature in the past. Koontz (2003,
2004a, b, 2006a, b, 2007), the present Adviser and former Jury Member and InformationCoordinator for the award, published a column in the “Customer-based marketing” inthe Marketing Library Services journal (www.infotoday.com/mls/default.shtml),
where she mentioned about the award and the award winners for different years,which popularised the award in the library community and offered an excellentdocumentation for the people who are interested in the history of the award, awardwinners and award proposals.
Koontz (2003), while mentioning the genesis of the award marked that:
We felt that the award through the voices of its many applicants, could best communicate the
type of marketing activities that libraries successful engage in, not only to colleagues around
the world, but also to people who use libraries, those who may want to use libraries, or those
in charge of providing funds for library services.
Koontz (2006a, b) recounts the background of the award and mentions that:
[…] over the course of the award, the winning libraries all marketed in a systematic way.
By telling their own stories, the people who apply for this IFLA/3M International Marketing
Award provide insight into the colorful behind-the-scenes daily business of modern libraries.
She describes about the winning marketing projects for the first four years.LR
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Three of the first runners of the award during 2002-2005 describe themselves about their
marketing activities in detail in their works (Mohammed, 2006; Lapsley, 2006; Sala,2006). They shared their success stories, describing the ways that attracted the attention
of the users and made some mark in the history of their libraries employing marketing.
Gupta et al. (2010) discuss the origin of the award, its yearly growth and
geographical representation for the first eight years’ winning projects with comments
from winners. Gupta further mentions that:
If we take stock today of 8 years’ activities of the IFLA International Marketing Award, in
that time we received 218 applications from 49 countries in 6 different languages (English,
Spanish, Russian, French, German, Chinese and Arabic). No doubt, when the IFLA Section
Management & Marketing decided in 2001 to create the award, it never dreamed it would be
so successful. It was the right thing to do and is now a real success story.
In the forthcoming IFLA publication by Gupta et al. (2013), ten papers are to be published,
taking a review of the winners to the individual winner, signifying the importance of the
award. It was thought proper to bring an holistic view of the award by publication in the
Emerald Journal which is the present sponsor of the award in order to give more visibility
to the award itself which itself has become a success story in a short span to ten years.
Objectives of the study
The objectives of the study are as below:
.to trace the growth of the IFLA International Marketing Award chronologicallyand geographically;
.to know about the number of libraries country-wise in regard to participation oflibraries for the first time and total number of applicant libraries;
.to find about winning libraries from different countries, and its relation with theaward applications; and
.to know about the key marketing activities of the winning projects.
MethodologyEach year award applications are invited on the IFLANET and Emerald’s webpagealong with many IFLA Sectional newsletters, listservs, blogs, etc. to attract qualityapplications from different parts of the world. Apart from the raw data available oneach year’s applications various documents were consulted for preparing this paperincluding: IFLA Management and Marketing Newsletter, Minutes of the SC of
Management and Marketing Section, press releases, articles published in journals; data
were collected and tabulated in the Excel sheet to make them meaningful.
Announcement of the award is made on the IFLANET and the award ceremony
takes place during the IFLA World Library and Information Congress, each year. It wasnot possible to highlight each year’s winning projects in the paper but the tenth year’swinning projects have been highlighted in the paper.
Analysis and discussion
Year wise distribution of award applications
To recognise those libraries that develop and implement effective marketing programs,the Management and Marketing Section of the IFLA and 3M Library Systems joinedIn search of
marketing
excellence!
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in 2001 to create the IFLA/3M International Marketing Award which sponsored the
award for the first three years during 2002-2004. The award could not be announced
in absence of the sponsor in 2005. SyrsiDynix collaborated as sponsor for the next three
years during 2006-2008 and thereafter Emerald Group Publishing Ltd has been
sponsoring the award since award year 2009. The award has attracted 278 applications
from 57 countries during the last ten years. A year-wise distribution of the award
applications has been shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1 shows that the number of applications received for the award fluctuated
each year. In the first year (2002) the number of applications was 37, close to the number
of applications at the tenth year (2012). The number of applications was lowest in 2003
and highest in 2004. The award attracted 25 applications from Russia alone, which made
the number of applicants so high in spite of applicants from fewer countries in 2004. In
four years (2007-2010), the variation in terms of number of applications was minimal.
Geographical distribution of applicant libraries
There are many local and national awards which are providing encouragement to
libraries for employing marketing practices. The IFLA International Marketing Awardis international in its scope which is quite evident from its name, and has been
recognised world over. The award has attracted applications from 55 countries in
all during the last ten years. The applications received from number of countries
year-wise has been shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2 shows that the number of libraries from participating countries varies year
to year; it was in 2012 when libraries from highest number of countries participated in
the award application process. In 2003, the number was the minimum.
Number of countries participating vis-a`-visnumber of applications
The number of applications from number of countries varies each year. Figure 3 shows
the libraries from number of countries participating vis-a`-visnumber of applications.
Figure 1.
A year-wise distribution ofthe award applications37
1552
152427
2226
1939
0102030405060
2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012Note: No award attributed in the year 2005LR
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Figure 3 shows some positive relationship between the total number of applications
and the number of countries participating in the application process. The figure alsoreveals that in the first year 37 applications were received from 14 countries. The
highest number of applications received was in the year 2004: 52 from ten countries;
25 applications received from one country led to the high number in this year.
In the year 2012, the number of applications received was the second highest.
However, this year libraries from the highest number of countries (19) participated in
the application process, whereas in 2003, only 15 applications were received from
only seven countries. The number of applications continued increasing both in termsFigure 2.
Applicant libraries from
number of countries,
year-wise14
717
10121617
131219
02468101214161820
2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Figure 3.
Libraries from number of
countries participating
vis-a`-visnumber of
applications, year-wise14
717
10121617
13121937
1552
152427
2226
1939
0102030405060
2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012Applicant countries
No. of applicationsIn search of
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of the number of applicants and number of countries during 2006-2008: in 2006 15 from
ten countries, in 2007 24 from 12 countries, and in 2008 27 from 16 countries. Though
the number of applicants came down in the year 2009 the number of countriescontinued to increase. This shows that it continued to reach a wide range of target
libraries and information professionals world-wide.
Libraries country-wise participating first time
Each year, libraries from more and more countries started participating in the award
contest. The number of applications country-wise received for the first time from
various countries has been demonstrated in Table I.
Table I depicts that in 2004 libraries from maximum number of countries entered
into the award contest for the first time. Contrarily, in the years 2008, 2009 and 2011, itremained minimum of two countries each year.
Number of participating libraries from different countries
The number of libraries from countries participating in the award process changes
year to year. When looking at the number of application in regard to number of times of
participation of libraries from different countries during the last ten years (Table II).
Table II depicts that libraries from 23 countries applied once in ten years, whereas
libraries from the USA applied each year for the award. The number of librariesparticipating geographically (number of countries and libraries from the countries
participating first time, each year) is shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4 shows that in all libraries from 55 countries participated during the last ten
years. In the first year (2002) libraries from 14 countries participated in the award
application process. The ratio of number of applicant countries vis-a´-visfirst-time
participation from countries was highest in 2003 when libraries of five countries out
of seven applied first time, whereas it was lowest in the year 2009 when libraries of
two countries out of 17 were first-timers.
Number of applicant libraries country wise
Details of total number of applications from different countries were also drawn from
the applicant libraries participating from the 55 countries. The number of applications
and the name of countries is presented in Table III.
Table III again reveals that in all applicants from 55 countries participated during
the last ten years. It was found that there were six countries with more than tenapplications, namely, Russia, Canada, Australia, the USA, Spain and India. These
six countries have share of more than half (54.3 percent) of total applications.
Applicant libraries category-wise
Any library can apply for the award, whether public, academic, school or special
library. Even library consortia, associations, or organizations may also apply. Figure 5
demonstrates the number of applications according to type of libraries, year-wise.
Figure 5 shows that during the ten years, the number of applications from public
libraries remained highest (119 – about 44 percent), followed by academic libraries(82 – about 30 percent). The category “other libraries” covers the rest (64 – about
23 percent). The smallest group of libraries were school libraries (ten – just 3 percent).LR
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Year 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
No. of
applications14 5 10 4 6 2 2 5 2 4
Countries Canada,
USA, Spain,Argentina,Columbia,Romania,
Bulgaria,
Italy,Germany,Congo,Poland,Kenya,Brazil,BeninIndia,UK,Serbia,Tanzania,ThailandRussia,Australia,Philippines,Nigeria,New
Zealand,
Ivory Coast,Chile,Indonesia,Cuba,SwedenTheNetherlands,Mexico,Senegal,BelgiumSingapore,Portugal,Peru,Finland,Croatia,
EstoniaSouth
Africa,BurundiJamaica,France,SriLankaChina,Lithuania,S. Korea,Switzerland,NorwayIndonesia,GermanyTrinidadandTobagoUkraine,Iran
Zimbabwe
Table I.
First time participation of
libraries country-wiseIn search of
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The runners-up from different countries
First, second, and third prizes were presented during the press conference of the IFLAWorld Library and Information Summit each year at different locations around the world,these include: Glasgow, 2002; Berlin, 2003; Buenos Aires, 2004; Oslo, 2005; Seoul, 2006;Durban, 2007; Quebec City, 2008; Milan, 2009; Stockholm, 2010; San Juan, 2011 andHelsinki in 2012. The winning projects along with type of library is presented in Table IV.
Table IV reveals that over the past ten years, the first, second and third place winners
came from 13 public libraries (National library, Branch Libraries, Municipal Library,library consortia included), ten academic libraries including three school libraries, oneresearch library and three special libraries. Thus, above 40 percent of the winners belongto public libraries only. The first place award went five times to public libraries andNo. of times participation of
country libraries No. of countries Name of countries
Only once in ten years 23 Benin, Brazil, Burundi, Croatia, Estonia, France, Iran,
Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Maldives, Mexico, TheNetherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Sri Lanka,Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad andTobago, Ukraine, Zimbabwe
Two times in ten years 15 Belgium, Congo, Cuba, Finland, Germany, Indonesia,
Ivory Coast, New Zealand, Nigeria, Portugal,Romania, Senegal, Serbia, South Africa, S. Korea
Three times in ten years 7 Bulgaria, China, Chile, Lithuania, The Netherlands,
Singapore, Tanzania
Four times in ten years 2 Columbia, Philippines
Five times in ten years 2 UK, Argentina
Six times in ten years 2 Australia, Russia
Seven times in ten years 2 India, Spain
Nine times in ten years 1 Canada
Every year 1 USA
Total 55Table II.Participating librariesfrom different countries
Figure 4.First time participation oflibraries country-wise14
717
10121617
13
1219
510
46
225
24
02468101214161820
2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012LR
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twice to school libraries, twice to an academic library and once to a special library. It is to
note that in 2002, 2006 and 2009 all three runner ups (first, second and third placewinners) were public libraries whereas in 2004, no public library was runner up.Libraries from Australia (school libraries) won the first place twice. There were twoNo. of
applicationsNo. of
countries Name of countries
1 21 Benin, Brazil, Burundi, Croatia, Estonia, France, Iran, Jamaica, Kenya,
Maldives, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sri Lanka,
Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine,
Zimbabwe
2 13 Belgium, Congo, Cuba, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Ivory Coast,
Peru, Portugal, Senegal, South Africa, S. Korea
3 6 Bulgaria, Chile, New Zealand, Nigeria, Romania, Tanzania
4 1 Lithuania
5 2 Serbia and The Netherlands
6 2 Argentina, Philippines
7 1 Singapore
81 UK
9 2 Argentina, China
12 1 India
18 1 Spain
23 1 USA
26 1 Australia
32 1 Canada
39 1 Russia
Total 55Table III.
No. of applications
and the countries
Figure 5.
Type of applicant libraries0510152025
Public 20 0 21 8 15 13 6 12 8 16
Academic 9 10 8 4 5 10 7 7 4 18
School 2060110000
Others 65 1 7 33396752002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012In search of
marketing
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instances when two places went to the same country, in 2002 and 2008, the USA and
Canada, respectively. Two runner-up libraries were from the same countries in the sameyear, belonging to the USA and Canada in 2002 and 2008, respectively.
Key marketing ideas
It has taken many decades to straighten out the difference in meaning of marketing,though there are more definitions of marketing in marketing texts, now. So there is nouniversally accepted concept of library marketing though a large amount of literature
on this theme proves the interest of library professionals and importance of marketing
for libraries. Now marketing is not an add-on activity for libraries but marketing ispracticed and is inherent in libraries and every librarian is involved in it in some wayor the other. But, as illustrated by the applicants for this award, it can be said thatlibraries are now embracing true marketing. Over the course of the award, the winninglibraries all marketed in a systematic way. By telling their own stories, the people whoYear Runner ups Name of library Type of library
2002 First Houston Public Library Public library (USA)
Second Calgary Public Library Public library (Canada)
Third Flushing Library Branch library (USA)
2003 First Consorci de Biblioteques Public library consortia (Spain)
Second Chulalongkom Univ. Lib. Academic library (Thailand)
Third Newman College of Hr. Ed. Academic library (UK)
2004 First School, Australian Islamic College School library (Australia)
Second Krasheninnikov Regional Research Research library (Russia)
Third African Rice Centre Special library (Ivory Coast)
2006 First Public Library of Spijkenisse Public library
(The Netherlands)
Second Public Library of Quebec Public library (Canada)
Third Reg. Lib. Ser. of Castilla-la-Mancha Public library (Spain)
2007 First Tartu University Library Academic library (Estonia)
Second Zadar Public Library School library (Croatia)
Third Biblioteca Comunal de Santa Cruz Municipal library (Peru)
2008 First Central West Libraries School library (Australia)
Second Richmond Public Library Public library (Canada)
Third Calgary Public Library Public library (Canada)
2009 First National Library Board National library (Singapore)
Second Wrexham County Borough Council Branch library (UK)Third Alberta Library, Edmonton Public library (Canada)
2010 First Learning Resource Centre, Indian School
of BusinessAcademic library (India)
Second Gail Borden Public Library District,
ElginPublic library (USA)
Third University of Bergen Library Academic library (Norway)
2011 First German National Library of Medicine Special library (Germany)
Second Edmonton Public Library Public library (Canada)
Third Georgia Institute of Technology Library Special library (USA)
2012 First Tsinghua University Library Academic library (China)
Second The University of Waterloo Library Academic library (Canada)Third Kosteneevo Rural Library Public library (Russia)Table IV.Winning projects vis-a´-vis
type of libraryLR
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apply for this IFLA International Marketing Award provide insight into the colorful
behind-the-scenes daily business of modern libraries. The key marketing idea of each
of the runner ups is presented Table V.
Table V reveals that marketing abounds to ideas and creativity. In each winning
library marketing project, library professionals have shown their eagerness toparticipate in the community work, branding and rebranding services, targeting special
groups, promoting resources, attracting users and non-users, designing newer products,
promotional campaigns for enhancing use of resources and services, serving
special categories of users, outreach activities, educating users through newer media,behavioral change and so on. But these are ideas which any library can work upon and
which symbolise that marketing is an essential ingredient to library services in
whatever fashion they can performed well.
Award for 2012
The following marketing projects were chosen for awarding first, second and thirdplace for the year 2012.
First place. For branding and educating was awarded to Tsinghua University Library,
Beijing, China, represented by Yang Yi, Deputy Director, and Han Lifeng and Wang
Yuan, Reference Librarians. The project team, composed of professional librarians and
students, created a low-cost series of five short, entertaining videos that feature twoundergraduates who meet in the library. Their interactions not only tell the humorous,
light and warm story of “Falling in Love with the Library” but also improve library brand
awareness and library literacy and thus help students, especially freshmen, make optimal
use of library services and fully benefit from them. The videos are offered in two versions,
one with Chinese and one with English subtitles. A web-based book-shelf matching gameis also offered. The first-place winner receives airfare, lodging, and registration for the
2012 IFLA General Conference and Assembly to be held this year in Helsinki, Finland, and
a cash award of $1,000 (USA) to further the marketing efforts of the library.
Second place. For visual identity was awarded to the University of Waterloo Library,
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, represented by Nancy Collins, Communications and LiaisonLibrarian, and Esther Millar, Coordinator, Library Communications and Web
Management. The library launched a buttons campaign featuring 13 creative button
designs to capture the visual identity of the six library locations available to students,faculty and staff. The buttons were also used on bookmarks, posters, brochures, Facebook
and library signage as an eye-catching branding device. The library distributed over
23,000 buttons, which quickly became collector’s items during the campaign.
Third place. For increased use of resources was awarded to the Kosteneevo Rural
Library, Yelabuga District, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia for the project “The WholeVillage Reads”, represented by Guzjal Erkaeva. The project began with a book festival,
followed by a year-long calendar of programs, competitions, and other activities geared
to diverse audiences, from children to elderly men. The goal was to raise interest in thelibrary and make it the “informational, intellectual, and spiritual center” of the small
rural village with 558 inhabitants. The program received excellent press coverage and
resulted in greatly increased use of the library and recognition of the librarian from the
Tatarstan government.
The award is well respected in professional circles which is evident in the e-mail
from the winner of 2012 received on 5 November 2012 as below:In search of
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YearRunner
ups Marketing project Key marketing activities
2002 First Power card challenge Increase in the number children
accessing libraries by branding
Second Rediscover your Calgary Library Use of television advertising to increase
awareness about the library
Third Flushing Library Awareness campaign about resources
2003 First Consorci de Biblioteques Participation in a outreach activity and
make your presence
Second Chulalongkom Univ. Lib. Enhancing use of e-resources
Third Newman College of Hr. Ed. Enhance awareness about the library
2004 First School, Australian Islamic College Participating in learning activity is part
of marketing
Second Krasheninnikov Regional Research Targeting special group for servicesThird African Rice Centre Serving special clientele with specialservice
2006 First Public Library of Spijkenisse Attracting non-user patrons who were
using the library previously bycampaign “we miss you”
Second Public Library of Quebec Promotion by using special library
material
Third Reg. Lib. Ser. of Castilla-la-Mancha Marketing through socialising
2007 First Tartu University Library Planning new services for students and
parents
Second Zadar Public Library Target marketing by bookmobileservices to larger community
Third Biblioteca Comunal de Santa Cruz Targeting a group by pushing book-
filled grocery carts into local markets
2008 First Central West Libraries Helping online in completing the home
work for the students
Second Richmond Public Library Heightening awareness of libraryresources to students and families notfamiliar with public library service
Third Calgary Public Library Using of the library as a communitygathering space
2009 First Go Library Multi-platform project aiming at
outreach entice customers
Second Happy days/take a fresh look at your
libraryRepositioning the library in the
community
Third Alberta Campaign/Books and beyond Promotion of online resources
2010 First Learning Resource Centre, Indian School
of BusinessNew product line to keep users updateand use the library more frequently
Second Gail Borden Public Library District,
ElginPeer group marketing through video
developed by the users
Third University of Bergen Library Online video promotion to motivate
students to re-ignite interest and placevalue in their library
2011 First German National Library of Medicine Behavioural change through integrated
communication channels
Second Edmonton Public Library Rebranding and engaging library
stakeholders
(continued )
Table V.
Winning projects vis-a´-vis
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How are you doing? I just email you to share some news about the promotion video. In order
to celebrate the 100 anniversary of Tsinghua University Library, we created two micro videos
cooperating with students, one is from the view of an undergraduate and the other ispostgraduate. Students and colleagues love them very much.
They are available at www.lib.tsinghua.edu.cn/dra/news/annoucement/3279 and www.v.
youku.com/v_show/id_XNDY3MTc5MTAw.html
www.v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDY3MTc4Mzg0.htmlThe video “Falling in love with the library” and the news that it won IFLA marketing award
really improve the China library community’s interest in promotion video. The PekingUniversity Library,which is also one of the top universities in China, just made their video tocelebrate the 110 years birthday. It’s a microfilm.
www.v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDcwODU0NDY0.html Have a look and compare it with
our play, which one do you prefer?
Just two hours ago, Ingrid Parent, IFLA president visited our library and we took photos with
her again. In August, we met her in Finland. It’s really great to share our progress with the
President. We hope you could come to see our library in the near future. We’ll see if any chance.
Future perspectives
The award has educated many library and information professionals, recognised efforts
by excellent library marketing practices and has brought wide experience of librarymarketing at the forefront of library community world wide. The wide rangeof applications proves the increasing interest of librarians and their eagerness to putexcellent marketing efforts in their services. The award itself has become a success storyby now when it completes ten years. It is foreseen that in the next ten years the
application process will be better and it is estimated that in next ten years at least
two new countries will participate in the award application process and libraries from75 countries would have applied by 2022. In term of number of applications, it will reachthe total of 500 in next ten years and double from 750 by 2022 thereby on an average of 10applications from 75 countries. When new history of the award is written in 2022, it will
bring out many new facets of marketing libraries in this changing world.
On such move it has been decided to announce three runners-up and seven highly
commendable marketing projects, thereby announcing top ten applications which will
boost applicants’ confidence in the award. It is also planned that from 2014 the awardYearRunner
ups Marketing project Key marketing activities
Third Georgia Institute of Technology Library Radio campaign to spread library
awareness
2012 First Tsinghua University Library Branding the library and educating the
users through video
Second The University of Waterloo Library Visual identity through buttons
Third Kosteneevo Rural Library Increase use of resources by targeting
user population Table V.In search of
marketing
excellence!
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applications are invited online in order to simplify award application and judging process.
Such small efforts would enhance visibility of the award itself in the years to come.
References
Gupta, D.K., Koontz, C. and McAdam, D. (2010), “In search of marketing excellence in libraries:
the IFLA International Marketing Award”, IFLA Journal , Vol. 36 No. 2, pp. 176-183.
Gupta, D.K., Koontz, C. and Massisimo, A. (2013), Marketing Library and Information Services II:
A Global Outlook , IFLA Publications, Berlin.
Koontz, C. (2003), “First IFLA/3M International Marketing Award presented in Glasgow, Scotland
in August”, Marketing Library Services, available at: www.infotoday.com/mls/ifla.shtml
Koontz, C. (2004a), “The marketing mix: the 4-P recipe for customer satisfaction”, Marketing
Library Services, Vol. 18 No. 1, available at: www.infotoday.com/mls/jan04/koontz.shtml
Koontz, C. (2004b), “The 3rd Annual IFLA/3M International Marketing Award: best practices”,
Marketing Library Services , Vol. 18 No. 5, available at: www.infotoday.com/mls/sep04/
koontz.shtml
Koontz, C. (2006a), “Excellence in marketing”, in Gupta, D.K., Koontz, C., Massisimo, A. and
Savard, R. (Eds), Marketing Library and Information Services: International Perspectives ,
K.G. Saur, Munich, pp. 313-324.
Koontz, C. (2006b), “IFLA award recognizes true marketing excellence”, Marketing Library
Services, Vol. 20 No. 5, pp. 1-5.
Koontz, C. (2007), “Market segmentation is evident in 2007 IFLA Marketing Awards”, Marketing
Library Services, Vol. 21 No. 5, available at: www.infotoday.com/mls/sep07/Koontz.shtml
Lapsley, A. (2006), “The power card challenge: marketing the Houston Public Library”,
in Gupta, D.K., Koontz, C., Massisimo, A. and Savard, R. (Eds), Marketing Library and
Information Services: International Perspectives , K.G. Saur, Munich, pp. 349-361.
Mohammed, M. (2006), “I came, I saw, I read: marketing initiative for refugee children”,
in Gupta, D.K., Koontz, C., Massisimo, A. and Savard, R. (Eds), Marketing Library and
Information Services: International Perspectives , K.G. Saur, Munich, pp. 325-334.
Sala, M. (2006), “Literary pathways: approaching literature through literary landscapes”,
in Gupta, D.K., Koontz, C., Massisimo, A. and Savard, R. (Eds), Marketing Library and
Information Services: International Perspectives , K.G. Saur, Munich, pp. 362-368.
Savard, R. (2006), “Brief history of the IFLA management and marketing section (1995-2003) and
review of its activities”, in Gupta, D.K., Koontz, C., Massisimo, A. and Savard, R. (Eds),
Marketing Library and Information Services: International Perspectives , K.G. Saur,
Munich, pp. 177-181.
About the authorDinesh K. Gupta is a member of the Standing Committee of IFLA Education and Training Section
(2011-2015) after serving as member of the Standing Committee of Management & Marketing
Section for two terms (2003-2007; 2007-2011). He has also been chair of the jury of the IFLAInternational Marketing Award since 2009 after serving as jury member from 2002-2008. He is editorof the IFLA book Marketing Library and Information Services: International Perspectives , published
by KG Saur, Munich, Germany, 2006. Dinesh K. Gupta can be contacted at: dineshkg.in@gmail.comLR
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