VIVAT PUBLISHING MERCH AS A TOOL FOR PROMOTION AND INFLUENCE ON THE AUDIENCE

Abstract

Merch is one of the most affordable means of promotion of books and publishing today. It is used extremely rarely, although such projects are very important, contribute to the encouragement of reading, fulfill the task of displaying corporate culture, and advertise the product. That is why the analysis of the use of merch by a publisher can expand the vision of its possibilities and is always relevant.

The article examines the merch from the publishing house «Vivat» as a tool for promotion and influence on the product’s consumer. Monitoring and analysis of the publishing house’s website for available merch was carried out. 50 offers and 13 variants of the merch itself were identified. The assortment is distributed according to the quantitative characteristics of the form of the merch product.
It is claimed that the topic is almost not developed in the scientific community, the issues were covered only fragmentarily, there was no comprehensive study of the experience of using merch in the promotion of book products, the formation of demand for books and interest in reading, and therefore researchers have the opportunity to expand the boundaries of the understanding of promotion tools.
The methods of analysis, synthesis, generalization, and descriptive were applied, which made it possible to interpret the studied phenomena and establish regularities and trends in the development of book promotion. Among the specialized methods, the method of continuous sampling of merch products on the publishing house’s website was used.
It is proven that despite the circumstances and conditions in which the country is, the publishing house carefully monitors the tastes and preferences of its readers. The most used and most widespread merch from the publishing house is the bookmark. But the range of products also includes candles, sticker packs, socks, temporary tattoos, overlays, kits, book boxes, and foams.
The publishing house has a significant demand for literature in the fantasy genre, and the merch offered by the publishing house looks attractive to connoisseurs of the genre. Among the bestsellers accompanied by a merch product are books by the following authors: Sara J. Maas, Ali Geiselwood (Hazelwood), Lee Bardugo, Kristel Dabos, Mark Livin, Iryna Grabovska, and others. «Vivat» publishing house is proud of the book series «Vivat Classics», which includes the works of Volodymyr Vinnichenko «Rivnovaga», Valerian Pidmohylny «A Little Drama», Ivan Franko «The Manipulator», Olga Kobylyanska «For Situations», Yuriy Yanovsky «The Master of the Ship» and Hryhorii Kvitka-Osnovyanenko «Konotop Witch». All of them, in addition to attractive design and thorough academic training, also have a merch product for connoisseurs of classical Ukrainian literature.
Problematic issues in the development and promotion of merchandise have been identified. Recommendations are provided for the further development of such a form of products as merch publishing houses.