As the Mobile Messaging War Heats Up, Kik Tries to Win Over Marketers With GIFs

Twentieth Century Fox wants to talk to teens the way that they do with their friends, so it's using GIFs to chat with them on mobile messaging app Kik. The film studio and agency Trailer Park are launching a campaign today for the sci-fi flick Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, the sequel to 2014's Maze Runner based on T.S. Nowlin's book trilogy. In the movie, a group of boys are stuck in a maze, and the only way out is to go through a series of challenges given out by a secret organization called WCKD. To play off of the movie's twisting plot, Fox is using Kik's Promoted Chats to let fans talk to a bot version of the WCKD character. The bot offers text-based information and a total of 12 GIFs that walk users through a series of challenges to help them get out of the maze. Like the movie's story, the app's messaging can go several ways. "It kind of feels like one of those choose-your-own adventure books that you may have played as a kid, but played out in a much more modern way," said Paul Gray, Kik's director of platform services. Fox's campaign is the first time that a brand has used GIFs on Kik, Gray said. It's also the first work to be born from the technology Kik gained when it acquired GIF messaging app Relay last year. "One of the things we're always trying to work on is developing storytelling and combining that with emerging technology," said Glenn Sanders, group creative director at Trailer Park. "The story that we wanted to tell actually matched up... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2015-08-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fresh Off a National Book Award Win, Omnidawn Looks Toward the Holidays

This year, the nonprofit publisher won its first National Book Award for Craig Santos Perez's poetry collection 'from unincorporated territory [åmot].' Its publisher, Rusty Morrison, forecasts solid sales for that title, and others, this holiday season. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-04 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Quarto to Go Private, Delist from London Stock Market

The U.K.-based publisher said a proposed stock market delisting will save money and give it more flexibility to react to business challenges and opportunities. The U.S. is Quarto's largest market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-01 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Packager Melcher Media Expands into Marketing and Printing

After 30 years in business, the company will offer direct-to-consumer sales, marketing, and printing services for what founder and CEO Charles Melcher calls "a focused list of clientele." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Germany: Bookwire’s Audiobook Service Goes to Brazilian, English, Spanish Markets

Bookwire's 'WAY' audiobook services are to be available to French-language publishers early in 2024. The post Germany: Bookwire’s Audiobook Service Goes to Brazilian, English, Spanish Markets appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-11-29 04:44:54 UTC ]
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Ireland’s Paul Lynch Wins the 2023 Booker Prize for Fiction

'Prophet Song,' Irish author Paul Lynch's fifth novel, is a study in contemporary literary intensity, winning the Booker Prize for Fiction. The post Ireland’s Paul Lynch Wins the 2023 Booker Prize for Fiction appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-11-26 22:00:45 UTC ]
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Paul Lynch Wins 2023 Booker Prize for 'Prophet Song'

The Irish novelist has won the 2023 Booker Prize for his latest, which our reviewer calls a "slow-burning dystopian novel" about an Irish family "shattered by the rise of a radical right-wing party." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-26 05:00:00 UTC ]
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A.S. Byatt, British writer and author of Booker Prize-winning 'Possession,' dies at 87

British author A.S. Byatt, who was known for award-winning works including 'Possession' and 'The Children's Book,' has died. She was 87. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-11-17 17:18:21 UTC ]
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A.S. Byatt, Award-Winning Author of POSSESSION, Dies at 87

Academic and intellectual British novelist A.S. Byatt, author of POSSESSION, has died at 87 in her home due to unknown causes. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-11-17 16:23:21 UTC ]
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Justin Torres, Author of ‘Blackouts,’ Wins National Book Award for Fiction

Ned Blackhawk received the nonfiction award, with “The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-11-16 12:36:45 UTC ]
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Torres, Blackhawk, Santos Perez, Santat Win 2023 National Book Awards

'Blackouts,' 'The Rediscovery of America,' 'unincorporated territory [åmot],' 'The Words That Remain,' and 'A First Time for Everything' took home this year's National Book Awards at a ceremony that concluded with more than a dozen finalists calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-15 05:00:00 UTC ]
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How Marketers Are Navigating AI’s Language Gap

When Mike Sotelo, vice president of digital content and experience at ad agency Alma, experimented with OpenAI's generative artificial intelligence tool GPT-3 in Spanish earlier this year, it wasn't long before he came across a language gap. Sotelo entered two prompts: "How does a guey [a... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2023-11-13 21:00:00 UTC ]
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Two Wins for Public Libraries This Week at The Polls

Patmos Public Library is finally being funded after two previous losses and Pella Public Library retains its independence. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-11-08 15:08:37 UTC ]
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Jean-Baptiste Andrea Wins Goncourt Prize For “Veiller Sur Elle”

The prestigious French literary award went to “Watching Over Her,” or “Veiller Sur Elle,” an almost 600-page novel set in 20th-century Italy. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-11-07 12:35:09 UTC ]
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Putting the Asian Experience of World War II at Center Stage: A Reading List of Essential Books

Almost eight decades after the end of World War II, that conflict continues to define political discourse throughout the Western world. Still, for American, British, French, and Canadian readers, the war overwhelmingly means the European theater, with the Asia-Pacific campaigns against Imperial... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-02 08:40:02 UTC ]
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Levine Querido: Making Waves in the Spanish Market

Since its inception in 2019, the children’s publisher has quietly amassed a list of award-winning and bestselling titles with a focus on stories about the Latine experience by Latine creators. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Ananda Devi Wins the 2024 Neustadt Prize

Ananda Devi Wins the 2024 Neustadt Prize News and Events [email protected] Tue, 10/24/2023 - 18:02 Ananda Devi, winner of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature. Photo by J. F. Paga, courtesy of GrassetNORMAN, OKLA. (Tuesday, October 24,... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2023-10-24 23:02:22 UTC ]
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When a Book Deal Feels Like ‘Winning the Middle-Age Lottery’

Dann McDorman, the executive producer of “The Beat With Ari Melber,” gave up writing fiction in his 20s. Now, he’s publishing his first novel at age 47. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-10-24 09:02:04 UTC ]
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Love, grieving, intimacy and enduring war: what is the role now for books and writers in Ukraine? | Charlotte Higgins

The Lviv BookForum was vibrant this year, but still there is the backdrop of conflict and the need to find a place for storytellingLast year’s Lviv BookForum, a literary festival in the elegant western Ukrainian city, was mostly an online affair, held in a basement lecture theatre that might... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-10-21 05:00:38 UTC ]
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Frankfurt: Tonio Schachinger Wins the German Book Prize

Tonio Schachinger's 'Echtzeitalter' from Holtzbrinck's Rowohlt Verlag has won the €25,000 German Book Prize. The post Frankfurt: Tonio Schachinger Wins the German Book Prize appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-10-17 03:47:00 UTC ]
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Sharjah International Book Fair To Host 108 Markets

At a news conference in the UAE, a new record for the coming 42nd Sharjah International Book Fair in how many markets will be represented. The post Sharjah International Book Fair To Host 108 Markets appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-10-13 16:17:01 UTC ]
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