“The Japanese Art of the Cocktail”

About Project

Coverage Book: https://share.coveragebook.com/b/2c4c39657474a6ea

Situation:
An Agency Innovates with New Book Publishing Division to Promote Its Clients
As part of its Innovation Series, the agency launched HLC Book Media, a wholly-owned subsidiary, as part of HLC Innovation 15, an ongoing initiative to pioneer new ways of brand building and storytelling. The agency identifies potential authors among its clients, as well as compelling subjects, to bring new hospitality and lifestyle books to life that build its clients’ brands. Promotional efforts—including PR and digital marketing—are built into every phase of the publishing process to create maximum visibility and ensure success.

The agency’s first book is “The Japanese Art of the Cocktail,” co-authored by the agency’s Michael Anstendig, its Editor in Chief, and bar star Masahiro Urushido of Katana Kitten. It will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on June 1, 2021 (https://www.hmhbooks.com/shop/books/The-Japanese-Art-of-the-Cocktail/9780358361831).

Urushido leads Katana Kitten in New York City. The bar recently ranked #14 and “Best New Opening” on the World’s 50 Best Bars list and earned “Best New American Cocktail Bar” at 2019 Tales of the Cocktail. It has become one of the city’s most visited drinks destinations. In addition to serving as the agency’s Editor in Chief, Anstendig is a freelance writer who covers food and drink. His work has appeared in the New York Times, The New York Observer, The Daily News, Time Out New York and Nation’s Restaurant News. Anstendig has reviewed more than 200 restaurants for www.nymag.com and cocktail books for www.TalesOfTheCocktail.org. He is also a contributor to David Wondrich’s upcoming Oxford Guide to Spirits and Cocktails and also taught writing at New York University for more than a decade.

Part memoir, part drinking guide, part recipe book, The Japanese Art of the Cocktail takes readers on an epic epicurean journey. Urushido shares his first-person perspective on his rise in the world of bartending, first in Tokyo, then in New York City, culminating in the opening of Katana Kitten, the Japanese-American bar that forever changed how the Big Apple drinks.

A gentle guide, Urushido introduces readers to the historical and philosophical underpinnings of Japan’s approach to mixing drinks and its essential alcoholic beverages, like sake, shochu and Japanese whisky. For those traveling to Japan and armchair travelers alike, Urushido sheds light on the various styles of Japanese bars and their incredible imbibing offerings and demystifies some of Japan’s most revered bartending techniques.

Strategies:
Leverage media relations to create buzz around the publication of “The Japanese Art of the Cocktail,” before, during and after it is published
Play off the the fervor around Japan and Japanese culture due to the Summer Olympics
Once in-person events and travel are normalized, stage a book tour of New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles

Objectives:
Maximize the success of “The Japanese Art of the Cocktail”
Position “The Japanese Art of the Cocktail” as one of the most highly anticipated books in the cocktail world in 2021
Reinforce the positioning of Hanna Lee Communications as an innovative PR agency that is transforming brand building through multimedia, long-form storytelling

Execution:
The agency is undertaking a comprehensive media relations campaign that builds excitement around “The Japanese Art of the Cocktail”

Results:
Right as the manuscript was being completed, Hanna Lee Communications had Brad Japhe break the news in a full-page feature on Forbes.com:
First Look: New Book On “The Japanese Art of the Cocktail”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradjaphe/2019/12/20/first-look-new-book-on-the-japanese-art-of-the-cocktail/?sh=1e8d698777e4

Since then, the drumbeat of coverage has continued, with placements that include:
Liquor.com
12 Cocktail and Spirits Books to Read in Spring 2021 by Kara Newman
https://www.liquor.com/cocktail-books-spring-2021-5120842
Esquire:
The 15 Best—and Most Anticipated—Cookbooks of 2021 by Sarah Rense
https://www.esquire.com/food-drink/food/g35407610/best-cookbooks-2021/
To date, our campaign has reached:
150,000,000 online readers
The book, in pre-order, is already the #1 New Release in the following categories:
Japanese Cooking, Food & Wine
Alcoholic Spirits
Wine