Adding colour to the obvious story

Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page is about to release a limited edition photographic autobiography with the cryptic tile of  ‘Jimmy Page by Jimmy Page’.

But the news worthy part of this fact is that the book has sold out despite not being officially released yet. Pre-orders alone have supposedly seen his book out of stock before it was even in stock. And it becomes even more interesting when you hear a little more detail about the book. Firstly, before you can strap on your double neck Stratocaster , you need to know the book costs £495… and each book is individually numbered and signed by Jimmy Page… they are all hand-bound in ‘morocco leather’… the translucent front and back boards are screen-printed Jimmy’s favourite portraits…and dyed a bespoke ‘midnight hue’… and the book is delivered to you in a hand crafted slipcase that is bound in silk.

“What?!” I found myself saying at the thought of parting with half a grand for a book wrapped in silk. But it is exactly this colourful detail of the books production and hefty price tag that is attracting the global media’s attention http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/sep/09/ledzeppelin-popandrock (and this blog post). The contents almost seem like an after thought.

Now you could say that pricing out 99% of your fan base is somewhat indulgent and even unnecessary, but what I find interesting about this launch is the additional layer of  ’colour’ Page has added to this product. He could of course have promoted his new photographic autobiography by highlighting the fact that it is over 500 pages with around 600 photos, many never before seen by the public and text personally written by Page himself, but I wonder if that obvious detail would have gained the same level of attention as a ‘Moroccan leather bounded silk wrapped £495 book from Jimmy Page’  has attracted.

Sometimes, it is the additional layering of ‘colour’ that we add to our story that helps gain our attention. For example, Eurostar’s move to the St Pancras terminal was full of naturally obvious stories to tell… like the fact it was a brand spanking new terminal that made the trip across the Channel faster than ever before. However that wasn’t the only level of detail that Eurostar decided to promote, instead they gave us the added colour to the story that really got people talking about the trip… the ‘worlds longest champagne bar on the upper deck of the terminal’. They added a dash of romantic colour to what would have been otherwise impressive technical story. I mean, London to Paris in 3 hours, so what, but the LONGEST champagne bar you say… now you’ve got my attention.

So without, charging £495 and sourcing silk packaging experts for your next product launch, I wonder what layer of colour you could add to your brand’s story? If we were look beyond the obvious story and find a level of detail that surprises us, entertains us, or even shocks us, I wonder if we will break through the clutter a little easier and perhaps even show some personality in the process?