As literary types monitor Dan Brown‘s performance on Google Trends, many wonder if the book can repeat his blockbuster success. This morning we looked at the lavish publicity campaign behind “The Lost Symbol,” and asked a marketing expert for his professional opinion.

Today’s guest on the Morning Media Menu was Mike Monello, co-founder & creative director of the marketing/entertainment agency, Campfire. Monello’s explained how his storytelling-driven career began with a homemade campaign to support the 1998 hit horror film, “The Blair Witch Project.”

Here’s more from the interview: “‘The Lost Symbol’ is coming out in a world where everybody knows Dan Brown, the man who wrote ‘The Da Vinci Code.’ So it’s really hard to be able to do something organic. The kinds of stories he tells about mysteries and puzzles, that stuff is catnip for the Internet … This is an example where they could have led with the story first and done some really interesting things, let it bubble up. Let people own it first, then, right before the launch, come out big like they have.”