How do you stand up to a trillion-dollar behemoth who's turned your core product into the launching point for global domination?
That's not a rhetorical question for the independent bookstores of America, who were already struggling to remain viable before getting devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Ecommerce giant Amazon has made online book ordering and downloadable ebooks standard practices, and then quarantine made them feel like the only ways of scratching your literary itch.
Now brick-and-mortar bookstores are fighting back, launching a creative and definitely eye-catching national campaign aimed at reminding readers why they should be supporting small businesses.
Created by agency DCX Growth Accelerator—best known for its iconic "Palessi" stunt for Payless—the new storefront wrap campaign supporting the American Booksellers Association uses Amazon's omnipresent cardboard boxes as an aesthetic to push back against the corporation.
With lines like “Our WiFi is free—please don’t use it to make a $1.6 trillion company even richer,” and, “Books curated by real people, not a creepy algorithm,” the work is sure to get plenty of attention.
To me, what's best about this approach (beyond the fact that everyone with a soul and a brain loves a good independent bookstore) is that it all but guarantees organic sharing.
How could you walk past this signage and NOT take a picture for your social channels? And what kind of monster would post a photo about it and NOT stop in to buy a book?
Admittedly, I haven't been back to a bookstore since the pandemic began, but I truly can't wait.
What's your favorite bookstore? Mine is, hands-down, Malaprop's in Asheville, N.C., where I could (and have) spent many content hours.
Let me know about your favorite spots at the email below or at @Griner on Twitter.
David Griner
Creative and Innovation Editor, Adweek
David.Griner@Adweek.com
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