Online Book Store: "SLOVAKIA WROTE A NOVEL" Promo / PR Ad

Category: Best Use of Digital PR
Advertiser: MARTINUS.SK
Product/Service: ONLINE BOOK STORE
Key Account Manager: Petra Jankovicova (Neopublic Porter Novelli)
Account Manager: Kateryna Matuskova (Neopublic Porter Novelli)
Media placement: TV - TV Markiza - 28 May 2009
Media placement: Radio - Slovak Radio - 28 May 2009
Media placement: Radio - Fun Radio - 28 May 2009
Media placement: Press Agency - Slovak Press Agency (TASR) - 28 May 2009
Media placement: Online - Sme.sk (top tier media) - 28 May 2009
Media placement: Online - Cas.sk (top tier media) - 28 May 2009
Media placement: Print - Pravda (slovak tabloid) - 29 May 2009
Media placement: Online - HNOnline.sk (business) - 28 September 2009
Media placement: TV - TA3 (News TV) - 28 September 2009

Summary of the Campaign
Why should you care? -We wrote a whole novel! OK, we didn’t write it, the people of Slovakia did, but... -300 people wrote for our client, 70,000 visited the site, 5,000 commented and the book became the number two best-selling book on the internet in Slovakia. How’s that for user-generated content? -For the entire period literature lovers participated in writing individual chapters, sending a total of more than 450 episodes. -Then we invited people across all communication platforms to propose the title. The readers picked 'Your Past Will Catch Up With You'. In a similar fashion we jointly designed a cover page for the novel. -After finishing the book, we christened it at the Biblioteka Book Fair and it started to sell not only at Martinus.sk but in all bookstores as well. -The project generated a lot of interest in the media, primarily among the internet community. We achieved 140 media outcomes.

The Goal
It’s the books that matter. Martinus.sk is an online bookstore facing the challenge of attracting new customers to its website. Our objectives were: -To improve awareness of Martinus.sk with people who don’t generally buy books online. -To enhance the perception of the Martinus.sk brand in online as a convenient and simple store offering excellent books for reasonable money.

Results
The project generated a lot of interest in the media (140 media outcomes), primarily among the internet community. In just three weeks since its launch, the authors sent 246 contributions while more than 21,000 people clicked on the www.slovenskopiseroman.sk website nearly 60,000 times. For the entire period more than 300 literature lovers participated in writing individual chapters, sending a total of more than 450 episodes. The website alone was visited by more than 70,000 visitors who contributed to discussions on individual chapters in more than 5,000 posted comments. All authors found their names or nicknames in the book. The book has 20 chapters. The youngest from among the selected authors, 18-year-old Peter Šišovský, has three chapters in the book. The book started to sell not only at Martinus.sk but in all bookstores as well, became the number two best-selling book on the internet in Slovakia.

Execution
We established a special website where people were able to add new chapters of the novel and discuss it amongst themselves. We created a fan page on Facebook where people were informed about which chapter was selected. At the same time, we invited people to engage in discussions with the authors of previous chapters. All story lovers could get involved in writing the novel by sending their chapter proposals or could just monitor how the story developed. Those who weren’t actually authors could influence the story at several 'crossroads' where they could vote on which chapter would win and influence the direction of the novel’s story. Shortly before completing the novel and writing the last chapter, we invited people across all communication platforms to propose the title. The readers picked Your past will catch up with you. In a similar fashion we jointly designed a cover page for the novel.

The Situation
Our Insight: Our research showed that the majority of people who preferred bricks & mortar bookstores did so because they liked holding a physical book in their hands. The key insight we used in the campaign was: A good feeling from a book does not come from a bricks & mortar store but rather from the book itself.

The Strategy
Getting talent on board: Martinus.sk decided to invite Slovakians who love stories and books to write a common novel and to create a unique work with an unpredictable ending. The audience would get not just a good feeling from a book but a feeling of community. We were creating a book together, with the internet as our community hub. We appointed famous Slovak author Evita Urbaníková as the editor-in-chief of the novel. She also wrote the first and last chapters and, at the same time each week, put together (using the contributions sent by participants) the next bit of the novel.