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Metrobook

Issue 22 | March 2012

Agency

Ogilvy Mexico

Creative Team

VP Creative Services: Jose Montalvo, Miguel Angel Ruiz; Creative Directors: Ivan Carrasco, David Espadas; Art Directors: Francisco Hernandez, Alejandro Lopez, Sergio Diaz-Infante; Copywriters: Sofia Gomez, Lee Galvez, Carlos Meza

Production Team

Agency Producer: Juan Pablo Oslo

Other Credits

Marketing Director, Client: Alberto Achar ; Account Director: Paola Mayoral; Account Supervisor: Pilar Troconis

Date

March 2011

Background

Gandhi Bookstores was founded in 1971. There are now 24 bookshops in Mexico City and another 13 elsewhere in the country.

One of the problems for the company is that Mexicans do not read books. The average is 2.7 books per person each year. The constant challenge, then, is to find ways of getting people to think about reading.

Idea

One railway carriage from Mexico City's subway system was painted bright yellow, Gandhi’s brand colour.

A Franz Kafka short story was then divided in 13 parts, and each part placed on a billboard at each of the 13 stations on the subway system’s Yellow Line.

Every time the yellow carriage stopped at a station on the Yellow Line, passengers in that carriage were able to read the story through its doors and windows. If they travelled the whole line, they got to read the whole story. For those who had to get off early, there was a handout with the complete version.

Results

During the first week, more than 4 million people read the short story.

Sales increased 5% during the time this action was running.

Our Thoughts

Gandhi Bookstores has a history of intelligent and innovative advertising. One recent idea was a radio commercial which brought the words up on the tuner inside people’s cars thus making it a radio ad people could read when they were stuck in traffic jams. This idea also puts dead time to use, getting people to read when otherwise they would be staring into space.

For me integration is not about media channels but when brands become a part of people’s lives and this seems to me a great example of Gandhi Bookstores understanding this completely, going where its target audience goes and sharing the experience with them.

And Kafka too! Definitely not dumbing down.

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