Unfortunately for bookstores, a good story no longer just lives on paper. Digital formats have made books more accessible than ever, and reduced the reading experience to merely words on a screen. In a country where larger bookstores are calling it quits, we set out to create a campaign that celebrated the printed page as a tactile pleasure found only on the bookshelf.

With a passion for trinkets, knick-knacks and everything local, BooksActually prides itself as a bookstore more personal than others. We crafted everything in the campaign by hand, and chose locations that brought BooksActually’s unique genres to life. Like Poetry in the park, Art & Aesthetics near galleries, and Folklore & Horror in supposedly haunted areas. Giving people a truly tactile experience that went beyond just holding a book.

Every encounter created awareness of local literature, and the bookstore that published it. Traffic to BooksActually increased by 53%. And sales of local literature tripled compared to the previous month, prior to the campaign launch.