We wanted to call attention to Harlequin’s huge selection of romance novels and showcase their relationship with women in a funny, titillating way. With the tagline “Escape the Everyday,” we created two 30s videos that show mature women eagerly indulging in their literary fantasies, unbeknownst to their oblivious husbands nearby. The videos showed exactly what Harlequin novels can do – give her a steamy, fantasy-filled break from the ordinary routine of her day.

The videos were developed as part of a website launch that also included an online matchmaking game to help readers sort through its library of titles by recommending books based on their ideal type. The original plan was also to put paid media behind the videos on YouTube and Facebook, but both platforms considered them too steamy and wouldn’t let us purchase any sponsored ads or pre-roll. The videos were then launched by posting directly to the Harlequin Facebook and YouTube pages, relying solely on organic viewership.

The campaign launched on Facebook with no paid media support. Within seven days, we generated over 2 million organic views, 94,000 likes and 21,000 shares. The videos became so popular that other international Harlequin markets picked up the work with alternate language versions for their markets. Additionally, the campaign was featured in numerous sites dedicated to romance fiction and was featured by various marketing and creativity sources. Best of all, the business responded to the effort. With no increase in average monthly titles and only one month after launching, June 2015 was Harlequin’s best sales month in the last 18 months.