A book signing session always has something magical, as one stroke of the pen makes your copy a unique one. But what if the author of your favorite work has already passed away? To honor the legendary Belgian writer Paul van Ostaijen and celebrate the 100th birthday and re-issue of his masterpiece Music-Hall, bol.com created The Impossible Signing Sessions. With the help of technology, van Ostaijen was brought back to life for one last book signing session. We reproduced van Ostaijen’s handwriting and a robotic arm was adjusted and programmed until it could perfectly duplicate his handwriting and signature. 

We carefully analyzed Paul’s manuscripts, transforming his handwriting into a font. The only robot arm which could imitate those delicate writing movements was a device normally used for medical purposes. That arm was then tuned for three months until it mastered four different aspects of writing: pen choice, writing angle, writing speed and pressure. The software also allowed for people to write their own messages in the author’s handwriting, which gave the visitors an emotional souvenir and made every copy a one-of-a-kind bol.com souvenir. With the action, bol.com showed they know the passions of book fans.

The quality of the imitations was praised by experts and journalists and made the Impossible Signing Sessions spread like wildfire with 24,7 million media impressions. The robot arm signed non-stop for twelve days during the Antwerp Book Fair, resulting in 4119 autographs and 15791 words. As the star of the event, Paul Van Ostaijen even became the most signing author of the entire festival with 1076 autographs. But most importantly: bol.com achieved 5% more brand awareness, and their turnover in book sales increased with 40%.

Buying a book online, takes away the tactile charm a customer experiences when picking out a book in a traditional bookstore. And for an online bookstore, opportunities to get directly “in touch” with customers are sparse. Meaning that when Belgium’s largest literary event takes place - with more than 150.000 visitors in ten days - it’s time to shine.

With ‘The Impossible Signing Sessions’ we made bol.com extremely remarkable in a rather unusual setting for an e-commerce giant. We managed to bring a digital bookstore to life by offering customers a highly personal interaction with it, through a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

As Belgium’s largest literary event, the Antwerp book fair is an obvious target for book retailers and publishers. That’s why bol.com needed something to set them apart from the classic book signing stands at the event. However, it was crucial to maintain the same level of interaction between the brand, author and visitor as book fairs provide a unique opportunity to create a physical touchpoint between a digital book shop and its clients. With The Impossible Signing Sessions, we made bol.com extremely relevant in a rather unusual setting for an e-commerce giant. The main idea of the signing sessions was then supported by a campaign on multiple mass-media platforms (radio, outdoor, print and digital) to trigger more people to go visit the bol.com website and the stand at the Antwerp book fair.

The Antwerp Book Fair, with 150.000 visitors Belgium’s biggest book fair, is the most important happening for Belgian literary authors and publishers. How could online bookstore bol.com play a meaningful role, stressing their leadership as Belgium’s biggest online bookstore? Studies show that 1 out of 5 visitors admits their main goal for visiting the book fair is getting their book signed by the author. bol.com wanted to create a signing session that nobody would forget.