When a good old book become a top news story. Classic books become enticing headlines

por Maud Largeaud , AdForum

These days we’re so flooded by information that our attention spans have shrunk. So, how could a bookstore convince readers that a fat wad of text was still worth their time? Confronted with declining book sales, Jarir Bookstore decided to remind readers that a good book is still packed with entertainment. So it transformed the plots of classic books into something more topical: fake news. The contents of the books generated controversial headlines. Romeo and Juliet became an article about a suicide pact between a young couple whose families disapproved of their love. Frankenstein was transformed into an alarming report about a scientist who could raise the dead. The headlines and short articles were integrated into real newspaper and online press sites. The contextual campaign attracted attention and encouraged people to read the full stories – by buying the books.