Today’s public library is more than books and buildings. That’s the message of the Edmonton Public Library‘s (EPL) new branding campaign, an innovative blend of traditional advertising and guerrilla marketing.
The “Spread the Words” campaign, introduced last week, includes television and transit ads, as well as decals, improv street theatre, a revamped website and an interactive MP3 experiment. And all for a relatively modest $150,000.
“What we have in spades at the library is brain power; what we have less of is money,” joked Tina Thomas, the EPL’s director of marketing communications.
The campaign was built around two messages: that today’s library offers not only books, but DVDs, online services and a host of other offerings that make it relevant to a broad spectrum of people; and to banish the stereotype of a dull and stodgy institution.
The EPL tapped Edmonton’s Donovan Creative Communications for what became a “collaborative experience,” said Michael Donovan, the agency’s president and chief creative officer. To reduce costs, Donovan provided some services for free, “because as a company we really wanted to get behind this important initiative.”
The traditional media campaign was preceded by a light-hearted guerrilla marketing effort, much of it created by library staff. Working with actors from the Edmonton Improv, staffers “flashed” Edmontonians with T-shirts emblazoned with messages like “chicks dig big brains” and “we make geeks chic,” then handed out postcards and decals to drive people to the revamped “spread the word” website.
Similar lighthearted slogans appear on library cards, stationery and brochures.
To raise awareness of its rebranding, the library gathered people in a downtown square in an attempt to create the country’s largest MP3 experiment (they fell short of a Toronto record). Participants downloaded an audio file to their personal player and then, in unison, hit play and followed the “ridiculous Simon Says type instructions” delivered through their earphones, said Thomas.
The traditional media campaign, which launched April 23, includes TV spots, billboards, exterior transit signage and brochures.
