Heroes from your books are waiting for you in Martinus – literally   

Martinus bookstore launched its first TV spot ever at a time when the pandemic shut down its stores.

The brief: Create the first ever TV spot for our brand which will help our online sales during the lockdown. Showcasing our brick-and-mortar bookshop would also be nice.

Even if you primarily sell online, it doesn't mean online-only advertising is your best strategy. If you want to build brand awareness and grow, a TV spot will sooner or later become your best bet. A television spot is still one of the most effective advertising media that exceeds the possibilities of online marketing.

Martinus was founded 30 years ago as a brick-and-mortar bookstore in the city of Martin. It has gradually grown from a local bookstore into the largest Slovak online bookstore. Just as they planned to launch their first ever TV ad, they had to close their stores due to the pandemic.

Communication expert Peter Field, who has been researching efficiency in communication for a years, also recommends that brands continue to communicate during the pandemic to make it easier for them to "get back into the game".

Field also predicted that:

1. TV broadcasting would be significantly cheaper as many regular advertisers would withdraw both due to production suspension and to reduce media costs.
2. Viewership would increase dramatically. And that is exactly what happened in Slovakia during the summer of 2020.

Don’t let the the good things wait.

During the pandemic, brands either withheld from communication or reflected the Covid situation – we saw empty streets in campaigns and similar on-topic insights.

Our intention was to create a positive atmosphere and inspire people to treat themselves a little and buy a book. We made use of the client’s long-term concept of literary heroes and found a similarity between them and the people in real life. Just like the customers, our fictional heroes were waiting in their "home" - that is, a Martinus bookstore - for an opportunity to go outside. In the spot, we see them preparing for the journey to the reader.

By using the heroes, it was clear from the start that this was a Martinus ad. And the brand was only strengthened by using the premises of the sleeping bookstore. We amplified the desired emotion with music and the magical voice of the Slovak actor Dušan Jamrich.

A magical shoot during the pandemic.

We turned the disadvantage of the client's closed bookstore into an advantage – we could shoot on the premises of the bookstore without restrictions.

And thanks to the script working with heroes waiting in an empty bookstore, we didn’t need any extras on set.

Mischief managed.

Although this was Martinus' first ever TV spot, the client was satisfied with the result beyond expectations.

• 193x
  broadcast on TV
• 658,440
  people watched it at least once
• 387,384
  people watched it 3 or more times

• 100%
  revenue growth

It was also clear from the feedback from social networks that the ad struck a chord with bookworms.

The copy we used for the spot packshot was even appropriated by the client as their long-term claim. And us? We ended up being the bookstore's long-term agency. A month later, we were already preparing a big campaign for the 30th anniversary of Martinus. But that's another story. 📚