Libraries Ireland
March 2021 – Ongoing
Currently in its fourth year of the campaign.
Right to Read
Background
Southern was approached by the Libraries Development Unit of Libraries Ireland to create a strategy to revitalise their ‘Right to Read’ programme.
This programme, targeted specifically at children, includes 4 main events throughout the year: Spring into Storytime, Summer Stars, Children’s Book Festival and Family Time at Your Library.
The principal issue the client had was that these events had come into being over the years somewhat organically, and, as a result, there was very little synergy between them or a sense that they were all coming from the same place.
Objective
The campaign’s aim of promoting literacy and a love of books was not taken lightly: children today have numerous distractions in their day, with technology being foremost. We needed to tap into and fire their imaginations.
Our theme was ‘escape with a friend.’ No matter how you’re feeling, or where you are, books can sweep you away.
Throughout our campaign imagery, reality blends with the imagined.
For example, our Spring into Storytime theme image featured kids transported to a jungle clearing, engrossed in books, accompanied by their equally rapt animal friends. For Summer Stars, kids are soaring to the skies accompanied by characters from their books.
In all cases, we are careful to reflect the new reality, of glowing screens and e-readers, as well as traditional book forms.
Output & Assets
Output &
Assets
- Logo & Illustration
- Concept Design
- Animated Video Intro/Outro
- Social Media Assets for 3 platforms
- Poster/Pull Designs
Research & Strategy Development
Southern’s strategy was to seek an illustrator and develop a single unifying theme with outputs that would thread through all four events. We also created a unified logo style for all four, featuring the ‘Right to Read’ badge as an intrinsic part.
We created a panel of artists and narrowed it down to Jennifer Farley, a noted children’s book illustrator herself, who had an innate feel for the project and its objectives.
Target Audience
This programme, targeted specifically at children, includes 4 main events throughout the year: Spring into Storytime, Summer Stars, Children’s Book Festival and Family Time at Your Library.
Before we entered into our third phase; Children’s Book Festival, Libraries Ireland reported a marked upswing in participation, versus 2020, and the more comparable year of 2019. In addition, Libraries themselves reported staff being very energised by the campaigns.
Book Bag Initiative
Background
Libraries Ireland approached Southern to brand their ‘First 5’ Book Bag Initiative. Before long, ‘Little Library’ was born.
Objective
The Little Library Initiative aims to develop a consistent link between early learning and care service and their local library to encourage a love of books and reading among young children.
Output & Assets
Output &
Assets
- Naming concepts for book bag initiative
- Design of logo and bag for the selected name
- Social media concepts for 3 platforms Illustration
- Print management & distribution of book bag
- Qty 70,000 each of bags and oyster wallets
- Design & print Social Story Card, Qty 70,000
Research & Strategy Development
There were two book bag types produced: an English language, and an Irish language version (Leabharlann Bheag), containing five books each, as well as learning resources, which Southern also designed.
The design emphasis is on ‘friendly,’ making reading approachable and books much desired for young audiences: two enterprising mice have eyes on the titles in the bag.
Target Audience
The Little Library Book Bags were rolled out to 4,500 Early Learning and Care settings nationally, including registered childminders, who received free book bags under the Little Library Initiative.
We supported the rollout with a Social Media campaign, through Instagram and Facebook.
Creative Approach & Concepts
Understanding
of Key Audience
Their growth and development
The importance of early development in children is paramount to their future.
The early introduction to libraries, books and reading will benefit children to no end.
Engagement is one of the keys to this development. Sparking an interest. But also one of the main key components is the teachers/parents & guardians. With their help and being part of the programme, it would facilitate children interacting with libraries and books from an early age and continuing through their adulthood.
The Creative
Approach
As this was a year-long campaign, we wanted to build the creative steadily for our audiences.
An interlinking set of illustrative themes would let us plant a consistent set of messages with the target audiences, which would combine to give a great sense of mission and manifest in the libraries themselves with a familiar, friendly and quality presence on the ground, right through the year.
The longing for escape and adventure is universal, and we felt this would resonate with all our age groups. It also pitched books and reading as a platform for imaginative creativity, a bridge through the mind, that the competing (mostly digital) forms of entertainment cannot offer. So, we thought; let’s make it less daunting for children to make that step into reading, into libraries.
Let’s give them companions to accompany them on the journey. This opened a world of possibility – any character or creature could be that companion – from pirates to mice, from astronauts to magicians.
Channel Strategy
| Objective | Increase attraction and curiosity about reading in early age groups. |
| Barrier | Sense of wariness towards libraries and books. Other exciting – and newer distractions compete for children’s time. |
| Jobs to be done | Take the wariness out of reading, increase approachability of libraries |
| Creative Tasks | Gently disarm with a ‘way in’ to reading, provide evidence of a compelling alternative activity for children. |
| Proposition | Books will be your trusted friends –conduits to adventure and imagination that will stay with you for life. |
| Creative Idea | Books are your friends. |
| Channel Roles | Awareness and education |
| Channels | Primarily paid and owned channels/ assets in the awareness and education phase. Social media and online channels. In-library promotion. Book Bags and merchandising, through schools and early learning centres. |
| Channel List | • Online video • Social media static assets for posts across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram • Templated assets which can be adapted as required for libraries’ own channels. • Digital / programmatic advertisements • In-library print and signage • SEO strategy • Website advertisements • LGMA Website pages and banners • Local Government Ireland website pages and banners |
| KPIs | • Awareness • Campaign Recall • Engagement |
