With Amazon swallowing up most of the retail book business, Barnes & Noble were in trouble. So with bankruptcy looming, we made a big bet on the one thing that differentiates them from their online competition — their friendly, knowledgable, human booksellers.

When it comes to super fans, nobody knows our customer's passion points better than our 23,000 Booksellers. We also reminded the Harry Potter fanbase that B&N was the original home of the Wizarding World – with our work earning some kudos from J.K. Rowling herself.

After four straight years of sales decline, B&N experienced a 16% uptick in sales during the 2018 holiday season, with a positive outlook all the way through spring 2019 — raising their stock price and investor outlook for a potential company buyout. By summer 2019, Barnes & Noble had found a new owner.

MEET THE BOOKSELLERS

Potter :15
"This commercial is adorable!" –J.K. Rowling

Thrill Seekers :15

Chosen One :15

George R.R. Martin :15

Board Gamers :15

ENTER THE WIZARDING WORLD

To remind folks that we're the home of Harry Potter, we ran this brand spot during the release of the latest film in the franchise, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

Spells :30

HOW DOES THE STORY END?

B&N escpabed bankruptcy, finding a new owner, and against all odds, succesfully expanding their retail footprint across the U.S.

"Barnes & Noble Is Sold to Hedge Fund After a Tumultuous Year"

THE NEW YORK TIMES

"Elliott Management to acquire Barnes & Noble for $683 million"

CNBC

"How Barnes & Noble turned a page, expanding for the first time in years"

NPR BUSINESS

"Barnes & Noble is making a comeback"

CNN BUSINESS

"How Barnes and Noble made a comeback by revitalizing its philosophy"

PBS NEWS

PRESS

Adweek
The Drum
Campaign US
Little Black Book

CREDITS

CCO
Harry Bernstein

President
Tim Maleeny

ECD
Israel Garber

CD
Joseph Delhommer
Nick Elliott

Senior Copywriter
Morgan Perrine

Art Director
Eduardo Camacho
Allyn Scherr
Keegan Sanford

Copywriter
Alexis Carr
Chandler Bullock
Taylor Schumaker

Design
Melissa DeOliveira

Account
Elena Grasmann
Pedro Gómez
Quinn Levin

Harry Potter Consultant
Angela Li

Strategy
Nushien Fateh

Producers
Stacy Flaum
Sheena Wagaman

Directors
Matt Smukler
Ben & Dave

Editor
Jai Shukla
Jim Ulbrich

Color
Tim Masick
Company3

Production
Community Films
Nomad Editing

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Joseph Delhommer is an Executive Creative Director and Business Leader based in Brooklyn, NY.

→ joseph@alwaysplotting.com
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