Blinkbox books launches 'biggest ever' marketing campaign

Blinkbox books is this week launching its biggest marketing campaign to date, which includes a partnership with the Mirror Group of newspapers.

The Tesco-owned company’s marketing drive will celebrate “the joys of digital reading – without needing to buy a dedicated device”.

A three-month campaign with the Mirror Group, described as a “branded content partnership”, will see key moments in contemporary books presented as newspaper articles to “show newspaper readers just how relevant and exciting book themes are”.

The partnership begins this week with Stephen King’s Revival (Hodder & Stoughton) and David Walliams’ Awful Auntie (HarperCollins Children’s Books).

Blinkbox books will also place adverts celebrating the “e-books revelation” – that you can “enjoy an e-book on a mobile device without needing a dedicated e-reader” – in railway stations in London and the south east.

The campaign will be supported by Tesco’s “biggest ever” in-store promotion, with £5 free credit to spend on blinkbox books given away with 500,000 bestsellers.

All Hudl 2 purchasers will also get £10 to start building their new e-book library with blinkbox books.  

Gail Rivett, marketing director at blinkbox books, said: “This is our biggest campaign to date and combines a creative editorial partnership with targeted advertising and an attractive credit promotion.

“We are passionate about inspiring readers in the search for the next book they’ll love, and with this campaign we also wanted to show how easy it is to enjoy an e-book on a device you’ll likely have already, rather than needing to fork out for a special e-reader.”

Tesco launched blinkbox books in March this year, but after the supermarket chain overestimated its half year profits by £250m, the blinkbox platform, which includes the books side, was reportedly put up for sale.