PRH US teams with London agency for Christmas campaign

London based-agency Anyways Creative has partnered with Penguin Random House US to launch a ‘Books Make Us Better’ campaign in the New York subway, ahead of the festive trading season.

“Through humorous and engaging copy, bright and bold imagery, as well as a number of charming visual details, the campaign both appeals to and is accessible to readers of all ages,” the publisher said. “Penguin Random House’s wide-ranging catalog of books, paired with Anyways’ playful and personality-filled creative style, drives the campaign’s diversity of assets, which spans a dedicated book recommendation microsite, shareable social media gifs, and advertising campaign throughout New York subway stations.”

On the campaign’s microsite, the user selects whom the recipient of the book will be and pairs the book recipient with a particular habit, interest, or personality type to generate book recommendations from a curated list of PRH US titles. The engaging book recommendation microsite reimagines the traditional genre-based recommendation system, instead matching books for demographics such as “amateur sleuth” “an outside-the-box thinker.”

The publisher worked with London-based animator and illustrator Ben Ommundson and the Anyways team, based in Dalston, east London. Anyways Creative is a communications agency that has also worked with Selfridges and Adobe.

The campaign is featured on posters on subway platforms at numerous subway stations throughout the boroughs, “maximising exposure to travelers looking for a reprieve from their commutes,” PRH US said.