KOBO NIA GLOBAL CAMPAIGN
CREDITS
Client: Rakuten Kobo
Role: Global Creative Director
Art Director: Clariana Lorelli
Senior Copywriter: Jacques Viau
Photography: SophomoreRakuten Kobo is a global digital bookseller, with over 6 million eBooks and audiobooks on award-winning eReaders and the Kobo App.
When Kobo was releasing a more cost-effective eReader, the Product Marketing team gave us a challenge: create a wow-worthy campaign to launch their newest entry-level device as a great option for first-time digital readers.
After reviewing the competitions’ sterile, personality-less ads in market, we decided that, rather than simply focus on price point, we would lean into the emotional experience and reinforce how enjoyable reading can be.
This was Kobo’s opportunity to be playful and colourful to catch this younger demographic’s eye by doing something fresh and different within the digital reading category.
Results:
Kobo Nia sales were so successful, global retailers soon sold out after launch.
The campaign also set the standard for Rakuten Kobo product launches, with a unified creative platform and product and lifestyle photography approach, leveraged across every touchpoint, including CRM, paid social media and digital ads, product/social videos (60s, 15s, 6s), Kobo.com and Shopify product pages, and global retail toolkits (sell sheets, digital ads, in-store posters) translated into in 18 languages.
60s Product Video (Video Editor: Alex Wong)
The Concept: Pop Goes the World
Inspired by pop artists like Keith Haring and @blcksmth, we highlighted the emotions reading can inspire in a playful, colourful way. We used bright colours, emotive faces, and introduced Kobo’s iconography as recurring elements. Even though this approach was a radically new direction for Kobo, the Marketing team fell in love with the idea.
The campaign launched almost exactly as proposed.
Proposed Concept
Shopify Page
Paid Social
Product Page
In-Store Poster
Lifestyle Photography
