Dive Brief:
- Barnes & Noble current Chairman and former CEO, Leonard Riggio, who is also the largest shareholder, conceived and wrote a holiday TV ad for the brand featuring Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett.
- The 30- and 60-second versions of the ad will debut Monday, Nov. 16 across TV networks, and the 60-second version is now available on Barnes & Noble’s digital channels and YouTube.
- The holiday video ad was created by Roberts + Langer DDB, the agency behind last year's "A Book Is a Gift Like No Other" holiday commercial.
Dive Insight:
“I’d been thinking about physical books, digital books, future store concepts, and the essence of what is it about us that makes us who we are,” Riggio told the Wall Street Journal. “The idea of the meeting place, the piazza, is so much of what we’ve become across the country.”
The TV spot, which you can view below, features Bennett and Lady Gaga walking through a Barnes & Noble store separately looking for gifts for each other while singing the classic holiday duet, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” The concept behind the ad, titled "You Never Know Who You'll Meet at Barnes & Noble," is to create an emotional connection between viewers and the bookstore chain.
Amy Sacks, co-creative director at Roberts + Langer DDB, said in a statement, “This campaign is like a holiday card from Barnes & Noble to all of its customers."
Overall Barnes & Noble is facing declining numbers, including revenue down almost 2% in the fiscal first quarter and digital sales down 28%. According to comScore, traffic to its website was down in September as compared to the same period in 2013.