Barnes & Noble Looks to Boost In-Store Sales with Expert Booksellers Ad Campaign

At a time when well-known storefronts are reinventing themselves to bolster market share and ecommerce businesses are opening storefronts to complement online sales, the world of brick and mortar is evolving. Bookstores are part of that evolution. Barnes & Noble (B&N) has more than 630 locations nationwide and is known as much for congregating, study sessions and hosting playdates as it is a place to buy books, resulting in a mixed impact on their business. With the dominance of Amazon and the resurrection of independent bookstores, B&N has faced stiff competition over the last several years. But with a new holiday ad campaign aimed at centering their booksellers as experts, B&N hopes to position themselves as a book industry thought leader and reinvigorate sales.

Clever Commercials Highlight Niche Knowledge of B&N Booksellers

The “Nobody Knows Books Like We Do” ad campaign comically taps into the customer service role their associates play, including sharing knowledge on everything from Harry Potter to the best family game or cookbook. In the short 15-second spots, a customer needs advice on the perfect something-or-other, prompting the chipper sales associate to pepper them with questions, narrowing their once vague request to the perfect gift, game or book — delighting the customer and proud associate alike.

The notion of soulless big box stores has extended to B&N over the years, even not so subtly in the indie vs. megastore classic You’ve Got Mail. The positioning of B&N associates as knowledgeable and passionate, like their indie counterparts, could translate to an advantage over Amazon’s human-free interactions while aligning B&N with the independent store surge in popularity.

A Charming Combination of Brand & Promotion Can Boost Holiday Sales

The new B&N commercials utilize niche marketing, targeting book and game buyers, to drive brand awareness and in-store traffic during the busy holiday season. The campaign is also part of a larger reorganization effort to boost Barnes & Noble sales in the midst of a shifting market, which includes more emphasis on community and smaller streamlined stores for the book retailer.

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About the Author

Sarah Cavill is a Marketing Communications Writer at Digital Media Solutions (DMS), the fastest-growing independent digital performance marketing company. DMS helps its clients accelerate growth by deploying diversified and data-driven customer acquisition solutions that deliver scalable, sustainable and measurable marketing results. DMS performance marketing solutions connect the right consumers with the right offers at the right time to achieve the marketing objectives of our clients. DMS is continually innovating to provide new and emerging media and technology solutions that minimize waste and maximize results across the most competitive industries. Since its inception, DMS has demonstrated incredible year-over-year growth which has earned recognition on the Inc. 5000 list in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

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