How Indie Bookstores Are Cleverly Calling Out Amazon

Mom-and-pop bookstores around the country are taking on Amazon in a sharp-elbowed stunt that uses lookalikes of the retail behemoth’s ubiquitous cardboard boxes as a trolling medium. The program, called #BoxedOut on behalf of the American Booksellers Association, comes from DCX Growth Accelerator, an agency known for punking a group of fashion influencers with $20 Payless shoes and remodeling a Brooklyn bodega to make an anti-gentrification statement. For the booksellers’ nonprofit trade group, DCX has taken over the storefronts of indie shops in New York; Washington, D.C.; and Los Angeles, wallpapering them with cut-to-the-quick messages like, “Our WiFi is free—please don’t use it to make a $1.6 trillion company even richer,” and, “Books curated by real people, not a creepy algorithm.” McNally Jackson in Manhattan Not only are the windows of the stores covered in brown cardboard, but there are also boxes of varying sizes spilling onto the sidewalks. (They’re Amazon-like, not Amazon branded, but the comparison is unmistakeable). Those also contain snarky Twitter-worthy slogans such as, “Buy books from people who want to sell books, not colonize the moon” and reimagined titles from classic literature like, “Little Women Who Own Bookstores And Are Getting Priced Out By Giant Warehouse Retailers” and “To Kill a Locally Owned Bookstore.” Among the participating shops are Book Soup in West Hollywood, Calif.; Solid State in D.C.; McNally Jackson in Manhattan; and Brooklyn's Cafe con Libros, Greenlight Bookstore and Community Bookstore. The displays, which will be in place for at least a week, have been designed to create a media spectacle but, beyond that, to make an impression on consumers. RELATED: Payless Opened a Fake Luxury Store, ‘Palessi,’ to See How Much People Would Pay for $20 Shoes “We’re taking that symbol — the Amazon box — and using it to increase share of mind for indie bookstores,” Doug Cameron, DCX’s chief strategy and creative officer, told Adweek. “We want the public to think about what they’re doing and understand that buying from Amazon has big repercussions for small businesses.” The program was conceived with “a wink and a bit of intellectualism” that would likely appeal to the well-read target demo, Cameron said. Its voice, intended to capture the spirit of indie businesses and the respect of bookworms, isn’t far from the Comic Book Guy of Simpsons fame. Book Soup in West Hollywood Cafe con Libros in Brooklyn “We told our writers to tap into that character—who’s sarcastic, a little weird, a little left of center, but really funny and smart,” said Tommy Noonan, DCX’s executive creative director. “It’s someone who says things that blow your mind.” The agency could afford to go bold because the client encouraged it, he said, noting that the stakes are high for the 2,500 mom-and-pop book stores in the country. Stats show that 20% of them are in danger of shutting their doors, after suffering the one-two punch of Amazon and Covid-19 closures, with the trade association calling the former “a pre-existing condition” and the latter a potential “cause of death.” “People may not realize the cost and consequences of ‘convenience’ shopping until it’s too late,” Allison K. Hill, CEO of the ABA, said in a statement. “Closed indie bookstores represent the loss of local jobs and local tax dollars, the loss of community centers, and the loss of opportunities for readers to discover books and connect with other readers.” The original plan had been to debut a holiday campaign, but the partners stepped up the pace to coincide with Prime Day, when Amazon is reportedly expected to rake in some $10 billion. Data also showed that more than one indie bookstore a week has closed since the pandemic began, and the nonprofit booksellers’ group didn’t want to wait any longer. “There’s a real sense of urgency,” Cameron said. “This is survival for a lot of these booksellers.” Solid State Books in D.C. Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn There was a brisk turnaround time—about three weeks total—from the agency’s presentation of the concept to the finished stunt, which was produced in-house by a team of about 10 people. The DIY nature of the program, where even senior leaders were building boxes and filling sandbags to hold storefront displays in place, has earned the nickname “artisanal advertising” around the agency. “Vendors wouldn’t have been able to pull this off on our time table or with our budget,” Cameron said. “So we’re not just managing, we’re doing the craft side too.” As part of the event, the agency is sending kits to 40 popular bookstores in top markets, while also blanketing many others with cardboard posters and other materials they can use to participate. The DCX team is reaching out to well-known authors and other influencers in book publishing to spread the message on social media. Amazon, with its gargantuan scale, is “fair game” for trolling, agency creatives said. The retail behemoth, along with Google, Facebook and Apple, has been on the hot seat with federal antitrust officials lately, with a U.S. House judiciary subcommittee alleging anti-competitive practices. Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn Solid State Books in D.C. McNally Jackson in Manhattan CREDITS:Agency: DCXConcept: Doug Cameron & Tommy NoonanChief Strategy & Creative Officer: Doug CameronExecutive Creative Director: Tommy NoonanCopywriters: Chas Bayfield, Jeff Greenspan, Steve MaloyArt Director / Designer: Alistair ChewVP Strategy: Laurent BouazizStrategy Intern: Francesca BillingtonPresident / Head of Account Management: Tom SewellAccount Director: Sarah DonzeAccount Executive: Krysten KrulikPrint Production / Studio Artist: Wayne TreptowInfluencer Outreach: Erin LeviPR: Andoscia CommunicationsPresident/Founder: Caroline AndosciaPRINTER: ColorReflections

Experiential Marketing

Fighting Back Against Amazon, Indie Bookstores Wage a Cardboard-Wrapped Protest

'Books curated by real people, not a creepy algorithm'

T.L. Stanley

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

T.L. Stanley