The Brief

Indonesia has high literacy and a strong interest in reading, but public libraries are scarce and new book prices put them out of the reach of many. Another key insight was the fact that many of those who can afford books, especially novels, read them once then leave them on bookshelves to gather dust. We sought an idea that would give more Indonesians access to books by encouraging those who could afford books to actively participate in sharing them with others.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

To have any chance of the idea working, the process had to be simple. For book donors: (1) Choose your books to share. (2) Contact us to obtain Buku Bergilir stickers (3) Place a sticker on each book cover (4) Place your books in any public location (5) Tweet the book titles and their location. For book recipients: (1) Tweet the book title and location where the book was found. (2) Books can be taken anywhere (3) After reading, the book can be put back into circulation anywhere (4) Tweet again the book title and its new location. .

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

Buku Bergilir was created as a voluntary movement, so from the beginning people were encouraged to adopt and spread the idea in their own cities. Since launch, people from more than 15 other cities and towns have requested stickers to start their own Buku Bergilir projects. More than 2000 stickered books have been distributed throughout cities, including Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Palembang, Lampung, Malang, Surabaya, Manado, Makassar, Denpasar, Tangerang, Bogor, Bekasi and Bandung.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

Indonesia’s Twitter user base is one of the world’s largest and most active. Using social media channels is the most relevant way to spread and track the movement nationwide. Using Twitter also enables us to record the movement of books over time. It’s important to note that, even though not every reader may own a mobile phone or computer, everyone is still able to benefit from Buku Bergilir.