Kobo is the world’s second largest e-book company and the leading brand in Canada and Japan. They entered the Taiwan market in 2016 with an abundance of international resources; nonetheless, they were facing strong competitors including global and local companies. Kobo’s usage rate was only 2%. They needed to find a breakthrough in user growth and establish a leading position.

However, the Taiwan market share of e-books compared with sales of paper books is less than 6%. People don’t fully understand the benefits of e-books. A survey finds only 26% of people who have never used e-books in the past are willing to give it a try.

Kobo believes that books will eventually be digitized, and hopes to lead this paradigm shift, encouraging people to read more e-books.Ogilvy set its campaign goal as expanding the Taiwanese e-book market, rather than competing against existing e-book players.

Kobo Bookstore Therapy opened in mid-December of 2017. To better elaborate the creative concept and make an impression, we launched a series of videos. And to thoroughly touch base with the target audience, we invited the most-followed influencers by our target audience in the online community, mostly YouTubers, to play the comedic role of doctors.

These “Bookstore Therapy” themed videos were released on YouTubers’ owned media, one after the other since Dec 12, 2018 to the end of the year. The content seamlessly matched the 4 different YouTuber’s respective styles of videos, reducing consumers’ rejection of embedded advertisements. They were so entertaining and informative that they successfully triggered curiosity and tangibly delivered the e-book’s unique selling points. The clinical yet humorous style of presentation by the YouTubers inspired viewers to engage with the video, changed their perception of e-books as more fun, and encouraged these consumers to try Kobo e-books.