‘Tweet for a Read’ is a wearable bookmark equipped with a light sensor on the bottom, a timer and a nano computer with a wi-fi chip on the top. Every time the book is closed, the sensor detects the blackout and starts a countdown. If the book isn’t opened after a week the nano computer logs on a wi-fi network and sends a tweet message to the reader featuring real phrases from the specific author. Since social media in Brazil is mainly accessed via smartphones (close to 80% of all access) the tweets reached readers right in their pockets. The bookmark keeps sending new tweets until the book is opened again.

‘Tweet for a Read’ generated worldwide repercussion and over US$ 2,1 million in earned media, despite being a product available only in Brazil. There was even a 5+ minutes coverage on Brazilian main news channel GloboNews with journalists in different parts of the globe discussing the idea live. ‘Tweet for a Read’ was pointed as one of the “Top 10 Innovation and Advertising Ideas” in 2014. And most importantly: made more and more readers go back to reading books.

In recent years technology has given our lives all sorts of new possibilities, especially when it comes to mobile devices and social media. And research shows that reading books is losing ground. And if people begin to read one it is pretty common to drop and never finish. What if we could give books a fighting chance? Our idea was to give them voice on social media, bringing digital readers back to the paper. We developed a wearable bookmark that sends a tweet message to remind readers to go back to their books every time they spend more than a week without opening it.