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B&N Holiday Advert Features Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett

Barnes & Noble’s annual holiday tv advert leaked today. According to the press release, the spot sprang fully-formed from the mind of Barnes & Noble Chairman, Leonard Riggio, who also wrote the slogan, "You Never Know Who You’ll Meet at Barnes & Noble".

According to the WSJ, the advert is intended to tap into an emotional connection between the bookstore chain and consumers – a connection which I’m not sure any consumer feels.

“I’d been thinking about physical books, digital books, future store concepts, and the essence of what is it about us that makes us who we are,” Riggio told the WSJ, “The idea of the meeting place, the piazza, is so much of what we’ve become across the country.”

Riggio remains the single largest shareholder as well as the chairman of B&N. Beyond the new TV advert, his presence can be seen in the spin off of B&N Education earlier this year. He’s also reportedly working on several store prototypes he hopes to debut next year.

O O O

So what did you think of the advert?

I thought it was a sweet idea, with poor execution. I loved the albums this pair released last year, and I think their voices work well together. But the camerawork? No, and let’s not even get in to their chemistry.

One commenter over on The Passive Voice thought that it was a good advert for shopping online:

Yeah, it is cold outside. Why brave inclement weather and go to B&M when you can stay toasty warm and order on the interwebs from the comfort of your own home. Do that, and the only reason to open the door will be to retrieve the package UPS left on the porch and tell the man in brown to get off your lawn.

And you?

Thanks, Steve, for the tip!

 

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Comments


Liz November 13, 2015 um 5:57 pm

I enjoyed the ad very much. My issues with Riggio aside, I think it was a great idea.


Doug November 13, 2015 um 6:07 pm

Meeting place? Piazza? Riggio apparently hasn’t been to any of the B&N’s around me. They’ve removed all the chairs and generally try to make sure that if you aren’t actively shopping, you aren’t lingering. They’re "get in, either buy something or don’t, then get out" kinds of places.

If you want to hang out, try the adjacent Starbucks (for those stores that have one). Maybe you’ll be able to use the NOOK’s Read-In-Store feature from there.


ucfgrad93 November 14, 2015 um 9:50 am

I liked it.


Frank November 16, 2015 um 1:25 pm

It is a cute video, but the camera work wasn’t great.


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