National Library Board and Ogilvy Invites Singaporeans to Pick a Haiku, Discover a Book

The National Library Board (NLB) has partnered with Japanese lifestyle company MUJI as part of ongoing efforts for the National Reading Movement (NRM) to engage the community and share the love of reading.

As part of the partnership, creative partner Ogilvy Singapore was tasked to create an in-store wall design that could encourage people to read books and download the NLB Mobile app.

The creative team saw an opportunity to create an in-store installation that pays homage to popular Japanese literary culture and encourages reading. With this year’s NRM theme of “Be Unexpectedly Interesting”, NLB has worked with MUJI on the launch of a new campaign titled “Wall of Haikus”. Shoppers at the two selected MUJI stores will get to experience these haikus, a Japanese poetic form written in three lines.

The installation wall was created where 30 selected eBooks and audiobooks were made available to customers through intricately designed bookmarks. Using the mechanics of 17 syllables, hand-drawn illustrations, a Haiku and a simple QR code, each bookmark was introduced to the customer inviting them to scan the QR code which links to an eBook in NLB’s collection, marking the start of a literary adventure.

The haikus on each bookmark are worded to provide clues to the names of the books, which span different genres from popular fiction and non-fiction, to Sing Lit and more. These bookmarks are available for free for each customer to pick up, take home and through the bookmarks, find a book to read too.

This is part of NLB’s ongoing efforts to make learning and discovery of content more accessible to all, and is part of its LAB25 (Libraries and Archives Blueprint 2025) which aims to bring reading and learning to where the people are.

Ms Chris Koh, Programme Director of National Reading Movement said, “For this year’s edition of the National Reading Movement, we wanted to explore new ways of bringing reading and discovery to more people. Through our partnership with MUJI to bring haikus and books to people, we hope to inspire everyone to read more, read widely and read together.”

“Haikus are a beautiful part of Japanese culture and being able to highlight them alongside the joys of reading feels like a double discovery. We want everyone who interacts with the bookmarks to feel a sense of wonder and intrigue, as well as feel inspired by the bookmark designs and the beautifully crafted Haikus, to then go home and download the book and continue their reading journey,” said Mr Elrid Carvalho, Creative Director of Ogilvy Singapore.

The installations can be found at MUJI stores at Jewel Changi Airport and Plaza Singapura and will run till 28 June 2022.

CLIENT TEAM CREDITS

Chris Koh, Programme Director, National Reading Movement, National Library Board Cherie Loh, Manager, National Reading Movement, National Library Board
Ho Sie Sie, Manager, National Reading Movement, National Library Board
Jennifer Tan, Manager, National Reading Movement, National Library Board

AGENCY TEAM CREDITS

Chief Creative Officer: Nicolas Courant Creative Director: Elrid Carvalho
Associate Creative Director: Sonali Ranjit
Senior Art Director: Maggie Michella
Art Director: Faith Low
Copywriter(s): Jerome Toh, Toan Mai, Shanghao Chen, Rachel Chew Illustrators: Mátyás Locsmándi, Yulius Iskandar, Manasuka Hari Strategy Director: Frederick Tong
Executive Group Director: Shirley Tay
Account Director: Yong Shi Yun
Account Manager: Charmaine Lim
Production Partner: LTY – Zen Zhao and Sue Ang

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