NCIBA Ad in San Francisco Chronicle Proclaims: “We’re Still Here”

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For readers and book buyers nationwide, the news that Borders Group had filed for Chapter 11 may have raised questions about the long-term prospects of bricks-and-mortar booksellers. However, the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) wanted to make sure that the business troubles of a corporate book retailer were not the last word in the story in a metro area that is seeing the closure of 14 Borders stores.

On Sunday, March 6, NCIBA placed a half-page ad in the front section of the San Francisco Chronicle with the confident reminder to consumers that “We’re Still Here.” The ad reached a readership of one million, said Hut Landon, NCIBA executive director.

Noting the closings, along with Barnes & Noble’s closing of four locations in the Bay Area, the ad copy said that “many naysayers seem to believe the end of the bookstore is near at hand.” However, it confidently proclaimed, “On behalf of the nearly 200 independent bookstores in Northern California, we respectfully beg to differ” and noted the strong sales, positive customer feedback, and unique attributes of indie booksellers. (To see the NCIBA ad, click here.)

Following the publication of the ad, “the response has been unbelievable,” said Landon, who noted that the association had received very positive feedback from member bookstores, publisher sales reps, and others. Work on the project began following a February 17 meeting of the NCIBA Board, which decided that promoting the message that a Borders bankruptcy was in no way a bellwether on the health of the Bay Area’s indie booksellers was a timely and key initiative, “if we could do it at a reasonable price,” said Landon.

Working with the ad sales department of the Chronicle, Landon was able to purchase the half-page ad for $2,500. He noted that NCIBA decided to run the ad in the front section of the paper rather than the book section. because “we didn’t want to preach to the choir” and because NCIBA believed book review readers would also read the front section of the paper.

The turn-around on the ad creation and production was very fast, with the copy written in a day. “One of the reasons that we were able to write the ad so quickly was that we adapted some of the key points in theABAstatementaboutBorders, which we’re very appreciative of.”

“The ad took a bite out of our budget, but we felt this was a unique period of time in the book business and the right moment to make an important statement on behalf of independent bookstores,” said Landon.

Watch BTW for updates on templated ad materials being created by ABA that can be adapted by member stores to convey the message of Indie bookstores’ strengths and unique attributes in their local communities.