Romanians were reading less and less, while publishers had paper thin marketing budgets to promote their books. How to encourage people to appreciate the written word once again? The Nemira publishing house and its agency Saatchi & Saatchi came up with a novel idea: literary product placement. They gave brands the opportunity to place books as props in their existing ads: online, on socials, outdoor, in catalogues and even on TV. While you can’t judge a book by the cover, it can still grab your interest. So “bookvertising” was born. Over the two months of the operation, more than 50 local and international brands got involved, generating earned media of more than 1.2 million euros and encyclopaedia-sized media impact. As a result, the Bookvertising platform remained open and the campaign was honoured at the Effies and other creative awards. A story with a happy ending.