Penguin Random House begins Living Stories campaign
By Rob Bale
Book publishing company Penguin Random House Canada has begun a promotion called “Living Stories.” Developed by Rethink, the promotion features a free web application at <http://www.penguinlivingstories.com> intended to encourage children to read. The application recognizes the voice of a caregiver reading an eligible children’s book and uses predetermined cues to activate smart lights and play sound effects. The site is being promoted with an online video that depicts real families using the application during bedtime story readings, as well as television, digital and social media advertising.
“When we were developing ‘Living Stories,’ accessibility was of the utmost importance to us,” said Xavier Blais, executive creative director at Rethink. “The app is free to download and use and is compatible with most smart light home systems. The app connects in a very seamless way and is very reactive to parents’ voices. Further to that, our collection of books available at launch is full of bestselling titles, so they’re already in thousands of homes around the globe which makes the initiative accessible from the get go.”