(Re)building your reading habit in an age of a dozen digital distractions

The end of the year used to be a good time to disconnect from work and school and spend time with your family—and your favourite book. However, this nut has noted with increasing alarm that curling up with your favourite book after (over)eating at the Christmas table seems to have lost some of its allure for many people, in the face of trendier digital alternatives. 

So it was with some delight then, that this woodland creature stumbled across a new campaign from Ogilvy Singapore for The National Library Board (NLB) of Singapore through the National Reading Movement, entitled 'Read More. Be More'. As Ad Nut was finalising a holiday reading list, it was delightful to see this ongoing mission to encourage people in Singapore to read more. 

The campaign, in its third year, will include activity across social media (Facebook, Instagram and YouTube), OOH in MRT stations (see below) and digital display banners. It runs through March. The work reminds people how reading can turn day-to-day mundane situations into unexpected adventures.

Ad Nut was especially drawn to two videos that advocate reading as a source of superpowers for two otherwise ordinary folk. In The Unmasked Superhero (below), Ad Nut, a closet comic book fan, was delighted to see how an unassuming supermarket employee mysteriously knows everything about superheroes. The second video, The Space Explorer (above), reveals how a humble tennis coach gained so much knowledge about astronomy (was he abducted by aliens?).

Having long been laughed at for burying furry nose in books of all sorts, seeing Aunty Kim and Jason's knowledge linked to their love of reading was a welcome change for this nut.

As said Nicolas Courant, chief creative officer at Ogilvy Singapore and Malaysia said, "It is easy to assume that what makes an individual interesting might be influences from the latest social-media trends or popular culture, but our approach was to challenge this perception and instead introduce reading as the source of how someone becomes interesting."

And rather than make reading into a chore, Ad Nut appreciates how the campaign turns reading into something people can easily connect with. "Our intent with this year’s campaign is to connect with audiences in specific everyday moments and demonstrate how reading can unexpectedly help you to be interesting, and this is true no matter what genre, language or format reading can take,” said Chris Koh, programme director for National Reading Movement.

So while you may be tempted to slump back into your couch to resume scrolling through TikTok, Ad Nut ends the year suggesting you put your phone down and rediscover the joys of reading. The NLB has 27 libraries to choose from, and Ad Nut is willing to bet most other places beyond Singapore have their own libraries too. 

CREDITS

Chief Creative Officer: Nicolas Courant
Creative Director: Elrid Carvalho
Associate Creative Director(s): Aritra Dutta and Ginny Lim
Executive Group Director: Shirley Tay
Business Director: Phuc Nguyen
Account Director: Yong Shi Yun
Account Managers: Vera See and Charmaine Lim
Producer: Josephine Pang
Production House: Digital Cartel
Director: Plastico
Executive Producer: Brandon Tay
Producers: Sufyan Sam’an and Terence Tay
Production Manager: Shirley Chia
Director of Photography: Haruld Goh
Post-Production: Wolf VFX
Offline Editor: Santiago Saponi
Colourist: Alejandra Lezcano
VFX Supervisor: Sebastian Caporelli
VFX Leads: Leonardo Muzzin and Junior Santeiro
Audio Post: Papa Music and Fuse Singapore
Music: Papa Music

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. You can also check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame, or read about Ad Nut's strange obsession with 'murderous beasts'.