SINGAPORE – Geometry Singapore, WPP’s end-to-end Creative Commerce agency, has partnered with Storytel, one of the world’s largest audiobook and e-book streaming services, to create the world’s first public restrooms that play audiobooks, Looterature. The project has turned usual public toilet into a whole new media space which brings back the joy of literature.
Decline in book-reading habit is the main insight that led to the creation of Looterature; in the pre-smartphone era, books used to have a special place in our lives and no place had been more special than our bathrooms. In fact, bathroom reading has been commonplace for the past few decades but in this digital age, this “classic” reading is in sharp decline. According to one study, 90% of millennials use their phone on the toilet for texting.
Storytel and Geometry Singapore took this new behavior into a business opportunity, by creating an unexpected media, “Looterature”.
Looterature is the first-ever public restrooms that turn toilet-goers into literature lovers. Each stall is branded with the world’s classic literature like Moby Dick and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. When one goes into the Moby Dick stall, for example, the motion-activated speaker plays the audiobook to the literally ‘captive’ audience. While listening to the story of Captain Ahab, the toilet-goer is naturally immersed in the Moby Dick-inspired interior and exterior. Once people were hooked to the story, they are invited to scan a code to take it to their own bathrooms, or any other room of their liking, with a 30-day free trial.
Commenting on the Looterature, Jorge Thauby of Geometry Singapore said, “In line with Geometry’s ambition to reimagine commerce, Looterature is an exemplary model of delivering effective ideas with a clear business return. By hijacking a usual restroom, we were able to create an entirely new and unexpected experience in which restroom is turned into a personal reading room, while allowing Storytel to reach out to new consumers. Equally important is that we have introduced a new ‘reading’ culture that is relevant and relatable in today’s digital world. This is how we at Geometry connect consumer insights to strategic and creative execution across the full consumer journey.”
With its mobility and convenient set-up, Looterature can be deployed anywhere, such as outdoor events, exhibitions, shopping malls, sports events, etc. It was well received at festivals such as Singapore’s Garden Beats and is ready for other events and places.
