Winner of the Impact Award of the CILIP PPRG Marketing Excellence Awards. Presentation given by Ben Sanderson from The British Library at the PPRG seminar in Birmingham on 8 November 2013.

1. Capturing the Digital Universe
Ben Sanderson
Head of Press, British Library
@BL_BenS

2. Who am I?
• Head of Press, Social Media and
Internal Communications at the
British Library
• Team of 2 press officers, 2 internal
comms
• Working with Head of
Communications plus our Advocacy
Team
• Social media policy and training
• At the Library since 2001 – but still a
comparative newbie
• Follow me @BL_BenS
www.bl.uk
2

3. The British Library
• UK national library – St Pancras (London) and
Boston Spa (West Yorkshire)
• 150 million items spanning 3,000 years and
almost every written language
• Books, journals, newspapers, maps,
manuscripts, sound recordings
• Half a million researchers use our Reading
Rooms every year – millions more online
• Exhibitions (currently: Georgians and Children‟s
Books; recently: Propaganda and On The Road)
• We get a copy of every UK publication
www.bl.uk
3

4. “Non-Print Legal Deposit”
• Extension of legal deposit to encompass digital
publications (e-journals, e-books, UK web
domain)
• How to mark an invisible moment in history?
• An opportunity to transform perceptions of the
British Library – from analogue to digital
• Essential to convey the (complicated) message
accurately and positively
• Showcasing the importance of our digital
archive for future generations
• Five other legal deposit library partners (National
Libraries of Scotland and Wales, Bodleian,
Cambridge University Library and Trinity College
Dublin)
www.bl.uk
4

5. “Capturing the Digital Universe”
• Extension of legal deposit to encompass digital
publications (e-journals, e-books, UK web
domain)
• How to mark an invisible moment in history?
• An opportunity to transform perceptions of the
British Library – from analogue to digital
• Essential to convey the (complicated) message
accurately and positively
• Showcasing the importance of our digital
archive for future generations
• Five other legal deposit library partners (National
Libraries of Scotland and Wales, Bodleian,
Cambridge University Library and Trinity College
Dublin)
www.bl.uk
5

6. “Capturing the Digital Universe”
• Rebranding the legislation to make it relevant for
a much wider audience
• Strong messaging in all communications and
especially in training for spokespeople
• 100 websites – examples to bring digital content
to life and generate debate
• Countdown video onsite and online – building
anticipation and providing visuals
• Non-traditional launch format
• #digitaluniverse event hashtag
www.bl.uk
6

7. 100 websites – building anticipation
• A list to spark debate online
• Suggested by curators from all six
Legal Deposit Libraries
• Demonstrating the value of digital
content – whether „serious‟ or „trivial‟
• Generated preview coverage in The
Sunday Times in advance of launch
www.bl.uk
7

8. Spokespeople and messaging
• Bold, memorable messages
• Eliminate internal jargon
• External perspective/training vital
• Confident, articulate
interviewees central to the
media proposition
• Video news release both to
satisfy/stimulate demand
www.bl.uk
8

9. Launch event – 6 April 2013
www.bl.uk
9

10. Results generated
• An audience of 141.5 million in14 countries, with
467 pieces of media coverage
• 272 online articles including Associated Press,
Huffington Post, Wired.co.uk, Spectator blog, The
Drum, Yahoo! News, Press Association, Digital Spy,
MSN
• 132 broadcast, including interviews on BBC
Breakfast, Radio 4 Today, CNN, Sky News, Al
Jazeera, ITV, LBC Radio, BBC Asian Network, BBC
News
• A total of 5,000 tweets over the course of the
campaign
• Traffic to the Web Archive pages up from 10.2k
visits to 87.9k and on the day of launch there were
2,018 clicks on the story on the BL‟s homepage
• An increase of over 1000% in social media
mentions using the words ‘British Library’ and
‘digital’, showing a powerful shift in the way the
Library is perceived
www.bl.uk
10

11. Using video to maximise our impact
• Our campaign video
• Our video news release was used by
Guardian, Yahoo, Telegraph, Mail,
Express online and others
• There is a hunger for online video
• ...but it needs to be conceived, shot
and sold in by people who know what
they‟re doing!
www.bl.uk
11

12. Take-aways?
When you get the opportunity, be bold and
ambitious
An external perspective is vital
Use video, campaigns and events to create
excitement that people want to share
www.bl.uk
12