A Storybook Streaming Platform
Sooper Books
Purpose
- Building brands
- Creating journeys
What we did
- Visual identity
- Verbal identity
- Digital
The children’s storybook sector had been left relatively unedited for decades. Writers write, illustrators draw, publishers print, readers read. But Simon and Charlene Hood, husband-and-wife founders of Sooper Books, saw a new chapter for the industry. They had set out to create “the Netflix of children’s books” – a streaming platform that puts a library in people’s pockets to rekindle every child’s love of reading. With millions of readers, a #1 rank on Google and an upcoming history-making appearance on Dragon’s Den, they came to us for help disrupting a sector.
From book publisher to streaming platform
Brand mascots are synonymous with children’s publishing. Sooper Books came with Sluggy, a whimsical slug that was positioning them in publishing. Our big move was to reimagine Sluggy, and the brand, for the world of streaming. A sideways ‘S’ with quotation marks for eyes became the new mascot, creating greater distance between the brand and the story characters. We developed a suite of animations to bring Sluggy’s mischievous personality to the screen.
We built the rest of the brand around the idea of ‘Into the story’. The equity – and future success – of Sooper Books lives in its original characters. Our strategy was to take the audience deep into the story worlds, heroing the loveable characters and showcasing the silliness through playful language. We designed a new web platform and app that brought the brand elements together into a simple and engaging experience for children and adults.
Happily ever after
The brand launched just in time for Sooper Books to make history on the TV show Dragon’s Den. They became the first business to win investment from all five dragons. Since then, Sooper Books has established itself in the lives of millions of families around the world. Page by page, they are writing this new chapter in the fairytale of children’s books.
