Elsevier is a Dutch information and analytics company and one of the world’s major providers of scientific, technical, and medical information. It was established in 1880 as a publishing company. It is a part of the RELX Group, known until 2015 as Reed Elsevier.

Its products include journals such as The Lancet and Cell, the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, the online citation database Scopus, and the ClinicalKey solution for clinicians.

Elsevier’s products and services include the entire academic research lifecycle, including software and data-management, instruction and assessment tools.

Elsevier publishes more than 470,000 articles annually in 2,500 journals.

Historically, reporting of piracy has been limited; it’s typically perceived as a victimless crime and so the negative impact of counterfeit goods is not widely understood.

Through its insights of both the challenge piracy poses and the benefits of buying genuine, BDB was able to create a unique multi-segment campaign that told the stories beyond the books.

BDB developed a global integrated marketing campaign to encourage people to look deeper, beyond the pirated words and images. There are hidden stories taking place all over the world on the front line of science and medicine as a consequence of investment in genuine Elsevier products, and BDB sought to shine a light on these.

The second stage was aimed specifically at trade, with a toolkit and supporting assets created for retailers to use online and in bookstores, to launch Elsevier’s new certified partner programme.

“From the very first conversation until the last activity was ticked off, BDB approached our anti-piracy campaign with a dynamism and enthusiasm that couldn’t but guarantee success. The team came back with a choice of creative and innovative digital and offline activities – emblematic of the depth of their engagement with the brief.

“We felt well-supported at all stages, from ideation, to campaign building and indeed deployment, speaking to multiple customers with subtly and appropriately varied messages – all linking back to a central story in keeping with our brand.

“And the results speak for themselves – our students, staff, industry and trade partners all engaged with our campaign at some level, and still compliment us on it. I would have no hesitancy in collaborating with BDB on  such a challenging and wide-ranging project again.”

Dominic Graham,
Trade Marketing Manager, EMEALAAP, Elsevier Health