Since 2013 we have had the privilege of working with global publishing house HarperColllins, supporting the reference division in its mission to educate and entertain students, readers and language lovers across the globe.
During this time, we have helped them to create a cohesive brand style and broaden their reach to new audiences, and supported their high-profile campaigns, from new editions of the Collins Dictionary to their much-talked-about Word of the Year campaign.
The Collins marketing team first approached Scriberia to help define and shape their visual brand identity and unify their online presence. We worked together to design a bold and personality-packed house illustration and animation style, to be integrated across their communication and marketing, from their website to newsletters and social channels.
“We wanted to bring some uniformity and consistency to our branding, and that’s exactly what Scriberia delivered. It’s given us a much stronger presence across all of our digital marketing.”
Rebecca Jones, Marketing and PR Director, HarperCollins Reference
“We wanted to bring some uniformity and consistency to our branding, and that’s exactly what Scriberia delivered.” says Marketing and PR Director of HarperCollins Reference, Rebecca Jones. “It’s given us a much stronger presence across all of our digital marketing.”
One of the major projects we have worked on is the famed Collins' ‘Word of the Year’. The annual list is compiled by the dictionary’s lexicographers who diligently monitor their 20 billion-word Collins Corpus and a range of media sources, to compile the new and notable words being used. We have been on hand to bring these words - from ‘photobombing’ to ‘permacrisis’ - to life each time, crafting spot illustrations and animations for use across their marketing and PR channels.
Building on this, we created a template illustration for their daily ‘Word of the Day’ feature on collinsdictionary.com, making content production quicker and more efficient for the marketing team.
“Using the illustration template tools that Scriberia put together for us has been hugely time-saving,” says Rebecca.
Take a look at our first ever Collins Dictionary animation from a decade ago. Without doubt one of the most bonkers things in our archive, thanks to the one and only Jake Yapp on voiceover.
One of our latest collaborations was to support the release of the 14th edition of the Collins Dictionary (with the addition of a staggering 1,700 new words). The aim was to connect with a new generation of dictionary users, focusing on its TikTok channel. We created a series of 30-second ‘word videos’, featuring definitions of the shortlisted words including ‘ASMR’ and ‘plant-based’. This gave the marketing team playful and visually impactful content for its organic and paid social campaigns.
“We were so delighted with the assets - they exceeded our expectations on every level,” says Rebecca.
“They helped us hugely to build brand awareness and drive sales. For our TikTok campaign we achieved one of the highest CTRs we’ve ever seen.”
Rebecca adds, “What really stands out from working with Scriberia is how they just get it from the get-go. We are all in awe of their interpretation of the brief, their creativity and the ideas they come up with. And the work always delivers.”
“What really stands out from working with Scriberia is how they just get it from the get-go. We are all in awe of their interpretation of the brief, their creativity and the ideas they come up with."
Scriberia’s Director of Storytelling, Rachel Porter, says, “We’ve had nothing but fun with Collins since the day the team first came to our studio, and we’re thrilled to have reached this amazing milestone in our partnership with them.
“We’ve evolved the campaign every year, to meet changing needs, new platforms and new audiences, while always maintaining the style that has become so recognisably Collins.”
