Former Borders Employees Hit the Streets to Tell Businesses It’s Not Too Late to Adapt for the Internet

To all in the ad business, it seems clear that digital is not going away; it’s worth making the transition. But clearly, not everyone understands its importance. Borders Bookstores is one such big-name that never fully read the memo (probably because they never checked their hotmail account).

Digital agency HUGE has capitalized on this ineptitude by hiring former Borders employees to run mobile stands selling Aaron Shapiro (CEO of HUGE)’s book, Users Not Customers: Who Really Determines the Success of Your Business. The dynamic campaign is accompanied by a billboard on the corner of 39th and 8th along with various print ads around the city. People can engage digitally by speculating which company might be next to go out of business with the Twitter hashtag “#ISYOURBUSINESSNEXT.”

“By 2012, half of all consumer purchases in the U.S. will be digitally driven. What happened to Borders is a good example of what will happen to any company who is not treating this evolution in consumer behavior as the most important issue facing their business right now,” said Shapiro. “Borders is just one tragic example. Companies need to make the right investments in digital now to ensure they don’t end up in a similar situation.”

Damn right. It’s high time for an evolution.