A week ago there was an amusing incident involving  a US tourist getting himself accidentally locked in the Trafalger Sq branch of British bookseller Waterstones overnight. According to The Guardian David Willis had been browsing in Waterstones in Trafalgar Square on Thursday night, but went downstairs shortly after 9pm to find the lights out and the shop deserted. His calls to security & police went unanswered and he was trapped until he took to Twitter to share his plight.

Becoming an instant twitter sensation David’s original tweet was retweeted 17 thousand times and sparked a trending hastag of #freethewaterstones1

This great graphic from the folks over at Twitter Reverb shows you just how much traction this incident got in a single 24 hour period!

Finally after a few hours David was released from the store  and Waterstones were quick to respond socially to all the tweets:

However what they probably didn’t account for was the fact that the response on twitter  to David’s plight was largely positive with many people (myself included!!) wishing it had been them in his exact situation – getting to spend a whole night in a quiet bookstore is a fantasy for many people!!

As a brand they could have ended it there  – chalking it up as a fun social incident but instead Waterstones have cleverly taken this moment and turned it into an innovative brand marketing opportunity. Building on the social traction already in place they quickly created a competition where you can win a sleepover at their flagship store in London and they partnered with Airbnb Uk to enable this.

Bookstores have had a tough time of it in the past few years  with many failing to find ways to market and appeal to the new social generation but Waterstones has cleverly sidestepped these issues by engaging socially and rapidly responding  to what could have been a PR disaster in a lighthearted and humorous tone which undoubtedly won them over new fans. Through their partnership with a influential millennial brand for this competition they get to expand their audience reach and by creating a unique experience they can shift some category perceptions that bookstores are stuffy places to hang out.

This is a great case study for how social media could inspire your next big marketing idea if you dare to think big enough.