DON’T LET HIM IN
CORNERSTONE | PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE UK
BACKGROUND
Lisa Jewell is a British author known for psychological thrillers, published by Penguin Random House. Her marketing is handled by Cornerstone, Penguin Random House UK who had worked with my company, Gunpowder House before and came to us again for her new book, Don't Let Him In. Lisa already had a strong readership, but Cornerstone's ambition for this campaign went further than that. They wanted to make her a household name.
IDEA
Lisa Jewell rarely gives you one version of events. She gives you several, and lets you watch them stop lining up. Most thrillers ask you to fear a stranger, or a secret someone close to you is keeping. Don't Let Him In is built on a quieter fear than most thrillers reach for, not the danger of a stranger, but the doubt of your own instincts when someone gives you no reason to doubt them. That's a fear more unsettling than simple betrayal, the idea that trust itself can be manufactured, tested and passed with total conviction. We designed the campaign to feel like an open investigation, allowing the audience to uncover the mystery alongside the victims in the book.
EXECUTION
For this campaign, we made a series of videos, following five different perspectives on the same man. The hero film, was shot like a true crime documentary, with each character speaking straight to camera about their experience of this conman infiltrating their lives. To supplement it, we made five character trailers, one for each contributor. And produced a shorter, 30-second version of the hero film for the TV Ad, which aired on Lorraine and Good Morning Britain. All of this went out before the book was published, so the story felt like it was already unfolding and audiences could follow along. Once the book was released, we put out one more trailer, told from the villain's point of view, in which he speaks directly to the audience, acknowledging their curiosity about him all along.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
British Book Awards Nominee for Marketing Strategy of the Year 2025
Book Marketing Society Highly Commended for Adult Fiction Campaign 2025
Lisa Jewell’s First All UK Number One in all formats
ROLE, RESPONSIBILITIES & PROCESS
DIRECTOR & PRODUCER
Led the project from brief to delivery.
Managed client communication with Cornerstone, Penguin Random House UK.
Directed the six films.
Art Director of this campaign.
Worked as one of the producers on the production.
Cast the actors.
Sourced the locations.
Handled hiring for the crew.
Post-production producer, overseeing the offline and online phases through to final delivery
OUT OF HOME
FILMS
STILLS
I loved working with Gunpowder House. They had such proactivity, creativity and brilliant ideas on how to bring the pages of the book to life into a visual medium. Srishti especially was an incredibly great collaborator, with very quick replies, clear timelines and feedback. She took our vision and made it even better than we could possibly have imagined!
ANIA GORDON
Head of Marketing | Cornerstone, Penguin Random House UK
