The UK’s six leading national newspaper groups are combining forces to launch an advertising campaign across their 18 titles which aims to remind people of the unique role newspapers play for advertisers, readers and society, reports Warc, the former World Advertising Research Council.
The eight-week campaign, which launches on September 2, will appear on digital platforms as well as in the papers, and a series of six ads will highlight the level of attention and influence that newspaper brands still command.
For example, one ad shows a picture of two news presenters resting their hands on some newspapers beneath the headline: “The front page news on TV every night? Ours.”
And a 40-second film, Media Butterflies, develops the idea that it is hard to find any audience today that gives you its undivided attention as they are all “surfing, scrolling and skipping”.
By contrast newspaper readers are: “receptive, engaged and absorbed”.
The campaign also emphasises the spending power of newspaper readers and makes the point that more 18-24 year olds turn to news brands, not the TV, for their news.
“Technology and the arrival of tech organisations has transformed the way all of us find information, which means the important role newspaper brands play can sometimes be overlooked,” said Rufus Olins, chief executive of Newsworks, the marketing body for national newspapers and the organisation behind the campaign.
“We felt it was time to remind people about the job they do and extraordinary influence they have over people’s opinions and decision-making,” he added.
Alfredo Marcantonio, a partner at HHM which created the campaign, claimed that national newspapers are now “more widely read than they were in Fleet Street’s heyday”.
“Not only this, but people are faithful regardless of format,” he said. “They’d no more change their newspaper than their football team.”
Digital revenues and audiences continue to grow for publishers, but the newspapers themselves remain the biggest source of ad revenue. Advertisers spent £1.37bn in national news brands last year, according to the latest AA/Warc figures, including £214m on digital platforms.
