Economist targets Gen Why with online brand campaign via Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne
The Economist, via Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne, has launched an online brand campaign in Asia (including Australia), targeting Gen Why – men and women who actively seek deeper knowledge and who are interested in the world.
The online campaign highlights the depth of The Economist’s editorial content as it delivers on global political, cultural, technological and social topics in its weekly publication.
The Economist Group’s director, group marketing, Asia Pacific, GraceHahn, said: “People turn to The Economist for genuine pleasure inexpanding their knowledge of the world as they seek to dig deeper intoissues that matter from a trusted independent source.”
Thebrand campaign encourages viewers to question, expand and evolve theirown perspective through a series of images that progressively reveal adeeper insight on the world. As the viewer interacts with these on-linebanners they are able to see more of the image and the full picture ofthe story is revealed.
Each campaign image relates to anarticle of interest from The Economist. When readers click on a bannerthey are directed to the article from Economist.com. This allows them to experience the unexpected content that The Economist offers.
Duringthe campaign readers can register for a free trial sampler editionwhich includes articles selected by The Economist’s editor in chief,John Micklethwait.
The campaign is launching this week, runningon a range of online media throughout Asia. Media agency is ZenithOptimedia in Hong Kong.
The Economist has recentlyexperienced year-on-year growth of 3% in Asia and 1.8% globally with aweekly worldwide circulation of more than 1.4 million copies. Thehighly-regarded international publication offers top reporting,commentary and analysis of world news and current affairs, business,finance, science and technology, society, culture, media and the arts.The Economist is read by more of the world’s political and businessleaders than any other magazine.
Client: The Economist Asia Pacific
Creative agency: Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne
Executive Creative Director: Ant Keogh
Art Director: Luke Thompson
Copywriter: Seymour Pope
Media agency: Zed digital (Hong Kong)
Image rights: Magnum images
13 Comments
Very well trodden territory.
John Webster’s Guardian ad “points of view” was the classic.
You stole my thunder, 10:36.
Guys, come on. It’s Clemenger Melbourne. It’s clearly a piss take of that Guardian ad. Do we have to explain everything to you idiots?!?!
Crap
Loving the typically pathetic Campaign Brief comments from ‘Anonymous’
Looks like a hard brief, difficult acts to follow, tough market.
It’s not ground-breaking, but it’s not crap. And no, i am not an Account Executive (pre-emptive).
‘Expand your views’, so, like, the banner expands.
And a Guardian rip-off too.
Not the lateral thinking I’ve come to expect from Clemenger.
Sorry boys.
Yes, it is the same idea as the Guardian campaign from all those years ago. Yet it is still amazingly powerful advertising. Given that 99.99% of the target audience would be unaware of the other campaign, does it really matter that it’s a me-too? I find this quest to be always original rather odd. It’s why we end up with weird shit like that new VB commercial.
Yeah you’re right Tony. I’ve got a tricky brief on my desk right now: I should just find the best idea from overseas for the category, print it out and trace it, and then head off for a long lunch. Thanks!
Let me guess 11.33. I bet your shirt isn’t tucked in. Just like everyone else in the creative dept. Thing is, we’re always less than entirely original. Maybe the map type zoom thing made it different enough to be more than a carbon copy. And one more thing — why is everyone so shy about declaring who they are on this blog?
Geez Tony.
There are plenty of times when an idea has coincidentally been the same as something else out there.
But when it’s something as famous as the Guardian campaign it’s unforgivable.
I assume it wasn’t intentional but not knowing the Guardian campaign is just ignorant and lazy.
I agree. You have some smart creatives whose names are attached to this campaign. For them to not know about the John Webster campaign, or to know about it but still do it (and promo it) I find pretty lazy / stoopid.
I agree not every brief you’ve going to get a great original solution, there’ll always be some bugger from Brazil in 2003 that’s done it before. But when it comes to PRing a campaign you should make sure it hasn’t been done before.
Plus I find some of the executions are way better than others. The testosterone one sucks, and the matter of life and death one is just clichéd.
It’s closer to the Time campaign from the US than the Guardian one.
this is so very boring and such a disappointment from the economist. for me it’s not a matter of who’s done it before, but how is this different from what every other news/business magazine has been advertising for years?
chuck an ft or a time logo on it and I wouldn’t know the difference…. they’ve thrown their brand into the same boxing ring as everyone else when they always seemed miles ahead.