Oliver UK

Client: The Guardian
Product: The Guardian and The Observer newspapers
Title: Subscribe to The Joy of Print
Media: Posters / Train & Tube Card Panels
Country: United Kingdom
Date Of Campaign: Jan 2019

Background: With The Guardian hurtling towards an ambitious break-even target, hitting high print subscription targets was essential. So, we employed an unusual strategy: rather than drive preference for brand or "Purpose", we’d drive preference (and subs) for the 'paper' paper. We targeted readers who bought at the newsstand, current digital subscribers, and particularly new audiences who may never have bought a paper newspaper. We’d demonstrate and reaffirm the role a newspaper could play in their lives.

Idea: It’s no secret that when it comes to consuming media, digital is now the norm. But, for The Guardian, paper still has a lot of currency. This campaign extols the joy of print — and highlights what our readers tell us they love most about our paper. In a series of posters and tube car panels, we made a gentle nod to digital detoxing, with a softly nostalgic tone, while celebrating the analog experience of the newspaper. With The Guardian fast approaching the end of a three-year plan to break even - for the first time in over two decades - the success of the campaign was critical.

Results: After this campaign, the notion that print is dead, might now itself be dead.We created a highly successful print campaign advertising a print product in 2019. Yes, dreams can come true.In fact, it was The Guardian's most successful print subscription campaign. Ever. We saw record-breaking uptake – 8,500 new print subscribers in a month.