The Economist
Make every activity build your brand.
When every piece of communication from a brand looks and sounds different, each one has to work harder to be recognised.
The Economist demonstrates a better approach: keep the brand familiar, then use creativity to take it somewhere unexpected.
The challenge
The Economist wanted to attract new readers and increase circulation without relying solely on conventional (and expensive) media.
The work needed to reach large numbers of potential readers, encourage subscriptions and remain unmistakably Economist.
Change the setting, not the brand.
We retained the publication’s distinctive red, confident typography and intelligent voice. Then we found new places for people to encounter it.
We focused on busy environments including offices, salad bars, gyms, events and bars, places where the right audiences already spent their time.
Turning lunch into media
We partnered with an upmarket salad-bar chain serving more than 45,000 salads each month in Singapore’s Central Business District.
A special “brain food” salad came with a free trial of The Economist. Branded bowls and coffee cups were carried back into offices, extending the campaign beyond the point of purchase.
Creating media that could travel
We created a portable Economist carpet that could be used at events, exhibitions and on the street.
It delivered the impact of outdoor advertising without the cost of repeatedly buying permanent media space. Its visual idea also encouraged people to photograph and share it.
Finding moments when people looked up
Gyms provided an opportunity to reach potential readers away from their usual screens.
We created Economist messages specifically for weights, treadmills and exercise areas, putting the brand into the environment rather than simply placing an advertisement within it.
One voice across every encounter
The same recognisable brand was applied to point of sale, subscription activity, bars and corporate gifts.
Point of purchase material which doesn't end up in the bin.
This is an actual photograph of rolled up Economists making a brain. No photoshop or AI.
A sizable amount of The Economist’s revenue comes, of course, from media sales. The subtle art of incentivising the media buyers to buy space in your publication involves premium gifts. Such as The Economist Teddy Bear. Still resident in many homes to this day.
Promoting Economist subscriptions in bars. Sign-up right there and then for a clearer head in the morning.
An ad, but we also made Economist Cubes as corporate gifts.
The value
Each execution was different, but every one was unmistakably The Economist.
Partnerships and reusable campaign assets helped extend the available budget. Direct trial offers encouraged immediate action. Consistent branding ensured that every encounter also reinforced recognition and memory.
The result was fresh creative work without discarding the value the brand had already built.
Consistency doesn’t restrict creativity. It makes creativity work harder.
The Gang’s role: Campaign strategy, media ideas, experiential concepts and creative development.
Is every campaign building on the last?
If your marketing keeps changing but your brand isn’t becoming more recognisable, we should talk.