The Economist: The Economist

Credits & Description:

Campaign: British Election
Title: British Election
Country: United Kingdom
Advertiser: The Economist
Product (Service): The Economist Magazine
Agency: Proximity London
Executive Creative Director: John Treacy (Proximity London)
Deputy Executive Creative Director: Jason Cascarina (Proximity London)
Art Director: Rob Morris (Proximity London)
Copywriter: Ben Sawyer (Proximity London)
Associate Creative Director: Tristan Sellan (Proximity London)
Associate Creative Director: Francesco Perillo (Proximity London)
Animator: Gabriele Mockute (Proximity London)
Designer: Mitch Bellach (Proximity London)
Planner: Matthew Linnett (Proximity London)
Business Partner: Matt Brocklesby (Proximity London)
Account Director: Prena Amin (Proximity London)
Account Manager: James Knight (Proximity London)
DATE OF CAMPAIGN May – June 2017
BACKGROUND
When the UK was thrown into a snap election, The Economist had to react. Events like these represent big opportunities to grow its readership. However, the result was seen to be a foregone conclusion and people were 'switching off' from the subject. So the idea was to offer every person in Britain free access to The Economist's alternative perspective to help encourage them to engage and inform their vote.
IDEA
To jolt a numbed electorate and get them reading their election coverage, The Economist reacted to developments as they happened using its trademark wit across out of home, press and even Snapchat. On the morning of the result, they'd worked through the night to produce digital billboards at King's Cross that reflected how destinations from the station had voted mere hours before. The famous red branding was even turned blue, orange or green depending on which party had triumphed (though even The Economist was caught off-guard by Labour's resurgence and how much red they needed to use.)
RESULTS
In a short space of time, the campaign created a huge new audience with almost 170,000 retargettable prospects. 2,878 people chose to pay for a subscription off the back of the activity, delivering a ROMI of £6.47:1