The Guardian: Case study

Credits & Description:

Agency: Oliver
CLIENT The Guardian
PRODUCT Media Sales
MEDIA Direct Mail Pack
COUNTRY UK
DATE OF CAMPAIGN July 2017
BACKGROUND
Our challenge was to get Media Planners across the UK to see The Guardian for what it is: an incredibly powerful and influential media platform.
IDEA
Our ‘educational children’s book’ spelt out what we needed to say in a way even someone who works in Media can understand. “Learn about the world of… The Media Planner”, explains The Guardian’s advertising platform whilst gently (well not so gently) poking fun at the worst excesses of the industry. It delicately lampoons the rise of the right, social justice warriors, nepotism, the gender pay-gap, freedom of speech, farmers’ markets, healthy eating trends, and all that is right and good in this world. The book is a cautionary tale that follows the contrasting fortunes of two sets of planners as they navigate the world of media planning through hangovers, market research and ad misplacement that leads to allegations of racism. And other fun stuff… There’s traditional thinkers Julian and Toby who use an agency data management platform with all the ‘opportunities’ that delivers. And then there’s the forward thinking Claire and David who work with the Guardian because they can target people based on what they actually look at and get results that actually mean stuff. All because they are placing their advertising in a place that has the status to influence its readers to take notice, change their minds and act. Written by those in Media, for those in media, it’s a perfect example of how creative a B2B project can be, and is fast becoming an industry must read, proving that we love nothing more than having a laugh at ourselves.