Fairfax launches one of its ‘biggest campaigns ever’ for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald
Fairfax has launched what it claims is one of biggest brand campaigns in its history to promote flagship newspapers The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
The campaign for Sydney’s SMH is taglined ‘Know No Boundaries’ while Melbourne’s The Age carries the slogan ‘Forever Curious’.
The strategy of keeping the two mastheads distinct comes just days after former Fairfax editor-in-chief Andrew Jaspan said that the plan to take the newspapers tabloid would effectively merge the two titles, a suggestion that was angrily refuted by Fairfax’s editorial director yesterday.
The ads were the result of consumer research that found that SMH readers are firm believers in individuality of thought, while The Age readers are forever looking to understand the world around them better, according to a press release.
Creative work for twin campaign, which will run on TV, cinema, outdoor, print and digital, as well as cafe and office tower digital screens, was carried out by the Sydney and Melbourne offices of Whybin\TBWA.
Fairfax Metro Media’s head of marketing and communications, Robert Whitehead, said: “As our business prepares for a number of significant product changes and innovations this year, it was important for us to do a major review of our most trusted mastheads.”
“We have done a great deal of work not only to understand the needs of our audiences around news consumption but also to get insight into how we can also best position our mastheads into this exciting and challenging time for media.”
“The research findings were the foundations for these new brand campaigns that we are confident will not only resonate with our audiences, but also cement what they love about these two incredibly powerful mastheads,” he said.
Creative credits:
- Strategy – The Lab Strategy
- Agency – Whybin\TBWA Melbourne and Sydney
- Ben Saunders – Director for The Age cinema and TVCs
- Luke Savage – Director for The Sydney Morning Herald cinema and TVCs
I’m speechless…
User ID not verified.
“Know no boundaries”? Except for the boundary separating their left wing propaganda from legitimate journalism.
User ID not verified.
not so sure about theSMH positioning but do love the cabbie press ad for the Age – kudos to the writer – nice copy that brings a great insight to life
User ID not verified.
@ 2. Hoin
they still employ Gerard Henderson & Paul Sheehan to write columns you have got to be kidding.
User ID not verified.
web | print | ….. where’s the newspaper?
User ID not verified.
pretty sure newspapers are printed…
User ID not verified.
Regardless of the merits of any adverts, unless Fairfax supply quality editorial, this will all count for nothing. In fact the material promises even better content, so let’s see how an ever smaller staff can do this.
User ID not verified.
SHM ads just look like they are going down the rabbit hole …
User ID not verified.
@James – Print is the newspaper, as in it’s a piece of print.
User ID not verified.
Its good to see the traditional Australian press starting to understand that their role is no longer ink on paper, one way journalism – but being facilitators of conversation. Both of these spots are a start in the right direction and diversify the brands from their historical medium (Print). They still fall well short of the current best practice work The Guardian produced last year – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDGrfhJH1P4
User ID not verified.
Weird voice over…what’s with that accent?
User ID not verified.
I have seen student films better than that SMH ad
User ID not verified.
The boundary for the SMH is somewhere just beyond Balmain – any where west of there and it may as well be Outer Hotentotland. Their inner city reporter types who dare to venture into such wilderness need to take a perfectly packed cut lunch, from a trendy Surry Hills restaurant, of course, and a compass to find their way home.
User ID not verified.
If I know ‘No boundaries’ it means I know boundaries.
User ID not verified.