Over the past year, we’ve seen huge political, economic and environmental change around the world. And as events have unfolded, the UK’s news brands have been there to report on and explain what’s happening. Amid rising fake news online, they’ve been an essential source of trusted quality information for millions of readers.
It’s clear that news brands are as important and relevant now as they’ve ever been. Relevant for readers that rely on their trusted news and insight, and relevant for brands looking for a media environment that is both safe and delivers essential engagement.
What’s more, the quality of great ad campaigns combined with quality journalism enhances that consumer experience and engagement. While there’s much quoted around the rise of ad free environments due to bad advertising, it’s important to note that when news brand advertising is done well, it’s not only complementary but can enhance that environment for readers — whether that’s through contextual innovations or clever content.
As a judge at this year’s Newsworks Awards, I saw all this first hand. I saw an industry that’s had to continually adapt and innovate, while all the while preserving its heritage. I also saw several key themes emerge about today’s news brand industry and what it offers advertisers.
Trust has never been more important
Understanding who we can trust and seeking out the truth is more important than ever. Fake news is now all around us and more of us are starting to distrust what we’re reading and watching online. We’ve seen a surge in conspiracy theories and hate speech, and this has the potential to change what we think and how we behave. In fact, a fifth of Brits now believe that fake news and misinformation are the greatest challenges that we face.
So, it’s in this climate of fake news and misinformation that professional journalism, with its fact checking and accountability, is so important for readers and advertisers alike. Many of us now place trust in news brands to uphold truth and to hold our institutions to account. And greater trust leads to greater action. Because of news brands’ credibility, not only are we more likely to read a news story, we are also more inclined to share it and talk to others about it.
This trusted relationship with news brands provides a good environment for brands, where some of that trust can rub off on them. I saw several entries at this year’s awards where brands had specifically chosen news brands as trust was cited as a key enabler of campaign success.
Nationwide’s ‘Branch Promise’ campaign is a great example. Run entirely for the benefit of its members, not shareholders, trust is a core principle for Nationwide Building Society. In contrast to the major banks, Nationwide had promised to keep every branch open until at least 2028 and it needed the right media environment to advertise this. With journalists reporting on bank closures, Nationwide wanted to leverage news brands’ status as a trusted source of information. Its brand manifesto advertising ran on inside front cover DPS formats across national newspapers and in multiple formats on digital news platforms. The society saw uplifts across all metrics including brand health, advertising awareness, and purchase intent.
Context is driving attention and engagement
A lot has been written in recent months about context and contextual targeting. With media fragmentation, the huge growth in online content and consumers becoming more resistant to interruptive advertising, placing ads in relevant contexts has become increasingly important to drive cut-through and engagement.
Covering everything from hard news, sport and entertainment through to personal finance, fashion and gardening, news brands have long provided contextually relevant environments and formats for brands. Contextual advertising has been shown to drive attention and help deliver on brand KPIs such as relevance and consideration. Sophistications in contextual targeting also now means that brands can conduct sentiment analysis and target messages based on the tone and emotion of that content.
So, not surprisingly, the judges saw some pretty smart use of context and contextual targeting. Boots stood out with its seasonal campaign for hay fever and sun care products. The retailer was clear that it needed to show up at the right time, in the right context to drive sales.
Boots partnered with publisher Reach and using Mantis, its AI-powered tool, was able to scan content to find the right contextual environments for ad placement. Reach also monitored editorial across its titles before they went to print to identify contextually relevant articles. Boots was able to tap into cultural moments, tailoring headlines in ads to the specific editorial. The campaign saw Boots increase its share of the suncare market, even though sales across the market were down.
Partnerships are driving creative opportunities
Like other well-established areas of media, news brands have had to think outside of the box to deliver attractive commercial options for advertisers. Clearly this has resulted in new and non-standard advertising formats, but it has also given rise to creative partnerships. Publishers have partnership teams focused on creating bespoke content for advertisers.
Partnerships are fast becoming a staple of commercial activity and enable an advertiser and their agencies to work with an editorial team on branded content solutions. Done well, these partnerships lean into the editorial values of the news brand and deliver authentic content, written in a relevant tone of voice that resonates more strongly with readers.
To be honest, we saw a lot of great partnership-based campaigns at this year’s awards, but here are two examples. McDonald’s was still suffering from the health issues raised in the film ‘Super Size Me’ two decades ago. To change consumer perception, McDonald’s partnered with The Times to playfully highlight the outdated views of the 90s and 00s. ‘Keep up with The Times’ saw the news brand’s broadsheet brought back to life as an innovative fold-out with stories from the archives. Trust in the McDonald’s brand hit an all-time high as a result of the campaign.
Another great partnership saw hot sauce brand Encona team up with The Guardian. The brand was suffering from a perceived lack of differentiation in the category and so worked with the news brand to create a ‘World of Flavour’ — a series of 60-second recipe videos featuring talent, social teasers, online articles, food takeovers and a quiz. The campaign boasted high dwell time and engagement and communicated the uniqueness of the product range.
The importance of telling powerful stories in marketing
In today’s fast-paced and cluttered media world, one of the most important tenets of modern marketing is to tell powerful stories that capture the hearts and minds of your audience. News brands are all about storytelling. They educate, entertain and inform, and cover a multitude of topics from all possible angles.
While hard news is sometimes bad news, it’s vital. And it’s this powerful and essential storytelling that delivers engaged readers and higher dwell times. News brands are also there covering all the important events in our lives — sport, entertainment and the occasional royal wedding.
Judging the awards, I saw several examples of advertisers leveraging the storytelling potential of news brands to drive awareness and engagement, but also as a platform to tell their own important stories. Charity MSI Reproductive Choices was relatively unknown in the UK and so decided to tell its important story in a storytelling environment. The women that MSI supports face a lack of choice, so the charity’s Christmas campaign told that story in ads placed next to seasonal gift guides — obvious displays of plenty — across The Guardian, The Observer, The Times and The Sunday Times.
Multiplatform campaigns are delivering better results
The final trend from the awards — and arguably one of the most important — is the growth of multiplatform campaigns on news brands. As news and content consumption habits have changed, so too have the publishing strategies of news brands.
News brands have moved from well-established print newspapers to a broader suite of connected content platforms. UK news brands are now present across online, apps, newsletters, social media, events, as well as audio and video. It’s all part of their strategy to publish quality content anywhere, any time and in ways that best suit reader — and advertiser — needs.
The majority of campaigns that won at the Newsworks Awards ran across several platforms. Usually print and online, but sometimes into other platforms and in bespoke formats. For its Christmas campaign, Boots was looking to take on competitors and beat revenue targets. The retailer worked with Mail Metro Media, Reach, News UK and The Guardian to activate high impact print formats targeting shoppers. It also leveraged MMM’s digital capabilities to target key segments of the retailer’s Advantage Card membership with dynamic and shoppable formats. The extension into highly targeted digital was one of the most successful parts of the campaign.
Similarly, Morrisons wanted to tell a broader audience about its Market Street offering, so it created a multiplatform campaign to engage new customers. Starting with integrations into hero recipes with BBC Good Food, the supermarket then broadened out to news brands running articles and recipe columns on both print and digital across titles including metro.co.uk, MailOnline and the Mail on Sunday’s YOU magazine.
What all of these winning campaigns demonstrate is the ongoing importance and relevance of news brands as an advertising and content platform for brands. The marketing success that I and the other judges saw repeatedly across the entries is testament to a news brand industry that has adapted and innovated to provide readers and advertisers with what they want, when they want it and in ways that suit our changing lifestyles.
Congratulations to all the winning brands, their agencies and the news brands they worked with.
Click here for more details of the winning entries and to see pictures of the Newsworks Awards 2024 event.
This article was first published in InPublishing magazine. If you would like to be added to the free mailing list to receive the magazine, please register here.
