The Economist – British Election

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

Our Thoughts

More politics! But in this campaign, The Economist has maintained a fine tradition of being a neutral, if slightly acid, observer.

What I like about it is the use of outdoor as well as online. Not everyone is glued to their mobiles. For some people, The Economist's posters (at the railway station, on the poster-vans) would have been the first they knew of their area's vote.

No doubt many were shocked. (Though perhaps they shouldn't have been, given that shocking results is becoming standard now at elections everywhere.)

This is a brand – and an agency – that understands relevance. Good stuff.