The Economist

Challenge
Over 170 years old, The Economist is one of the most respected news institutions in the world, with a very specific brand voice and creative guidelines. Within those parameters, JCM Studio was contracted to assist the Acquisitions and Social Media divisions with increasing subscriptions to The Economist as a “newspaper” and digital app via display and social media channels.

Solution
We approached it from the point of view of the reader—what does The Economist offer that the myriad of other news sources online and off don’t? So we focused on the benefits of The Economist brand/product. Yes we’re bombarded by news but it’s more about skimming streams, tickers, video clips or shared posts. But The Economist goes in deep. “You’ve seen the news, now discover the story” was a headline they were not championing in regards to their legendary in-depth analysis in reporting—so we did. As for compelling graphics within The Economist's defined guidelines, the answer came in gaining access to their library of incredible editorial magazine covers. No more creative was needed than to curate captivating editorial images that focused on key current events.

Marrying these together, the results were a better CTR and lower CPA across the board which made the acquisitions team very happy.

Services: Creative Strategy, Creative Direction, Design.