NMA: Opening up newspapers…

Ten years ago we helped launch the Newspaper Marketing Agency as well as the ANNAs (Awards for National Newspaper Advertising).

The NMA was set up by a group of major UK newspapers to help promote advertising in what was then viewed as a medium in decline.

It was seen as a overly traditional channel when there were other newer, more trackable ones to play with.

Since then so much has happened.

The inevitable rise of digital advertising (as of today, Google’s ad revenue now outstrips ITV in the UK for the first time), paywalls etc means that newspaper advertising arguably faces is toughest time yet.

BUT curiously the inverse is true and newspapers can offer more targeted campaigns as well as successfully supporting broader conversations in the media mix of digital, TV and newsprint.

Newspapers reach 8 out of 10 people in the UK every week.

They can now offer more targeted campaigns than ever as well as successfully supporting broader conversations in the media mix of digital, TV and print.

We can all name great newspaper ads, but can you recall a significant digital ‘classic’ that isn’t supported or lead by other media?

Ten years ago, the identity we created was all about highlighting the uniqueness of newspapers and ‘quality in print’.

Today this seems a bit defensive, especially when newspaper advertising can enrich experiences and develop conversations alongside all the other channels competing for our attention.

To reflect this new age of converging conversations, we have evolved the NMA into a brighter new world of adaptive colourful dialogue.

The conversation that has always been present on the letters pages of the papers is now visible throughout the digital newspaper ecosystem. The broadcast approach to branding is no longer appropriate, it needs to flex to adapt to be part of the bigger conversation, not limited to a one way monologue so often seen in traditional branding.

What ever you call it, multi-channel / transmedia / convergence … the digital age offers newspapers the chance to be reborn as the most engaging and dynamic channels for readers and advertisers… because they create what we crave, content that is timely and effortless to consume.

We didn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. We kept all the good bits that gave the original it’s authority and detail.

We gave it a world to play in by introducing broad overlays of colour that come from the faceted detail in the enhanced brand mark.

These can be changed and adapted for whatever content it covers.

We’ve created a new BrandWorld that enables communications of any kind to be intelligently branded everywhere — without relying on traditional one dimensional badging.

It becomes more human and approachable as a result.

A revitalised, re-energised NMA for a brighter future.

Maureen Duffy — CEO of the Newspaper Marketing Agency said of the branding ‘We’ve been working with SomeOne for over 10 years and in that time they have continually over-delivered — here they have created not only a refreshed and exciting visual brand identity for us, but a way we can coherently connect the many parts of our offer’

http://www.someoneinlondon.com/category/projects/nma-opening-up-newspapers