The Independent on Sunday has launched its first stand-alone
advertising campaign since its launch in 1990, as it bids to position
itself as an alternative Sunday read and build on a recent circulation
boost.
The newspaper is keen to differentiate itself as a young title which
breaks the taboos of traditional Sunday editorial.
The campaign, created by M&C Saatchi, is the IoS’s first foray into
cinema advertising. It seeks to emphasise the recent changes that the
editor, Rosie Boycott, has made to the paper’s format and its news
coverage.
The surreal ads portray ’traditional’ Sunday activities, such as mowing
the lawn, washing and ironing, against a background of death and
stagnation.
The sounds of tolling bells, screams and howling winds are used to
emphasise the sinister nature of the vividly coloured imagery. The
endline reads: ’Sunday’s dead. Are you?’
Boycott said: ’The ads break new ground in Sunday newspaper advertising
just as the newspaper itself is breaking new ground, as shown by our
campaign for the decriminalisation of cannabis.’
Margaret Harvey, the marketing director for the IoS and the Independent,
added: ’This advertising recognises the different personality of the
Sunday newspaper. In the past, advertising has always sat alongside, and
been included with, advertising for the Independent.’
The cinema ads will be backed by a campaign in style magazines that will
include vouchers offering trial of the newspaper, which will run in
London, the South-east, and the Granada and Central TV regions until
December.
There are 40-second and 90-second versions of the commercial, which will
initially run alongside the films, A Life Less Ordinary and Face.
The cinema campaign was written by Keith Bickel and art directed by M&C
Saatchi’s Carlos, who also directed the films through Lonely Man
Productions.
