Pundits would have us believe that in modern life there are very few moments where we are not looking at our phones (apart from driving and on escalators). With the exception of single bi-cep curls the gym is place where we look up from our screens. The perfect location to sell Economist subscriptions. Healthy mind, healthy body and all that.
Over two years we ran geographic marketing campaigns in airports, hairdressers, coffee shops, bars and in this instance, takeaways. We partnered with a chain of upmarket salad bars, with a loyal following in the Central Business District. They sell over 45,625 salads in this area, every month. And their coffee sells in significantly larger numbers. The promotion was simple: buy a special Economist salad containing brainfood (pumpkin seeds are good for memory for example) and get a free trail of The Economist. Not only did the promotion get the message to the target audience, but the salad bowls and coffee cups got taken back to the office for even more exposure.
Partnership deals mean you get access to their socials.
The best media is unpaid media. We rolled out a 20 metre long Economist carpet at locations throughout the city and left it there, until asked to move on. Subscription canvassers were near by to get new sign-ups. Also makes for a very shareable selfie.
A sizable amount of The Economist’s revenue comes, of course, from media sales. The subtle art of incentivising the media buyers to buy space in your publication involves premium gifts. Such as The Economist Teddy Bear. Still resident in many homes to this day.
Promoting Economist subscriptions in bars. Sign-up right there and then for a clearer head in the morning.
An ad, but we also made Economist Cubes as corporate gifts.
Guerrilla marketing the Central Business District.
