Just like other countries in parts of the world, Indonesia — a country of more than 270 million people in the Southeast Asia region — has experienced major impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Things suddenly changed: living habits, patterns of life, and even ways of life. All change, not only for individuals but also for institutions, organisations, and governments.

Many people and organisations want to contribute in positive ways, but what can a media company do? In Indonesia, the call to adopt new habits such as wearing masks, maintaining distance, and washing hands is a movement that continues to be carried out massively. This movement is fully supported by all existing media, including Kompas, the largest national media company in Indonesia.

As a journalism product, Kompas writes about changes in Indonesia from time to time. The newspaper has recorded every transformation, salient decision, and significant step this nation has made. Celebrating its 55th birthday in the midst of the pandemic in June 2020, Kompas used the momentum around that celebration to invite the audience to participate in a social movement that encourages people to reinforce one key habit: wearing masks.

Kompas came out with the idea to publish a special design cover encouraging people to wear their masks. The cover invites audiences to take part in the campaign. To participate interactively, we invited the audience to: 

1. Download Kompas’ June 28, 2020, front page.
2. Take a suitable, full-front-facing photo of themselves.
3. Use the PicsArt application to embed their photo to the downloaded newspaper front page and save it.
4. Upload to Instagram and add a caption about how they are adapting to this “new normal” era.
5. Mention @hariankompas and use the hashtags #Kompas55 and #Kawandalamperubahan.

The content of this special edition was also written as a reference for all Kompas readers in facing the new normal era. The basic idea of the Kompas55Mask campaign was to create a special edition delivered with embedded activity to support brand engagement, product exposure, and best quality content of Kompas precision journalism.

This special edition was created to provide contextual appeal for Kompas to get into the mindset of its audience and meet the goals: engage with society and uplift the sales of Kompas.

Increased advertising and circulation

The Kompas55Mask promotion increased both advertising revenue and circulation numbers. Circulation saw an uplift of about 1% from the same day in the previous week. 

Advertisement revenue on the day of Kompas55Mask promotion increased more than three times compared to the average revenue of Kompas Minggu in April 2020, and more than 23 times compared to the average revenue of Kompas Minggu in May 2020.

The Kompas55Mask promotion also increased the digital performance of Kompas on social media and has been a model for the following Kompas special design projects:

• #WarnaiDuniaAnak, with an interactive frontpage design to celebrate Hari Anak Nasional (National Children Day) on July 23.

• #WajahSolidaritas front page with interactive design for celebrating Indonesia’s Independence Day on August 16.

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