Moving content helps Courier-Mail tell advertiser’s story, build brand, donations

By Belinda MacPherson

News Corp Australia

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

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News Corp Australia Courier-Mails execution of its Legacy Brisbane 2015 Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) Gallipoli Centenary campaign is a successful example of the power of an in-house creative collaboration.

With the aim to share stories, honour ANZAC heroes, and engage commercial partners such as Legacy Brisbane, the publishing house created a multi-channel campaign encompassing deep, rich content that was interactive and engaging.

News Corp shares Legacy Brisbane's support of fallen heroes and those they left behind.
News Corp shares Legacy Brisbane's support of fallen heroes and those they left behind.

The proactive opportunity with a six-month sales cycle began with a phone call, and resulted in Legacy Brisbane achieving its largest acquisition of new donors on record. The brief that unfolded was simple: to pull on the heartstrings of Queenslanders via quality content across multiple platforms.

Driving acquisition of new donors was key, while also reminding previous donors of the valued support they provided the families of fallen service men and women.

The team of advertising, creative, and editorial departments came up with a campaign outline based on planned editorial coverage of the 100th anniversary of the World War I Battle of Gallipoli.

They developed a series of keepsakes and content which aligned to The Courier-Mail coverage of the centenary, including five elements across print, digital, and social media platforms:

  • Medals poster sponsorship: a gloss services medals poster, a keepsake for years to come.

  • Sons of Gallipoli, a century of ANZAC sponsorship: a commemorative 40-page magazine marking the contribution of Australians to the ANZAC campaign; featuring a detailed analysis of how our troops came to be involved in the fight for the Dardanelles, poignant letters and diaries of Australians who took part, and key battles with graphics depicting how these unfolded and how Queenslanders kept the home fires burning.

  • Heritage wrap sponsorship: a broadsheet delivery with the page design replicating The Courier-Mail masthead as per World War I, written and portrayed in the style of the era.

  • Digital long form sponsorship: custom-built, interactive long form digital designed to engage readers in the soldiers’ lives and learn about the conditions they had fought in; this encouraged the audience to interact and support the Legacy cause.

  • Couriermail.com.au homepage buy outs and a general CPM campaign: designed to further build brand recognition and direct response through the ANZAC centenary period.

Legacy Brisbane ads featured on Courier Mail site for ANZAC centenary.
Legacy Brisbane ads featured on Courier Mail site for ANZAC centenary.

The campaign’s challenge was to show relevant and engaging content ahead of time, while the creative elements across each platform needed to encourage an emotional response. The team executed the theme of storytelling to promote this, capitalising on the vast experience of the editorial department. 

Considerations for the creative included:

  • Integrating real Legacy families into the content.

  • Telling the story of the families Legacy has assisted.

  • Strong brand and brand positioning to drive donor engagement.

  • Delving back in time for the Heritage wrap creative and building it to align with the content and design of 100 years ago.

  • Researching and extracting content from the News Corp story archives, images, and details of Legacy across the last century.

Social media buzz around executions such as the Heritage wrap gave Legacy’s message global coverage, resulting in a delighted client and a lift in brand recognition.

Legacy was thrilled with News Corp’s campaign and the implementation of its creative, as well as the results it has measured to date including paid and earned media outcomes.

According to the charity, it is 150% ahead of its result from the previous year and has already outpaced its own records as well as every other state in new donor acquisition.

The campaign News Corp Queensland created influenced the hearts of the intended audience by producing rich, relevant, and timely content creatively executed via multiple platforms.

Drawing on talent from key departments within the company, the campaign resulted in the client exceeding their acquisition targets and building brand recognition while educating the community on the support Legacy provides the families of fallen servicemen and women.

About Belinda MacPherson

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