How do you make a new generation fall in love with one of New Zealand’s longest-published and most influential mastheads without alienating those who have always loved it?

That was the challenge we at Stuff Group faced as we worked to rebrand The Dominion Post — the newspaper of the country’s capital, Wellington — ahead of a major push to grow digital audience and subscriptions for the masthead.

The result was a rebrand so attention-grabbing that even The Dominion Post’s fiercest competitors were forced to cover it.

Reinvigorating for a bright digital future

New Zealand is reckoning with its dark colonial past, and Stuff Group has taken a leadership role in acknowledging and apologising for past wrongs against the country’s indigenous Māori population.

The Dominion Post was first published in 1907 — a time of deep injustice for Māori people — and the name celebrated the British Empire’s dominion over New Zealand and the country’s allegiance to the Crown.

The newspaper leapt into a new era by dropping the word dominion from its title and became simply The Post.

The Post also incorporated the Māori language into its title, making it a dual language masthead reflecting the indigenous language of Aotearoa New Zealand: Te Upoko o te Ika.

Support for a bold decision

Although the move was not without risk — loss of readers who didn’t like the stance, advertisers feeling uncomfortable, and negative noise on social media — the rebrand was a resounding success. No advertiser walked, subscribers stayed, and new ones signed up. The plaudits for the change were overwhelmingly positive.

The bold decision to rebrand a heritage masthead embraces the aspiration and uniqueness of New Zealand and the independence of Stuff’s journalists, while still acknowledging that heritage. It also met the changing needs of The Post’s audience and advertising partners.

A newspaper for the nation

The rebrand also came with a repositioning of the newspaper’s newsroom and content as a capital newspaper and Web site, doubling down on political coverage and Wellington issues.

The renewed focus drew in bigger national audiences and a fiercer reputation for agenda-setting journalism while balancing the needs of local, loyal readers. The Post is a newspaper for the nation, not just the city.

Stuff used our assets to promote the rebrand and announced the change with a special wrap around the final print edition of The Dominion Post, celebrating the masthead’s history and building anticipation for the future.

The rebrand campaign captured the imagination of existing and new audiences. Subscription acquisition across print and digital was 359% up over the four weeks of the campaign. It also captured media attention, generating more than NZ$1 million in media exposure, significantly amplifying our paid- and owned-media campaign.

The campaign helped the Post secure its position as a proudly independent news source bringing the country the news from the heart of decision-making in New Zealand. 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .