SMH LAUNCHES ‘CREATURES’ TRADE CAMPAIGN VIA HOST/THE GLUE SOCIETY

A controversial new campaign has been launched informing advertisers and media agencies that there’s more to the readers of The Sydney Morning Herald than they might have once thought.

The Creatures campaign, produced by Host and The Glue Society, showcases the interesting lifestyles and opinions that best define those people who read The Sydney Morning Herald.

The campaign showcases the lives of six ‘interesting creatures’, all of whom have very different lifestyles and opinions, yet read The Sydney Morning Herald because of the daily inspiration it feeds them. They personify the actual readership of the newspaper and the insight into their lives reveals that they’re a diverse and interesting group.

Work on the campaign began in late 2005 when readership figures confirmed that the audience of The Sydney Morning Herald, which had predominantly been categorised as an AB publication, spanned wider than this core. It was felt that Sydney Morning Herald readers were more completely defined by their opinions and attitudes as well as the traditional demographic measure. They read The Sydney Morning Herald because they enjoy the varied and intelligent content across its sections and magazines.

The dedicated, high profile brand campaign of 6 iconic Creatures, includes – Noteboom, Wilhelmina, Mifamwe, Finbaar, Persephone and Barnaby – with distinctive personalities, careers, and lifestyles. The campaign is aimed to engage its target audience of key media agencies and staff, with the thematic line:

All Kinds Of Interesting Creatures Read The Sydney Morning Herald.

“Our family of Creatures have been devised to create intrigue and engagement with our target audience in their working environment,” said Elizabeth Ross, Trade Marketing and Insights Director for Fairfax. “We will use the six exceptional Creatures especially developed for this campaign – who embody key reader demographics and attributes – to communicate the relationships, strengths and effectiveness of The Sydney Morning Herald with the most attractive audiences in greater Sydney.”

The creative team was excited by the challenge of getting a media savvy audience, with a strongly held opinion of The Sydney Morning Herald, to reappraise the paper. For such a task, an interesting and engaging campaign was essential.

The result is a strong media neutral idea that will run out across print, online and direct marketing.

The Creatures have a lively home in cyberspace:

www.interestingcreatures.com.au

The site is complete with profiles, their interests and passions, networking and blogs.

Ms Ross said the Creatures Campaign comprises extensive trade marketing activity including the packaging of sections of the paper with the Creatures to seed key messages, and print and online promotional activity. There will be print ands banner ads on the smh.com.au home page, and public relations awareness.

The production techniques have been a first for many on the international team that includes Jon Burgerman, the renowned UK based illustrator who designed the creatures; local retouching studio Cream, who developed the characters into their 3D form; and Thunderdog Studios in New York who are producing a line of collectible toys.

Host Managing Director, Anthony Freedman, said “With so many partners, a tight working team with a collaborative and flexible approach has been vital to the success of the campaign. Fairfax, Host and The Glue Society have worked closely as partners over the past year, to ensure that every element has met their joint creative, communication and business objectives.”

Says The Glue Society’s ECD, Jonathan Kneebone: “In many respects, the readers of a newspaper create its brand personality. The Sydney Morning Herald is unique in Australia as it has a very active readership – people who don’t just sit there, but do things. We needed an idea which could bring the richness of our audience to life in a wholly engaging way.”

Adds art director, Pete Baker: “Creating a range of creatures reflecting the audience’s diversity and complexity without resorting to stereotype has been both fun and challenging. As new features and sections evolve so our range of creatures will broaden over time.”