Snapshot

Gordon's challenge was how to engage with their target consumers who were highly likely to ignore traditional advertising for alcohol brands. The solution was an innovative media partnership with the Telegraph based around a new supplement called 'The Friday'.

Objective

The core objective was to motivate increased gin consumption on a Friday night. The brand needed to encourage consumers to swap a glass of wine on a Friday night to a Gordon's Gin and tonic.

Why national newspapers?

For Gordon's target segments, newspapers are a 'soul-mate' medium. They have a high frequency of usage of newspapers and newspapers are a medium they claim they 'couldn't live without'.  This research reinforced the choice of newspapers in the first place and why an integrated format was preferred.

Research from the NMA has shown that newspaper readers are highly engaged and paying attention. With thousands of pages of fresh content every day newspapers reflect the range of their readers' interests. As such, newspapers also offer the opportunity for creating bespoke editorial that reflects a brand's values, engaging readers with relevant, interesting and topical content.

Campaign Description

Gordon's and the Telegraph created an integrated campaign around a supplement. Called 'The Friday,' the supplement communicated that Friday is a perfect occasion for Gordon's as the aperitif to the weekend.

To create a visually integrated proposition, Gordon's created a bespoke masthead for 'The Friday' which incorporated elements from the Telegraph & Gordon's logos. Content included "trends for the weekend", "TV dinners", "Saturday night in", "Start of something special" and which all linked back to the over-arching theme of allowing Gordon's to help you make the most of your weekend.

'The Friday' supplement was distributed with the Daily Telegraph for six weeks and an additional 100,000 copies were handed out on Friday afternoons at 25 train stations across the UK. The first 50,000 copies handed out each week were also given a lime.
The campaign was replicated online at Telegraph.co.uk/TheFriday where for the first time ever the Telegraph site's standard 'blue' format was turned Gordon's green. Content in 'The Friday' drove readers online to the microsite.

Results

Research highlighted that Daily Telegraph readers could see themselves happily reading the supplement on the commute home and that they liked the aesthetics of 'The Friday' which was seen to fit well with both the image of The Telegraph and Gordon's Gin.

Over 44,000 people entered the competitions hosted on the micro-site over a 6 week period with 40%  opting in to hear more from Gordon's Gin. Integrating Gordon's so closely and seamlessly with The Daily Telegraph audience drove higher response levels and allowed Gordon's to be front of mind, without overly selling to this audience which would not have been appropriate, or as effective.

The ad was nominated in the Creative Media Partnership category of the 2009 Awards for National Newspaper Advertising. You can find out more about the awards at The ANNAs website.