The Times Campaign Drives Digital Subscriptions | The Truth is Hard
Brief Introduction
For more than 160 years, The New York Times has been in pursuit of quality journalism.
As subscriptions have dwindled and public trust in news has declined, The New York Times has been trying to remind everyone of the importance of quality journalism and the independence of truth by defending itself against escalating anti-journalism rhetoric and sorting out its own image of news as being truthful.
The New York Times kicked off its “Truth is Hard” branding campaign. It was the first branding campaign the Times had done in a decade.
This famous spot debuted during the 2017 Oscars and attracted a lot of attention.
The media elements involved included the Academy Awards, TV commercials, social ads (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and other channels), related products, and outdoor ads.
Since the campaign’s debut in 2017, The New York Times has seen a leap in both free and paid subscriptions. It also won accolades from the Drum Digital Trading Awards, the Cannes Lions, and D&AD Pencils, etc. The “The Truth Is Hard” campaign garnered 5.12 billion views and $16.8 million in media value.
Enjoy this content together that speaks most to me
It is rare to find a video that operates on such a heady level in just 30 seconds!
The video focuses on confusing news in black on white, with different critical voices, challenging viewers to reevaluate their relationship with the truth.
Each sentence in the film begins with “The Truth is” and flashes through many contradictory statements, such as “The truth is woman should wear like a woman” and “The truth is woman’s rights are human rights.” Just as the background cacophony of criticism grows more and more violent, the voice gathers way to a few simple piano notes.
The whole message came in like a tidal wave and caught me off guard. I was captivated by the clarity and power of the words and the confusing critique of ideas coming from the voices.
It tells a story that pulled me in
Of course, the output of this content is accompanied by the use of push marketing. The video has appeared in area dedicated to paid advertising, which is why The New York Times has achieved a leap in subscriptions
However, this campaign still focused more on pull marketing, and such influential content allowed consumers to educate themselves and develop more loyal followers by focusing on the credibility and reliability of their own organization. I was pulled in by the influential content, the powerful videos, and the co-marketing campaigns on social media.
This shareable content fits the overall message of the brand
Their mission and values have always been clear about the role of a free press and the importance of reporting the facts. In this “The Truth is Hard” campaign, they emphasized the value and importance of journalism and proved themselves as a trusted source of information. So the whole campaign is focused on the brand’s message and is an effective and accurate output.
The content of this campaign makes me realize that good advertising not only makes people feel good when they see it, but even encourages people to do more research and reflection after watching it.
Everyone around the world deserves to understand the importance of a free press to the health of democracy, and that is why this is something worth sharing forever.
