NZME has released its latest campaign for the NZ Herald, showing its focus and dedication to fuelling the minds of its readers. Here, we talk to group creative director, Graham Dolan, about the campaign’s fresh direction.
The new campaign communicates the Heralds goal quickly and cleanly; helping Kiwis make sense of today.
The creative campaign is a joint effort between NZME’s marketing, editorial and group creative teams. Group creative director Graham Dolan says the creative idea came from the need to provide their readers clarity in a busy news environment.
“The crux of the idea is the portrayal of the collective headspace. There’s a lot going on right now, so our challenge was to distil the incessant chatter and commentary into executions that sum up the times we live in as clearly as we could.”
Dolan, who worked alongside creatives John Pelasio and Graham Stride on the campaign says it is part of the companies ‘Trust in Print’ direction.
“It’s a strategic initiative to remind people that, despite the rise of social media and other channels, there is still a place for the clear, unbiased presentation of the facts that good New Zealand journalism is known for.”
Dolan says what important for them is the immediacy the messaging gets across, with ‘making sense of today’ definitely sparking an instant message.
“We feel that the visual execution is so disruptive and intriguing that, at the very least, it gives the audience pause for thought. To us, the outtake is that The Herald helps you get your head around the important issues.
“The other aspect that we’ve been pleased with has been our team’s ability to weave a raft of these issues into each piece. The longer you look at each ad in the series, the more the campaign reveals,” says Dolan.
Dolan says the creative team hopes the campaign resonates with readers, current and future.
“We really hope that it stops people in their tracks and provokes thought and engagement with the news and all its implications. The way we see it, the more informed we all are about the issues that affect us, the better. That’s what The Herald’s here for and what it does so well.”
NZME NZ Herald Campaign:
Creative Team – John Pelasio, Graham Stride, Graham Dolan
Marketing Team – Katie Mills, Sheryl Dunlop, Mandie Strachan
