The Mirror

To help the Mirror become a true challenger to The Sun, rather than just a generic alternative, with a distinctive positioning that would reconnect with lapsed readers.

For decades the Sun had defined the tabloid agenda with its boobs, casual racism and regressive views, whilst the Mirror had become ever more irrelevant, at best defined by being ‘not The Sun’.

We wanted to help the brand rediscover what had always set it apart: award winning journalism, and a deeper, more rounded point of view that made the Mirror the ‘intelligent tabloid’.

Building on this counterintuitive truth with an unpatronising sense of humour, we brought the Mirror’s intelligent difference to life across multiple campaigns.

We employed illusions that MadeYouThink about the world in new ways, suggested that people Don’tSayStupid by avoiding other tabloids, developed longer-form content that challenged the political establishment, and delivered more tactical, but still thought-provoking activations in support of specific supplements.

At a time when red top newspaper sales were under pressure, we helped maintain physical sales (and so ad revenues) in a declining sector, and were credited with building a “momentum for financial growth” in the company’s annual report.