Advertising
In the late eighties, the Economist hired AMV BBDO, one of London's large advertising agencies. AMV was charged with broadening the newsmagazine's appeal beyond financial industry workers. To do this, AMV phased out advertisements based on the Economist's contents, and introduced feel-good advertising. These new ads made the Economist's advertisers feel that they were targeting a high-end market, made readers feel part of a special club, and made potential readers feel that they were missing out. Today, the 'White out of Red' advertising campaign is legendary. Almost every ad consists of a witticism written in white on a plain red background, usually with 'The Economist' in the bottom right-hand corner. For example: "I never read The Economist." Management trainee, Aged 42.
Read more about this topic: The Economist
Famous quotes containing the word advertising:
“Remove advertising, disable a person or firm from preconising [proclaiming] its wares and their merits, and the whole of society and of the economy is transformed. The enemies of advertising are the enemies of freedom.”
—J. Enoch Powell (b. 1912)
“The susceptibility of the average modern to pictorial suggestion enables advertising to exploit his lessened power of judgment.”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)