Journalism provides readers with trusted spaces to discover quality content and advertisers the opportunity to increase their trust credentials
Chaired by Newsworks’ director of agency and client services Niki West on Friday, the session focussed on how news brands can be used to positively provoke growth for Wavemaker clients. West was joined on the panel by the i’s editorial director Amy Iggulden and Wavemaker’s managing partner Oliver Halliwell.
Halliwell could not have been clearer about news brands’ value to advertisers: “Brands who use news brands in their campaigns are more trusted than those who don’t: that’s a fact,” he said. “By including news brands in our plans, we can reach people who are in [a] different mindset, [a] mindset of discovery,” he added.
Halliwell praised the news brand industry’s ‘All together’ campaign for its longevity and importance in informing the public during the pandemic. He also cited another campaign which, with the inclusion of news brands as part of a change to a long-term channel mix, increased ROI by 5%.
The panellists said news brands’ digital platforms offer great opportunities both editorially and commercially. For editorial teams, “it’s absolutely brilliant because you get to do more, more often”, said Iggulden.
When her team investigated and wrote case stories for trapped Afghans after the Kabul evacuation, digital enabled the team to “do more of them and reach more people”, all while remaining a trusted source with a reputation for quality journalism.
For Halliwell, digital means meeting vital young audiences where they are consuming media. He acknowledged that news brands figure in those habits.
He pointed out that “74% of 18-34-year-olds turn to news brands for a balanced point of view and 78% agree that news brands introduce them to stories that they just wouldn’t have otherwise come across”, citing Newsworks’ World Without News research.
Halliwell interpreted young consumers’ news consumption as a sort of “snacking” across the day and said that planners should take these behaviours into consideration.
The speakers concluded that UK journalism is a vital resource that needs to be protected and championed. “We need to remember how lucky we are” with the plurality of our press, said Iggulden, drawing comparisons with constant attacks on the Belarusian press.
Halliwell said that brands should continue to invest in journalism, adding that news brands are a “a beacon of truth”, which advertisers can use to drive effectiveness and “help society”.
