“London leads the world for technology, design and style, everything we produce from here on will reflect the city we represent,” said editor Emily Sheffield.
At an event this morning, the Evening Standard showcased its new vision ‘Setting the New Standard’, featuring some of the great voices behind its brand.
CEO Charles Yardley kicked-off the session by explaining how the business will evolve over the next months and how it is responding to the needs of its partners and readers.
In addition to external changes, its new strategy has encouraged the news brand to look inwards to rethink diversity and inclusion and how its teams collaborate. Commenting on the transformation, he said that the news brand now has a “start-up mentality that happened to be found in 1927”.
This was later reflected in Sheffield’s ‘Editor’s vision’ presentation where she remarked: “In 2021, we are continuing to act fast, be brave and innovate, with an entrepreneur’s attitude to growth.”
She unveiled her editorial strategy – that included campaigning for Londoners, growing globally and engaging with more readers – which ensures that the news brand reflects the city it serves.
At the heart of it all is a love of London. Sheffield herself who has lived in the city since she was 19 years old, added: “The warmth, pride, community and loyalty I feel for this city and this incredible legacy brand, this is something I will thread throughout the Standard every day.”
Commercial director James White echoed this sentiment with the commercial mission of the news brand: “We are the voice of modern London. The destination for brands to connect with valuable audiences through engaging and inspiring content in the capital, the UK and the globe.”
Bringing that mission to life, chief client officer Deborah Rosenegk provided examples of editorial campaigns that have translated into commercial partnerships. She mentioned Future London’s Clean Air initiative together with Uber highlighting the city’s need for a greener recovery and a partnership with Google that provided free digital skills training to thousands of Londoners.
In another presentation, investigations and campaigning officer David Cohen spoke about why journalism matters to him and the importance of trusted information to rebalance society. He said: “Journalism matters because truth matters. And truth matters because we need to hold power to account.
“Journalism is not only the first draft of history but also the first line of fire in an attempt to keep society fair, as well as honest.”
At the final session of the day, we heard from trade marketing and insight director Katie Ingram, chief content officer Dan Locke and chief product officer Paul Mikhailov talking about the emerging trends they have spotted in the market and how they can work with brands to respond to them.
The team also launched the second edition of the Be London’s Headline competition that invites brands to send their submissions to be in with a chance of winning a cross-platform campaign to appear across the news brand on a day of their choosing.
In case you missed it, watch the event on catch up here.
