Case studies

Despite 96% of the population either reading, listening to or watching news, advertisers have become more averse to placing their ads within news environments.

Netflix was launching ‘The Diamond Heist’, Guy Ritchie’s first documentary, retelling the attempted Millennium Dome robbery.

For decades, Tesco has delivered market-leading deals on its weekly groceries.

ALDI has long held the crown as the go-to for supermarket value.

‘Outrageous’, a drama about the rule-breaking Mitford sisters, was one of UKTV’s priority programme launches.

Football is Britain’s most loved sport and Walkers are Britain’s most loved crisps.

Donald Trump’s second term began with the return of the ‘Global Gag Rule’, cutting US funding to NGOs that provide or advocate for abortion services.

Butcher’s launched its ‘Healthy Heart’ dog food range in late 2022 to help owners make a more proactive choice in the health of their dogs.

Macmillan Cancer Support relies on legacy gifts to fund frontline services.

The UK faces a growing health crisis, with the NHS under immense strain.

For ALDI, return on investment is the ultimate media proof point.

Encona has been a household staple for many years, ranked third in the Hot & BBQ Sauces category.

In 2024, British Gas began sponsoring Team GB and ParalympicsGB in a five-year partnership stretching over major events from Paris 2024 to Los Angeles 2028.

Quality Meat Scotland’s (QMS) mission is to develop Scotland’s red meat sector by driving demand for its trusted and authentic Scotch brands, which are underpinned by quality assurance.

Well-liked and trusted, Nationwide was held in high esteem by consumers in 2023.

Cigarette butts account for 66% of all littered items in the UK.

Coventry Building Society (CBS) cares about its members’ savings — so much so, it worried marketing would be a waste of their money.

In 2023, Boots faced a tough festive season, with the cost-of-living crisis and fierce competition in beauty from Amazon, specialists and supermarkets.

Morrisons sources directly from British farms and fisheries and makes more fresh food in store than any other supermarket, all delivered through its Market Street counters.

Summer 2024 was the ultimate season of sport, with the Euros, Wimbledon, Olympics and Paralympics all taking place.

Back in the early 2000s, the health issues raised in the film ‘Supersize Me’ dominated the headlines for McDonald’s.

Suicide prevention charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) teamed up with MoneySuperMarket to understand how to get people talking about financial difficulties and mental health.

Nationwide Building Society is scaled, trusted and run entirely for the benefit of its members, not shareholders.

Boots is the leading retailer for seasonal health products.

Charity MSI Reproductive Choices (MSI) provides contraception and abortion for women worldwide.

The success of a DEC appeal is dependent on the support of multiple stakeholders, including news and broadcast partners.

Aviva discovered that its audience found taking action around their finances hard to do.

Home is much more than four walls; it is also about the town you live in.

Despite heightened financial pressures, one thing was clear: customers were determined to celebrate an eagerly anticipated Christmas with their families, according to Asda’s Pulse of the Nation.

Trust is a key driver of choice in the healthcare category.

Research revealed a key challenge to GambleAware’s vision of keeping everyone safe from gambling harm: 75% of people experiencing gambling problems feel stigma and shame.

Sarson’s was losing relevance with younger audiences and seeing a trend towards lower quality alternatives due to the cost-of-living crisis.

At the outset, Boots decided to partner with a news brand as they needed a trusted source of educational content to meet campaign objectives.

Scottish Widows wanted to put the gender pension gap back on the agenda for International Women’s Day, despite having half its usual budget.

For the King’s coronation, Burger King wanted to play on its cheeky tone and its link with the name ‘King’.

While most people have heard of St John (85%), far fewer would consider supporting the charity (19%) and many were unfamiliar with the services it provided.

Acknowledging that consumers were struggling, Asda saw an opportunity to play into this news agenda and stand out among competitors in news brands – proven sources of trusted information.

With crowds descending on London for the Platinum Jubilee and no sponsorship assets on the ground, Lloyds had to find new ways to show its commitment.

Tesco consistently focussed on connecting with the nation and being on consumers’ side throughout the pandemic, through its price value offerings and beyond.

William Hill needed to win at the Premier League, the world’s most watched league, against rivals with much deeper pockets.

As a key partner of the women’s game, Guinness set out to increase the visibility of the Women’s Six Nations.

Trespass is often considered a young person’s problem, but 75% of trespassers are aged over 18.

Just 4% of non-customers could associate TSB with its Fraud Refund Guarantee.

Butterkist’s brand purpose is to create a feeling of togetherness in a low-attention world.

As lockdowns eased, category growth levelled off and high top-of-mind awareness was not translating into consideration and new customers.

In a bid to educate the younger generation on environmental issues, Yorkshire Tea and Goodstuff used newspapers to engage children and parents in an innovative ’colouring in’ campaign.

RNIB set itself several key targets, starting with a significant shift in its brand metrics.

Spotify teamed up with the Guardian on a content series asking whether the generation gap still exists in music, to promote its family plan.

easyJet and OMD teamed up with the Evening Standard to inspire people to travel to Spain for a spontaneous summer holiday.

Specsavers and Manning Gottlieb OMD used newsbrands to align their message about the importance of eye health with everyday news stories.

After the successful launch of Seriously Good Mayonnaise in 2016, Heinz and OMD teamed up with The Telegraph for a new campaign focused on quality.

For the launch of Humans 2, Channel 4 and OMD used newsbrands to promote the series with a campaign that blurred fiction and reality.

Thames21 is a small charity responsible for the health of London’s river.

Through pioneering research the British Heart Foundation is leading the fight against the UK’s single biggest killer, coronary heart disease.

Over the last 10 years, support for the NSPCC has fallen.

Kronenbourg 1664 wanted to bring ‘l’Alsace difference’ into British life and stand out with its audience of 35–49-year-old men.

In a bid to become the first billion-pound sofa company, DFS put econometrics at the heart of its media planning.

Competition in the beer market is rife, with a variety of different brands now found in high-end pubs and bars.

How does a bank successfully drive consideration for its current account product when people are more likely to switch their spouse than their bank?

McDonald’s Monopoly promotion has grown to become one of the highlights of McDonald’s marketing calendar.

Halfords teamed up with The Mail on Sunday to galvanise the nation to down screens and get outdoors over the summer.

John Lewis wanted to make heading off to university easier for students and parents by helping them find and buy the best products.

It’s rare that the words ‘cancer’ and ‘good news’ are found together.

The launch of the new PAMCo data has signalled a significant shift in how newsbrand planning is evolving and The Guardian wanted to fully embrace this, bringing the new data to life.

With the aim of boosting consumer awareness and preference for its brand, Halifax teamed up with Metro to demystify the world of finance.

The ‘Middle of Lidl’ refers to the aisle at the centre of each branch that carries different products every three days.

The SUV market has become a fierce battleground, with launches of small SUVs particularly on the rise.

In a world of boxset bingeing, Channel 4’s challenge was to make the second series of The Handmaid’s Tale an unmissable live TV event.

Yorkshire Gold is sourced from the top 10 tea gardens in the world.

Throughout 2017, MINI faced two significant challenges.

Few brands can claim to have redefined a category but Movember has done just that.

A major supply chain issue forced KFC to temporarily close hundreds of stores around the country earlier this year, equating to £1 million loss of revenue per day.

For the launch of MINI’s limited edition 1499GT, BMW used Metro to physically make the new car headline news.

The world has started to open its eyes to climate change and the impact humans are having on our planet.

UKTV Gold wanted to deliver the channel’s highest ever viewing figures when it recreated three lost episodes of Dad’s Army.

In August this year, news broke that the Amazon was burning.

O2 was about to launch the latest Apple Watch for the first time and aimed to promote the availability of the product to the widest audience in order to drive sales.

When ITV launched a slick new murder series ‘Strangers’ set in Hong Kong, they wanted to win over viewers who would traditionally look elsewhere for a drama series.

In April 2018, TSB embarked on the most turbulent quarter of the brand’s history.

A man dies every 45 minutes from prostate cancer in the UK.

ŠKODA is a global sponsor of the Tour de France and wanted to support the brand’s global association with professional cycling.

Neilson Active Holidays wanted to raise awareness among families, active singles and wealthy retirees, and break down barriers to consideration.

Did you know that every six minutes in the UK someone begins to lose their eyesight?

UKTV’s Alibi is home to the very best in British and US crime television dramas.

This is the story of how Ancestry changed public perception of a category that is often dismissed as niche and irrelevant.

In 2020, eBay’s small sellers became overnight heroes, filling the gap left by Amazon and supermarkets during the pandemic.

2020 will be the year landmarked by the coronavirus pandemic.

Nutrition is not the first word that comes to mind when you think of ready meals.

Lloyds Bank’s priority was to demonstrate that it was still by the side of its customers during the pandemic.

The Co-op brand has always been there to comfort communities in trying times and the pandemic was no different.

Lloyds Bank’s strategic priority is to help its customers feel in control of their banking.

Levi’s wanted to build on its 2019 Music Project, which gave emerging musicians access to technology and mentoring in their local communities.

British Heart Foundation research found that PM2.5 air pollution can cause or worsen serious heart and circulatory diseases.

EuroMillions once represented the ultimate fantasy: an instant, life-changing fortune.

Case study – Objective: Change minds Over the last 10 years, support for the NSPCC has fallen. People…