The Economist

Background

The Economist is a British publication focusing on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. The student market is a key demographic for them as the content is relevant to many curricula, and converting readers at a young age also increases lifetime value and loyalty of customers.

‍

It takes many touch points to convert customers, particularly for subscription models such as the one The Economist offers. Students need to understand the value of the content and relevancy to their interests and studies. With a rich and deep array of content, display advertising alone was not enough
for The Economist to convey its full depth of coverage to students.

‍

Solution

Account management and media strategy at Pion set about understanding the unique selling points that The Economist had with the student market and came up with ideas for a Collab campaign. Collab allows brands to use the expertise and creativity with Student Beans, Pion’s student verification technology brand, as an arm of their own marketing, as well as laser focus on a valuable demographic - students. The Economist’s Collab campaign included a Fact Vs Fiction native social quiz which highlighted the importance of distinguishing fake news and being informed on issues.

‍
We also produced a cost of living crisis video and several articles which discussed poignant and relevant topics which resonated with student readers, highlighting the affinity between students and content typical to The Economist.

‍

Results

From conception to execution, The Economist were delighted with the campaign. A multi-channel media approach coupled with display advertising on the Student Beans site highlighting the subscription offer, drove truly meaningful results for the brand.

5M+ Impressions

5% CTR on YouTube video

167% Uplift in discount codes