The Challenge

Politics has always been subject to the laws of the jungle, but more than ever in early 2019, the House of Commons resembled a zoo. With so much noise and conflicting information available as Brexit edged ever closer, the British people were confused and looking for a way to make sense of the mess. The Times and The Sunday Times have brought clarity and balance to politics since 1785, so we sought to remind people that the newspapers offer all the guidance and analysis they need.

The Approach

Right now the House of Commons resembles a zoo. We sought to dramatise this pandemonium and wittily reflect the mood of an exasperated nation, before presenting The Times as an antidote – a way for people to make order from the chaos, and ‘get some commons sense’. Politics. Tamed. was the promise of the campaign. In all of the places people would expect to see MPs, they instead saw political animals. Animals known for characteristics we so often see in our politicians. Led by a remarkable piece of film, set within Westminster, these political animals were all over TVs, buses, taxis, social media feeds, and radio. Each execution positioned The Times and The Sunday Times as a guide through the incomprehensible chaos.

As events progressed, we continually developed new reactive executions. Each execution positioned the Times and The Sunday Times as a guide through the incomprehensible chaos, and satirised what the British public were seeing on the news each and every day.

Results

The campaign was enormously successful commercially, creatively and culturally – making it The Times and The Sunday Times’ most effective marketing campaign ever. 

• Brand Search +10% 
• Clickthrough on digital display +50% 
• Visits to site +12% 
• Registering members +30%
• Subscriptions per week +15%

The campaign has also received high acclaim from the creative industry, and we have since been nominated for multiple Creative Circle awards, and won The Thinkbox Award for TV Creativity for January/February.