An increasing number of Canadians, especially younger generations (18 to 34-year-olds), are now consuming their news almost exclusively through social media and free online platforms. This trend has been compounded by a prominent rise of misinformation and a subsequent lack of trust in more traditional Canadian news organizations, resulting in a steep drop in subscriptions to their affiliated local newspapers.

This included the Toronto Star, an established, trusted, and recognizable presence in Canada. But while it’s familiar to many, they lacked a distinct voice and Canadians found it hard to outline the unique value Toronto Star added in their lives, choosing not to spend and subscribe.

We needed to re-introduce and remind the people of Toronto, and Canada, that nobody reported and investigated the city like the Toronto Star. Our goals were to:

1. Increase overall subscriptions to The Toronto star’s channel reversing YoY downward trends.

2. Drive traffic to The Star’s digital properties slowing down YoY declines.

And we did just that by bringing back our most nostalgic and recognizable asset — the blue newspaper boxes that once lived on every street corner and revealed the truths the citizens of Toronto needed to know and couldn’t ignore.

We modified 7 boxes into “Truth Boxes” to shine a light on current topics that resonated with Toronto’s citizens (and Canadian’s) everyday lives: gun violence, climate change, lack of accessibility, privacy violations, obesity care, economic uncertainty and teen vaping. Each box was shaped according to the topic it talked about, instantly attracting attention and interaction from Toronto’s citizens.

The boxes not only renewed interest in the Toronto Star but also successfully drove subscriptions, extending their role in younger consumers' lives and actively helping them to engage with our content.

Our results:

• By the end of the first month of the campaign, subscriptions spiked +33%.

• Month-On-Month subscriptions steadily climbed following the campaign leading to an overall rise of +40%.

• The Star successfully overturned the steep decline in non-subscriber website traffic and saw a steady increase of +25%.