2017 Bronze Best design or art direction

Wunderman UK, part of Pulse Creative

Client: The Times and The Sunday Times

Who bucked the trend?

Campaign overview

In a year of uncertainty, one thing was without doubt - Britain’s richest were getting richer.

After an unexpected 2016, The Sunday Times wanted to showcase their famous Rich List in a new and unexpected way.

Strategy

For the last 25 years, The Sunday Times has released its definitive table of the UK's wealthiest people: the Rich List. It reveals who's rolling in it, and how much they've got to roll in.

The Rich List is very important to The Sunday Times brand as it offers an annual USP, and it's one of the publication's biggest drivers of one-off sales.
2016 was largely considered a bull market, characterised by strong unpredictability in stock market prices, and economic instability.

Readers were expecting a few surprises as the result of some shocks to the system: the UK chose to leave the EU; the pound went into freefall and, strangest of all, Donald Trump became the US President.

Wunderman UK’s aim was to highlight some of the biggest changes in the Rich List; those who have risen above the uncertainty - and those whose fortunes have taken a tumble because of it.

Creativity

Given that 2016 was what experts characterised as a bull market, Wunderman UK made the bull a key feature; it embodies the unpredictability of the financial year, and has strong associations with wealth, including the Merrill Lynch bull on Wall Street.

The campaign placed the Rich List's most famous faces on the backs of furiously bucking rodeo bulls. They chose prominent individuals for their audience appeal. Icons such as Sir Elton John and Adele, who people like to see doing well, and not-so-popular individuals like Sir Philip Green, who many would like to falter.

Artfully crafted and eye-catching, the integrated campaign captured the essence of a very different Rich List in a simple but disruptive way.

Results

The campaign achieved £2 return for every £1 spent with a 56k print sale uplift vs 51k target, 9% over target.

There were 8,667 registrations as a result of the campaign, which encouraged £90k incremental revenue from conversion.

Print market share also grew 18.3% to 32.4% and the Rich List PR coverage increased by 157% from the same period in 2016.

Team

Catherine Newman (Chief Marketing Officer) The Times and The Sunday Times, News UK - Lynne Fraser Brand (Marketing Manager) The Times and The Sunday Times, News UK - Josh Toff (Brand Marketing Executive) The Times and The Sunday Times, News UK - Alex Horlock Senior (Copywriter) Wunderman UK, part of Pulse Creative - Preeti Moseman (Senior Art Director) Wunderman UK, part of Pulse Creative - Robin Garton (Creative Director) Pulse Creative - Maria Dang (Account Manager) Pulse Creative - Jim Dyer (Managing Director) Pulse Creative - Oliver Egan (Chief Strategy Officer) Pulse Creative - Josh Roth (Strategist Pulse Creative)

Contributors

Act Two (Retouching agency)