Setting the Stage: In a category that was seeing ad revenues and circulation fall, The Economist was the exception; they were growing rapidly. But so were expectations. How best to sustain that growth and justify their industry accolades? The Economist wanted to grow in a more meaningful way, adding value and depth by enriching the reader experience while also expanding its subscriber base. To increase its readership, the Economist needed to modify the image of the magazine, particularly to younger readers. Many people saw the brand as stodgy and requiring an exceptional reading level. The Economist partnered with The Second City, utilizing an integrative approach of live events and social media campaigns, to shift these perceptions. The Second City’s take on satire allowed us to mash up with the Economist, and its own brand of political humor, in a cool and meaningful way. Our work would be an integral ingredient of the Economist’s national market by market advertising and PR campaign to shift perceptions and grow its subscriber base.

Playing our Part: Executing on a three part plan:

Part 1 – We hit the road with localized content! SCC created an evening of memorable political satire by combining the best of Second City’s archival and custom sketch material with interactivity from The Economist’s resident political cartoonist Kevin “Kal” Kallagher. Each performance was very specific to the audience the Economist was trying to reach. A show one night in Atlanta was customized very differently than a show the following night in New York. The live show played to sold out houses across the country and earned The Economist big points with their current (and future!) subscribers.

Part 2 – We spoke directly to the Economist’s trade targets - media buyers – with a show tailored specifically for them. The key point of the media buyer performance was to focus on “Ideas People” – the people who create and cultivate ideas that transcend conventional thinking and eventually evangelize compelling products and brands, and who are also Economist readers. The trade performance delivered scenes that helped media buyers understand who the Ideas People are and how they think in order to maximize their success in reaching them. Interactive components of the specialized show even helped media buyers create the ‘next big idea” of their own.

Part 3 – We designed a microsite to help market the live events and spread the word of the new image of the Economist online, embellishing the standard “tell and sell” format to include original satirical video content that satirized the historical Presidential campaign. Because of the nature of the material, the web and video content needed to be topical. Second City’s process is such that in a 72 hour period we would script and present new ideas to the Economist, allow them to select their choice for production, produce, and upload new content. The microsite remained fresh throughout the campaign season and was an invaluable source of information for audiences as well as a vibrant destination for web surfers!