Sun-Herald in radical redesign with magazine style cover
The relaunch of Sydney’s Sun-Herald is to be a dramatic one, moving to an image-led, magazine style cover, Mumbrella can reveal.
The new look is revealed in a TV commercial by Whybin\TBWA\Tequila, for the Fairfax Media tabloid exclusively obtained by Mumbrella.
The first hints that the overhaul of the Sun-Herald was to be a radical one came on Sunday when the newspaper published a teaser ad which suggested that masthead was turning blue.
It also revealed that Annabel Crabb was the new columnist.
The ad also reveals a glimpse of a new section called Unwind, along with a Travel section, Sunday Life and another supplement for which the masthead is not visible.
The relaunch follows a similar path to that of The Independent newspaper in the UK which abandoned a traditional news led cover in favour of an image led approach.
As well as the TV ad, the campaign is backed with outdoor and radio.
Credits:
- Agency: Whybin/TBWA/Tequila
- Gavin McLeod: Creative Director
- Richard Shaw: Copywriter
- Asheen Naidu: Creative Group Head
- David Brady: Creative Group Head
- Peter Fitzhardinge: Commander
- Bryony Marks: Account Director
- Kat Webb: Project Manager
- Amelia Babos: Project Manager
- Kristy Fransen: TV Producer
- Simon Holdaway: Print Producer
- Michael Kavanagh: Digital Producer
Great idea. To combat declining newspaper circs let’s make our paper look like a magazine. Oh wait a minute… magazine circs are declining even more than newspapers. Doh!
How many nails does a coffin have now?
Have they thought about… ummm… you know… having articles that are not sensationalist or about “celebrities: and above are accurate?
Tough times dictate bold moves and well done to Fairfax for trying this. The trick will of course be choosing the one main story & image with broadest appeal to their perceived Sunday audience and then using the two secondary boxes at the bottom to balance that with two alternative picks form the mix. I still think that Sunday’s papers are too down-market and dumbed-down, and that there are a LOT of readers who would respond better to something which was more like a Sunday edition of the SMH.
Nice narrow minded comment Jackal. I’m sure you also work for News Ltd !
I like it. I was intrigued by the style of the ad, and the variety of ‘moods’ I can enjoy in a Sunday paper.
I didn’t get the upper crust accent of the voice over. That’s not the normal H’un reader is it?
Was this research driven? Would be interested to know the extent of reader research input in the decision making. The campaign is clever well but will it deliver? I think it could be punching beyond its station?
Of course it was research-driven! This is Fairfax, remember — the company run people who know their business is dying but won’t take any risks that might save it. Ever seen sheep at an abbattoir? They’re a bit nervous, a bit worried, but they always follow the sheep ahead. This is the jumping about in the killing queue.
Fairfax will be dismembered within 12 months. Good thing, too.
What people in marketing don’t always understand about the newspaper business: people in focus groups frequently lie about what they actually want from their paper, and chasing researched-out aims can be a fool’s errand.
The problem for The Sun Herald is it’s all light, fluffy and nice for Sunday mornings at the cafe. That said, The Sunday Tele is exactly the same just better. Surely the best move for the Herald is to markedly differentiate itself from its opposition (and sell on that), whatever that may be. As an aside – don’t the two of them sell about 700K between them each Sunday morning? I’d say that’s a medium that’s still got plenty of puff in it yet.
death to all newspapers
i’m getting all my news from Facebook and Twitter
Don’t like the new format. TV program is mixed in with other things. Like to have a separate tv program. Won’t be buying it anymore.