new Guardian campaign

Wieden + Kennedy London's first brand campaign for The Guardian breaks on Monday 12 March. This is the first brand advertising The Guardian has launched in almost a decade.

The work highlights the core values upon which The Guardian is founded. There are four executions in the initial burst, each one covering a different aspect of the Guardian's values. Further executions and a cinema campaign will follow later in the year. The use of bold colour and design reflects The Guardian itself, which offers colour on every page.

The campaign launches with posters on buses across the UK and on London taxis. The following week the campaign will be extended to Transvision screens at railway stations and poster sites on the London underground and at network rail stations.

The Guardian has an illustrious heritage of great creative work and is a brand close to the heart of many working in the media, so inevitably this campaign will come in for much scrutiny. We've tried to do something that's fresh, and true to who they are. It'll be interesting to see how people react.

Comments

[Val]

I do really like them. They are different. They don't have a line at the end. They are visually different and make an im pact. And I love the copy, it reflects the guardian. Well done guys!

[fitz]

I like em. nothing too twaty. just nice.

[Jay]

I quite like it. Beautiful art direction. Even if I suspect I'll be toldtold ‘Oh, it was a team effort, really‘, may I ask who did it?

[Tom]

Good point, fitz. Nice but not brilliant. I prefer the stuff ddb did for them, tindall and tucker were the bollocks. Sad they're no more together.

[fitz]

not everything has to be brilliant nowerdays. I want to be treated like a stupid person becuse when it comes to these things... i am.

[neil]

A lot of people worked on these. I'm bound to leave out someone crucial, but the team included... Michael Russoff and Marc Shillum, Ian Perkins and Sophie Bodoh, Lisa Conway and Stuart Smith, Cheryl Rogers and Miss Dollar, Mick B, Jo B, Lou, Chris, Ben T, Julia, Michelle, Tony D, Adam, Ollie, Bob and Miles. Plus, of course Marc, Mark and Gazan at the Guardian.

[Dave]

wow, hot shit.
Very fresh, brill art direction. Clever copy.
But.. you already know that, don't you.

[Gareth]

Great work - feels fresh and, most importantly, very true to what makes it such a unique brand.

[Luis V.]

I don't read the Guardian... but, after seeing these, I think I'll start. I sometimes wish I lived in London. This is a reminder why.

It's excellent use of type, movement, the whole nine yards. It's Inspirational.

[Jason Lonsdale]

Lovely. Simple & direct. Not addy. Well done, W&Kers.

(um, doesn't 'W&Kers' look kinda rude/insulting? Not my intention, and I'm sure its an old joke anyway... ok, I'll shut up now...)

[Colman]

"I like em. nothing too twaty. just nice."

Well said.

[neil]

Looks even worse if you write it WandKers.

[The Planning Lab]

Geat stuff!

[Jacques]

The first one (computer mice) seems like the odd one out. All the others successfully make economic and bold use of shape and colour, whereas the little mouse icons seem superfluous to that particular execution's key theme. It would still make sense, and also (ironically?) leave things more open to interpretation, without them.

[George Parker]

I must say I was very impressed by this campaign (pointed out by Piers at PSFK here in the US) primarily because unlike so much of the crap around these days – on both sides of the pond – It actually treats the reader as dear old dead David advised us to do… “The consumer isn’t stupid, she’s your wife!” It also reinforces the words of another of my favorite dead ad guys, Howard Gossage… “People don’t read advertising. They read what they are interested in.” And these are certainly interesting. I particularly appreciated the one “When you’re owned by no one, no one controls what you say.” Very apt in the days when “The Wizened of Oz” seems to be taking over every form of communication in Christendom. I also think that even though the innovative use of color, both in the graphics and typography enhances the impact, I don’t think they would lose all that much in a black & white execution. Finally, because they are so succinct and un-fucked up, I am amazed by Neil’s post pointing out that the entire staff of both W&K and The Guardian worked on them. Oh… And a final, final… I get and enjoy the Guardian Weekly here in the mountains of Idaho, albeit a week late and sweat stained from the Pony Express riders mount.
Cheers/George

[neil]

Hey George. Thanks for the positive comments. I see you're writing for the new-look Brand Republic. Look forward to you injecting a dose of reality.

[Yousuf]

Hey W+K Guardian team!

Wow! Great sense of visual forms and their coorelation to words... i'm not a UK resident but from what I've heard about The Guardian, seems pretty much bang on target.

And dunno if I'm worthy enough to be critical but somehow, the copy style is great in the first one here but loses its coup de grace touch in the rest.

The rest lay more emphasis on "what" rather than "how". And with the visual overwhelm this campaign carries, the copy should have lent "that" masterstroke line in every one of 'em.

Btw, favourite layouts: volume control and the arrows

Congrats on the fantastic work overall and all the best for the rollout. I'm sure it will do wonders.

Cheers
Yousuf

[Rob Mortimer]

I think they will identify well with Guardian readers, and I would imagine with the better non-guardian readers!

I like the simple visuals and the words are simple and honest comments that you really feel represent the brand.

[Ben]

Great.

Good to see colour used for a purpose and not just as decoration. Also nice how you've handled the 'views' thing. Much better than the recent stuff for The Times and The Telegraph.

Now, about that redesign...

[gabyu]

simple, clear, neat : information are not only photos and television. It is, first of all, a matter of words and letters. The core work of any newspaper, online or traditional, is requiring great usage of typography and layout design. And this is all about what we can feel in those ads.

Cannot wait to show this great work to my colleagues tomorrow !

[Nancy]

Surely the "square with Helvetica in it" meme that i saw in London when i visited in September 06 is making room for more curves and swooshes. The second example looks a bit exaggerated, but that's probably because you are LONDON, and I am just small town US. I mean look at your subway map compared to where i live.

Anyway, this with the example of Ingersoll, and the spaceNK film shows a stronger trend in art direction for the curve, a new femininity?.

[Macbeth]

The volume control one should be displayed in every single media office in the world. We can all be guilty. Inspirational stuff.

[xixi]

i love it

[anoo]

i have to say i'm a little disappointed. :(
i have read and visited Guardian, this advertising for Guardian is too tender, it lost the Guardian's power. if i never know Guradian, and this advertising represent the guardian's voice, i won't be interested in Guardian. it lost personality,just like a good man trying to say something make everyone satisfied and agree, it equals say nothing, that's why i will probably neglect it.
hope impressing things will turn up soon. i believe you can make it.
good luck, guys.

[olidee]

All very good - visually, I find the first one the most striking. Re. the third one - nice and succinct copy, clearly inspired by CS Scott's "Comment is free... but facts are sacred" quote. Beautiful.