Independent News & Media celebrated the ‘power of print’ as it explained the reasons for an anonymous advertising teaser campaign that recently ran in its print titles. The explanation was revealed at a mind-bending industry event attended by over 200 marketers and media industry professionals, which was held at the Royal Hibernian Academy on November 24th.

The innovative marketing campaign utilised eye-catching and personalised print ads to invite named industry professionals to join in ‘an exciting journey’ by visiting a dedicated URL:www.anexcitingjourneyawaits.com. Here they had an opportunity to win one of two tickets to Cannes Lions 2017. The campaign, which ran across the Irish Independent, Sunday Independent and The Herald, led the marketing community and readers alike to question who was personalising the print.

In the second phase INM revealed itself as being behind the campaign, demonstrating that the print newspaper ad had been responsible for driving media planners, buyers and industry professionals to the website, thus proving the influence of print media.

This campaign supports the recent ‘Book of Evidence’ market research conducted by INM.
The ‘Book of Evidence’, an econometrics study published by INM in May, was the largest piece of research independently conducted by a publisher in Ireland, spanning over three years and 20 million data points. One specific finding from the research, was the high level of web traffic that is driven by print advertising; 10%. By leading readers from print titles to an online platform, INM clearly actualised and demonstrated its research finding, proving the influence of print advertisements.

Geoff Lyons, Commercial Director, Independent News & Media said: “This event was another step on the journey we want to take marketers on. We wanted to drive the message and prove that Book of Evidence finding that print is an integral part of the marketing mix, driving 10% of all landing page visits.”

Leading journalist and TV presenter Brendan O’Connor led proceedings and spoke about the power of print from a journalistic point of view. Special guest and mind-bender Keith Barry performed for the guests and announced the two winners selected to attend Cannes Lions 2017: Aisling Baker, Starcom; and Brian Carolan, PHD. The event was designed to challenge the cognitive process of guests and celebrated the power of print through a series of art installations, food experiments and music, which was provided by DJ Mo Kelly.

Guests included media buyers and creative agency staff from Carat, Core Media, First Advertising, Group M, Havas, Initiative, Javelin, Maxus, MEC, Mediacom, MediaVest, Mediaworks, Mindshare, OMD, PHD, Pierce Media, Starcom and Vizeum.

The full Book of Evidence Econometrics Study findings are available at
www.inm.ie/thebookofevidence/.