You'd be mad to miss this issue

Posted on 21st Mar 2012 by Scott Goodson in Blog

When was the last time a TV show directly impacted on so many different aspects of our lives? Fashion, advertising, beauty….the country – and indeed the world - has gone Mad Men crazy.

The marketing has been controversial at times (the ‘falling man’ advertisement was widely criticized for evoking memories of 911) but you can’t escape the fact that this hugely successful, acclaimed series has captured our hearts and minds.

Even Newsweek has gone a bit Mad this week with an issue completely 1960-fied. Every advertiser in the issue has produced special adverts fit for the era, giving agencies creative free-reign to produce something really unique.

It will certainly stick out on the newsstands and crucially also online – not only has Newsweek gone to print in the past but the homepage has also been given a vintage edge – not an easy feat when you consider the internet wasn’t even a word we’d uttered.

So why go to all this trouble? Newsweek editor Tina Brown realizes that to capture attention in print, it has to be a visual feast for the eyes as well as giving us the information we want and expect. And the result is the news, gift-wrapped, in a culturally modern way – it’s like a present from the past. Tapping into something that’s very in, very hip and very now is a sure-fire way to grab consumers. TV advertising tie-ins can sometimes be weak, but by going the whole hog and devoting the entire issue – rather than just one or two pages – Newsweek will ensure fans go, well…mad….for it. It wouldn’t even surprise me if they bought extra copies to save in pristine condition.

It’s a shared passion, which Newsweek has cleverly linked into. Why would a serious news magazine even be remotely interested in focusing so strongly on a TV show? Simply because Newsweek was something that households read during the era – it was the magazine of the day – and because they know just how very popular it is.

It’s a natural fit then, the result of which means that both regular subscribers and fans get a nostalgic treat, and sales will undoubtedly be strong. The principles of Movement marketing can be applied even here – shared passion, an idea which links so well with the magazine’s history and very core, and not being about a particular product – it’s more about celebrating the era. Grab a copy. You’d be mad to miss it.