Senza traduzione perchè mi sembra piuttosto comprensibile...
Chwast was one of six illustrators brought in by agency AMV.BBDO in a radical departure from previous work for the magazine
There are few advertising campaigns as renowned or as revered as that created for The Economist by AMV BBDO. The beautifully-written, white out of red lines have become a classic of the genre. But what’s this? A new Economist campaign, in black and red? Using illustrations? Is this the end of an era?
Well no, not really. A new, radically different campaign for The Economist breaks this month in the national press and on crosstrack posters, but it does not spell the end of the classic red and white ads, say AMV. Instead, the new campaign of seven ads will complement its classic cousin. “The success of the ‘white out of red’ campaign was based on the idea of feeling that you were a member of a club. This is an attempt to broaden the appeal of that club and engage with a new audience,” says AMV’s Paul Cohen, art director on the new campaign. “The Economist is not changing the magazine in any way but they do believe that there’s a new, perhaps younger, group who would be interested in it.”
To engage this audience, Cohen commissioned six illustrators to interpret lines provided by copywriter Mark Fairbanks. “We tried very hard to avoid the prevailing styles or ticks of each illustrator, the look of each execution has come straight out of the line and what we’re using the line to say about the magazine,” says Cohen. “Though the illustrator’s hand is evident, everything is very pared down and works towards communicating the idea behind the line. I think this helps give the campaign a coherent feel. One that is as strong and identifiable as the white out of red ads.
The new campaign will no doubt cause some eyebrows to be raised, especially when comparing it to previous Economist campaigns, but “it’s a different style of advertising,” argues Cohen. “Compared to the white out of red campaign, less of the puzzle is contained in the line. They are a bit more instantaneous but that’s not to say that they are cheap or easier in any way, they are just speaking to a group that is more visually engaged.”
