The Mario Blog

Here is an article published by INMA that unveils an interesting thought that we may have perhaps imagined, but never truly paid much attention to: while newspaper readers have traditionally built the reading experience with print editions of newspapers into their routines, thus attaching a sort of ritual connection to it, we don’t think this has yet happened with digital offerings of newspapers.

True enough. I remember both my mother and father as avid newspaper readers. Each morning their “cafecito” or small Cuban coffee and the copy of the newspaper seemed to be intertwined. For my Dad, doing the crossword puzzle before 10 each morning was, well, a part of the routine.  That was then.  I do admit that I follow a routine with my digital publications: first reading several of the briefings/newsletters I get from The New York Times, El Pais, The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, along with Axios.  Somehow, the ritual is not the same because I go from one title to the other. My parents, as many newspaper readers of their generation, would have only one complete newspaper, one brand, as part of their routine.

This, of course, is what makes publishing newspapers today challenging.

Enter Finland’s well known and always experimental daily, Helsingin Sanomat.

The newspaper’s team wanted people to start establishing a similar emotional connection with the digital edition as they have had with print. The team started this project when they launched their “The World is Beyond the Headlines” campaign — with the goal of creating a strong emotional connection between subscribers and the digital product.

The process

Through two video ads, one about war and another about inequality, the team announced the launch of its updated app and communicated the added value offered to readers in a world where nearly all data is just one click away. According to the team:

The core idea of the videos was then converted into online, social media, video on demand, and radio. Key objectives of the campaign were to gain more app downloads and online subscribers, and especially to appeal to a younger audience.

From the start, the team of Helsingin Sanoma knew that traditional subscribers love their morning rituals with the newspaper. “They have built their own habits, typically consisting of a cup of coffee, some quiet time for themselves before getting busy, and the newspaper. The emotional connection with print is strong. Digital on the other hand is not yet in that position — an emotional connection with the digital subscription is something we must build.”

Images courtesy of INMA (inma.org)

Early results

According to the INMA piece, this campaign hit the targets: 48% said the campaign made them think and 40% said they made them feel, both of which are best results in three years of campaign analysis.

Creating digital habits

I like what I read here about this effort from the Helsingin Sanoma team.  I also think that we can contribute to helping readers make “emotional” connections with their digital newspapers via newsletters/briefings.  We are all interested in getting curated content information from the publications we like and respect.  Newsletters and briefings do so effectively. Now we see that there other ways to start creating this emotional attachment with our audiences. The Helsingin Sanoma project is worth reading about and perhaps adapting locally.