Shortlisted 2023

Media & Entertainment

Brand

Reuters

Entered by:

Thomson Reuters

Reuters NEXT

Credited:

VMLY&R, Wavemaker

The Challenge

Reuters NEXT is Reuters flagship global forum bringing together CEOs, world leaders, policymakers, innovators along with youth and community leaders to inspire, drive action and accelerate innovation to power a better tomorrow. Reuters draws upon its global reach to examine critical topics from different perspectives, bringing passion, experience, and expertise to forge a brighter future for everyone.

Reuters NEXT took place in New York on November 30th – December 1st 2022 and was open to all, either in person (£££) or online.

Physical attendees at these events were already aware of Reuters with tickets for attendance around $10,000. However, unlike similar events of this stature, the public was able to access the event on a free live stream. They could also interact with speakers or with other online attendees on curated social channels to amplify the insights, messages and ideas.

Our challenge was to develop a global and local campaign to:

  1. Drive awareness of Reuters NEXT in high-visibility, super-premium OOH locations targeting C-Suit/HNW individuals
  2. Highlight the key topics being discussed to stimulate thought leadership through a global promotional video
  3. Drive registrations to join the livestreamed event.

To support the OOH posters geo-targeted audio and mobile was used around the event the OOH locations alongside key areas in New York to further drive awareness and registrations for the livestream event. The work also ran on the ‘Jumbotron’ a supersized digital screen on the outside of the Reuters building in Times Square.

The Content Solution

“What’s Next?”

“What’s Next?”, used a series of thought-provoking questions and powerful images to ask the public and event attendees ‘What’s Next?’ on the key themes of the forum:

• Trust in an age of Misinformation /Digital Disruption
• The challenges and transformations facing the Economy
• Sustaining the momentum behind Sustainability when the world is in crisis
• Changing definitions and pressures on Leadership in uncertain times
• The challenges of dealing with the cost of living crisis/Hyperinflation

Working with acclaimed artist Justin Metz, we used montage and CGI techniques to craft photorealistic imagery with short to the point questions asking the very real questions facing the world today:
• What’s NEXT for free speech online?
• What’s NEXT for trade in the global economy?
• What’s NEXT for leadership in a world of divided opinion?
• What problems will inflation leave the NEXT generation?
• Will capitalism’s NEXT move leave sustainability in the dark?

The use of intelligent visual metaphors combined with short to the point question headlines invited viewers to form an opinion or a point of view, making it clear what Reuters NEXT is about: debate. Integrating ‘NEXT’ into the headlines branded the executions to drive awareness for the event this year and in the future.

The montage designs and general look and feel of the outdoor work was then encapsulated in a pulsating, vibrant brand film. The film was broadcast globally online, across social media and during the live mulit-market streaming at the event.

The Media/Content Amplification Solution

The media strategy delivered an omni-channel experience to maximise our effective reach and impact during the short campaign flight surrounding the live event. Our media activity leveraged 1st and 3rd party data to identify our priority audiences in situ and in digital to ensure our messaging resonated in the build-up to, during and post-event, with hyper-targeted content served specifically to engaged and qualified audiences.

The primary channel to build fame and reach for Reuters was OOH. We prioritised DOOH to maximise the number and size of sites for the campaign period, and specifically locate and target audiences in key business districts across New York and throughout arterial routes and transport links for the Event.

The environments selected best served the creative in both format and rotation – we guaranteed max. length positioning so we could share 3x messaging frames/questions in each environment to build intrigue and engagement with the NEXT event. Our flagship OOH placement was the Thomson Reuters Jumbotron screen in Times Square in immediate proximity to the event, this was a full takeover during the event period to maximise awareness.

To further enhance impact, our DOOH activity was amplified through mobile and audio targeting, meaning that any target audience member who had been exposed to the OOH messaging, was retargeted via Mobile and/or Audio with sequential detail on the event.

In Mobile they were driven through to the registration page to encourage last minute sign-ups and attendees. In Audio the messaging focussed on driving an emotional connection through the themes and topics aligned to the event schedule. Post-event, attendees and engaged users were served post-event messaging to drive them back to a content hub in which speaker sessions and outcomes were shared.

The NEXT brand film was the global showpiece, capturing the look and feel of the outdoor work, and providing exciting about the event,

The whole plan was data-driven to drive a holistic experience, drive intrigue and engagement pre and post event and maximising the impact of the creative strategy through a multi-touch solution.

The Result

The campaign ran for just under 2 weeks from 21st November to 1st December 2022
• A post campaign survey showed the campaign delivered a 23% increase in familiarity with Reuters NEXT vs an unexposed control group
• 3m DOOH impressions delivered
• 4.9m impressions overall
• 450,000+ video views of NEXT brand film
• Over 2,000 click to the registration page