Metro Secures Biggest Ever Advertising Campaign
Metro International has secured its biggest advertising campaign to date in the form of a wide-ranging pan-European deal with car manufacturer Mitsubishi valued at £2 million across seven different countries.
The deal will see Metro International, which claims to be the world’s largest and fastest-growing international newspaper group, become Mitsubishi’s exclusive print advertising partner for the mixed media launch of its New Colt car across Europe later this year.
The campaign will run until November and is staggered to support the European roll out of the New Colt in Metro editions in France, Spain, The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Italy. Metro UK will also carry the campaign.
Activity will be organised into two waves in each Metro International market. The first wave will include a full-cover wrap newspaper distributed by volunteers in branded clothing. The second wave will consist of a burst of half-page ads featuring graphics at the foot of each page in the shape of the new car, with editorial above running around the image.
Commenting on the promotion, Greg Miall, Pan-European advertising director at Metro International, said: “Metro International has worked closely with Mitsubishi to devise a creative execution that will be highly visible to consumers in some of the biggest cities in Europe over the next few months. This is further evidence of our ability to put together mass coverage campaigns with local adaptations, via a single deal from a central point.”
Mitsubishi’s European media manager, Piers Johnson, added: “We are using Metro International for three main reasons. First, they provide true pan-European coverage of our target demographic. Second, Metro offers innovative creative solutions that really stand out and fit perfectly with our Colt launch campaign. Third, Metro’s flexibility allows different advertising dates by market as well as different creative. All the elements are in place for a highly successful campaign.”
According to the latest global readership survey conducted by TNS Gallup, Metro International remains the world’s most-read newspaper with sales increasing by 50% in the first half of 2004 to reach 14.5 million readers a day. The figures released in August were up 13% since November 2003, with European editions alone drawing in 10.3 million daily readers (see Metro International Remains World’s Most Read Newspaper).
In the UK, the latest ABC results show the Metro titles performing strongly across Britain with overall distribution rising by 4.7% year on year during July. However, the newspaper could face increased competition from Richard Desmond’s planned London freesheet, which has been provisionally entitled i (see Desmond Eyes New Name For Planned London Free-Sheet).
Metro International: www.metro.lu
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