"Although we prefer to be behind our cameras and keyboards, we realised that an integral part of trust is knowing someone. We are not just by-lines, but real people with stories, hopes, dreams and fears," says
News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson.
Basson adds, "Ultimately, we want to get much closer to our subscribers and become familiar, trusted personalities in their lives."
According to the agency, news media took a hit as the threat of 'fake news' spread. But since 2020, trust in social media declined and trust in the news has grown as people became more critical of the source. At the heart of everything
News24 does is trust, says the agency.
According to the agency,
News24's team of awarded journalists are behind hundreds of articles, reviews, stories, analyses and investigations that help shine a light on what's happening across the country, and the world, as it happens.
"Under the banner, 'Stories You Can Trust', we created a campaign template that allows
News24 to put out relevant and tactical stories as they happen," says HelloFCB+ CCO Mike Barnwell.
Barnwell adds, "The idea shows not only the huge amount of content that's on offer but also the speed with which it gets disseminated into the world."
The executions were rolled out across digital channels, Out-of-Home (OOH) and TV, and updated as needed to promote
News24 as the place to get:
- 'Stories You Can Trust'
- 'Articles You Can Trust', and
- 'Investigations You Can Trust'.
"We felt that a traditional ad campaign — one that puts out one ad and running it on and off for a year — wouldn't cut it in this fast-paced, ever-changing environment," says Dylan Rohleder, associate creative director at HelloFCB+.
Rohleder adds, "Together with Fuelcontent, our moving content production specialists, we were able to match the pace of breaking news by offering breaking ads — ads that used the latest headlines and stories from that week to grab attention with content that's current and relevant."
The agency says that trust was further built with a PR campaign, under the banner 'Behind every story, are journalists you can trust.'
The PR campaign introduced the country to the faces behind the news, the journalists who investigate, analyse, question and expose. Fuelcontent shot and produced video and still content featuring
News24's lead journalists from Johannesburg and Cape Town. These were rolled out, on busses, OOH billboards and digital channels across the country.
"The team from HelloFCB+ nailed the brief and shared our enthusiasm and vision for what we wanted to accomplish. They were professional, forthcoming with feedback and adhered to many last-minute requests for changes — everything you want from an agency. It was a pleasure working with them," adds Madelein Venter,
News24's national marketing manager.
"Truth, trust, integrity and reputation are key for understanding the relationship between journalists and its readers.
News24 has proven itself to be a trusted authority representing authenticity, transparency, inclusivity, fairness and reliability and we are proud to have partnered with them on its refreshed brand positioning," concludes Danielle Sneiders, managing director at HelloFCB+.
For more information, visit
www.hellofcb.com. You can also follow HelloFCB+ on
Facebook,
Twitter or on
Instagram.