Many newspapers publish a Sunday magazine to accompany the weekend edition of the daily newspaper. Singapore's Sunday Times, on the other hand, decided to graft a magazine-like feel onto the paper upon its revamp.
The result was a radical remaking of the newspaper. The whole paper is printed in colour, there is a greater reliance on illustrations and the layout is cleaner and less cluttered. Symbolising the change is a new masthead, in a clean, modern, sans serif typeface, contrasting with the typeface used on the masthead of daily Straits Times.
Content-wise, the newspaper has been pushing soft news stories, how-tos and trend stories.
Early efforts saw an uncomfortable mix of hard news stories and soft features on the same page. However, of late, the paper appears to have found a balance of sorts.
Alfred Wee, senior art director at Leo Burnett Singapore, praised the design of the revamped Sunday Times: "The new look is very fresh. I'm an advocator of simple and functional designs. I like the fact there is more 'air' between the gutters - less clutter - the new colours and the use of the a new font for the masthead, TheSans, a Dutch-designed typeface, which address all that, making the paper much easier to read."
TBWA Singapore creative group head Andrew Lok is a fan of the new, magazine-like approach. "It's become pretty much lifestyle-centred, as opposed to news-centred," he noted.
"As a consumer who snobbishly gets his 'hard' news from The Economist, I have to say The Sunday Times is perfect company for an 11am breakfast.
I believe that's probably the intention of The Straits Times' management.
For marketers who want to hawk property developments, mobile phones or petrol-guzzlers, this paper is probably a decent tool.
"Good on The Straits Times not to take half-measures when it comes to giving their Sunday edition a separate branding."
Meanwhile, Felix Soh, deputy editor of The Straits Times and the man behind the revamp, said the formula was working, judging from the increase in sales.
In addition, "feedback has been very positive, with many readers, including VIPs, saying that the Sunday Times is the first thing they grab every Sunday morning".
Melissa Ho, general manager of Starcom Singapore said the paper had become a more interesting read: "The look is more 'lifestyle', but it's too early to say if new advertisers will be attracted to it."
