Singapore Press Holdings recently published all five of its morning
newspapers in red ink to demonstrate to people that print can be as
dynamic as other new media and that its readership is increasing.
Throughout all of the papers, everything that would normally have
appeared in black, such as mastheads, editorial text and even classified
ads, were printed in red.
While it might have been hard on the eyes of readers, the one-day
campaign made its point.
House ads on the inside of the publications explained the purpose of
printing in red with the lines: "What's black and white and read all
over?
Singapore's newspapers. Now read more than ever."
Mr Kenneth Yap, group account director at Leo Burnett, which was the
agency that came up with the idea, told MEDIA, "The objective of the
campaign was to correct the public's misconception that newspapers are a
thing of the past, especially with the introduction of other new media
like cable TV, new channels like ChannelNews Asia and Sports City and
the invasion of the Internet: "The message, very single mindedly, made
the point that the readership of newspapers is still increasing despite
the invasion of these new media."
The 'red' newspaper campaign was a one-off initiative and would not be
used again.
