USA Today launches 'What America Wants' campaign

Posted by Savita Sauvin on March 23, 2010 at 4:23 PM

USA Today launched a new trade ad campaign with the theme "What America Wants" yesterday to highlights its connection with readers, BtoBonline reported.

The new multimedia trade campaign targets advertisers and media buyers by emphasising the continued leadership of Gannett Co.'s flagship newspaper in establishing a connection with readers, and aims to position USA Today as "The Nation's Newspaper" by creating value for its advertisers, according to its press release. The "What America Wants" campaign focuses on the newspapers' "balanced and unpretentious reporting" on issues important to Americans, Editor & Publisher reported.

"While other media brands like to claim that they are telling their readers what they think they should know, USA Today prides itself on writing about what our readers actually want to know," David L. Hunke, president and publisher of USA Today, told E&P.

The multimedia trade ad campaign will appear oi print in Advertising Age, Adweek, Brandweek and Mediaweek, while online advertising will run on industry trade sites such as AdAge, Adweek, Brandweek, BusinessInsider, CNNMoney.com, Mashable, MediaPost, Mediaweek, SRDS.com and VentureBeat; with e-mail newsletters for eMarketer.com and AMA's Marketing Power Today, the press release stated.

The ads will also be featured on social networking sites Facebook and LinkedIn. The Facebook ads will offer polling and direct readers a way to become a fan of the newspaper, along with a newly launched tab on USA Today's fan page, Media Lounge, on the Facebook site that will offer marketing updates, media industry chatter, company news and a direct connection to advertising opportunities at the newspaper, the press release stated.

The campaign's creative highlights what makes USA Today different from other media brands, especially the Wall Street Journal, in an increasingly competitive environment for national advertising dollars, Susan Lavington, senior vice president of marketing at USA Today, stated in the press release.

The budget for the campaign remains undisclosed, according to BtoBonline.

The campaign was developed by The Farm, an advertising agency based in Roanoke, Va., while the media planning and buying activities are handled by Brand Cottage of New Canaan, Connecticut.