In late 2024, we were thrilled to be appointed as the lead strategic partner by DC Thomson to reposition their flagship news brand, The Courier. With a history, readership and brand loyalty that most national news brands would envy, our brief was to re-centre The Courier around a clearly articulated brand platform, then take it to market in a way that would grow awareness, drive subscriptions and strengthen brand loyalty.
Our approach was to split the challenge into two phases. Phase 1 focused on working with the DC Thomson leadership team to define the brand strategy and overarching brand purpose, personality, and audience messaging. Phase 2 would then translate this strategy into a brand campaign, creative system and execution guidelines for launch in 2025, with ongoing impact measured for an initial 12-month period.
The core objectives of the brief were to 1) improve brand awareness; 2) encourage new subscriptions; 3) enhance loyalty; and 4) elevate art direction and content quality.
Local connection has always been The Courier’s superpower. Initial research and audience auditing work highlighted both affection for ‘local, reliable, and trustworthy’ reporting, juxtaposed with a feeling of fatigue with the negativity of national news coverage. — exactly the space for a local news brand that champions everyday wins and a collective sense of belonging.
To create alignment between the various editorial teams, we created a simple mission (‘To make The Courier a gratifying daily habit’) and purpose (‘To unite the people of Tayside & Fife’). From here, we wrote a public-facing manifesto and supporting brand line that could carry both short-term and long-term campaign messages. From this point forward, the line, ‘Local Stories Make Us,’ became the rallying cry behind every story, engagement and activation.
To bring the campaign to life, we commissioned Arms & Legs to help us create a TV commercial, before making a range of supporting communications. These included
The brand campaign was deemed a success, with greater community engagement and increased subscriptions. So, what happened after launch?
To drive those results, we didn’t invent The Courier brand — we surfaced the elements of the organisation that our local communities wanted to see more of: optimistic, hard-working, fair journalism that is rooted in place. A single, flexible brand platform made to simplify things for internal teams while empowering them to keep telling better, braver community stories — on air, on street and in-product.
You can read more about the impact of The Courier brand campaign here.
