In this digital day and age, we consume news from a variety of sources — locally and internationally. It’s hard for a local news magazine like Knack to compete with widely respected news brands like The New York Times, The Guardian, etc. On top of that, Knack struggled with its perception, like most news magazines do. People just didn’t really know what distinguished Knack from newspapers – even though it’s a weekly publication and not a daily one. So they challenged us with finding a positioning for the brand that would make them relevant again regardless of the audience’s age, gender or ethnicity.
We embraced their investigative nature and highlighted it in the campaign: Knack doesn’t bring daily news, they take time, put things into perspective and bring you the bigger picture. We found an international truth that perfectly fits Knack’s nature: opinions. Everyone seems to have one, about virtually everything. Once an opinion has been expressed, it should no longer be questioned. That’s considered weak.
Politicians, virologists, educators, even our Tinder dates are required to show absolute determination. Doubt is for softies. This sentiment is backed by a multitude of local and international news brands that all claim to be the guardians of truth, the ones that filter out the fake and the experts that untangle complicated matters for us and then tell us what to think.
So while other news outlets claim to hold the truth or be filters of fake news, Knack urged people to embrace the one thing all these other news brands try to safeguard us from: doubt.
It sounds illogical at first, but it’s the one true thing this society actually needs. And it worked, too. Because this brand campaign didn’t just do wonders for Knack’s brand awareness, it also caused an increase of 41% in subscription sales.
