This is Home

The Dallas Morning News Case Study

A trusted North Texas news source that aims to help readers make sense of a complex world through transparent, relevant journalism that connects them to the people, places, and communities they call home.

SERVICES

Brand IdentityBrand StrategyContent ProductionCopywritingCreative DirectionSocial MediaVideo Production

The Opportunity

With news traveling faster than ever, The Dallas Morning News is more frequently dismissed as out of touch and increasingly irrelevant. This sentiment is felt most acutely in local communities that feel abandoned by the paper. Why pay to read the oldest daily newspaper in Texas when you can tap into the immediacy of social media and the relentless churn of a 24-hour news cycle?

The Strategy

After extensive quantitative research, focus groups, and competitive analysis, we learned that in order to meet readers’ new needs, The Dallas Morning News had to move from being audience informed to audience interactive; to truly integrate into readers’ routines by removing the curtain that separates the journalist from their audience and by creating platform-specific content that meets them where they are. By becoming more transparent, we begin to combat mistrust of the news. By becoming more agile, we begin to lower the barrier to reaching relevant and non biased news.

Finally, by lowering the barrier, we can empower the reader and fulfill their desire to shape their own perspective on what’s happening around them, creating a true connective tool that helps an individual feel more ownership and understanding of their community.

How does perspective shaping, easy-to-find, transparent news get sold? This is Home.

We’re reminding our readers, and the community at large, that as the world becomes more complex, and as news sources become less reliable, the intersections near your home or where you eat or go clubbing become part of your identity, helping to connect you to the people and places all around you. The Dallas Morning News is part of that intersectionality.

The Results

23k

Attributed Digital Sessions

The campaign earned regional recognition including a Gold ADDY Award from the American Advertising Federation, a Gold and Silver Davey Award, and a Graphex Award from the ADC Tulsa.