THE ART OF JOURNALISM

Short List
TitleTHE ART OF JOURNALISM
BrandHELSINGIN SANOMAT
Product/ServiceHELSINGIN SANOMAT
Category G03. Illustration
Entrant TBWA\HELSINKI, FINLAND
Idea Creation TBWA\HELSINKI, FINLAND
Idea Creation 2 HELSINGIN SANOMAT Helsinki, FINLAND
Media Placement TBWA\HELSINKI, FINLAND
Media Placement 2 HELSINGIN SANOMAT Helsinki, FINLAND
PR TBWA\HELSINKI, FINLAND
PR 2 HELSINGIN SANOMAT Helsinki, FINLAND
Production TBWA\HELSINKI, FINLAND
Production 2 HELSINGIN SANOMAT Helsinki, FINLAND
Additional Company BARABRA Helsinki, FINLAND
Credits
Name Company Position
Jyrki Poutanen TBWA\Helsinki Executive Creative Director
Sami Valtere Helsingin Sanomat Design Director
Tuomas Perälä TBWA\Helsinki Copywriter
Matti Virtanen TBWA\Helsinki Art Director
Erno Reinikainen TBWA\Helsinki Senior Creative
Noora Murremäki TBWA\Helsinki Account Director
Juhana Hokkanen TBWA\Helsinki Head of Creative Tech
Pauliina Perkiö TBWA\Helsinki Creative Content Strategist
Aki Toivonen TBWA\Helsinki Creative Content Strategist
Emma Kanninen TBWA\Helsinki Copywriter trainee
Eelis Sormunen Barabra Account Director
Elina Forsberg Barabra Account Manager
Kirsi Toivonen Barabra Art Director
Valtteri Autero Barabra Senior Designer
Sakari Kimmo Barabra Designer
Alex Erolin Barabra Junior Designer
Mira Järvelä Barabra Content Producer
Jonas Kostiainen Barabra Developer
Otto Turunen Barabra Junior developer
Terhi Vaalavuo Helsingin Sanomat Brand Manager
Veera Siivonen Helsingin Sanomat Marketing Director
Jani Tolin Artist
Meeri Koutaniemi Artist
Helena Vaari Artist
Erik Bruun Artist
Ville Tietäväinen Artist
Tekla Valy Artist
Nanna Susi Artist
Mika Melvas Artist
Sanna Annukka Artist
Janine Rewell Artist
Tuomas Korpi Artist
Klaus Welp Artist

The Campaign

To put these meaningful global and local issues back into the limelight and to celebrate the trade of quality journalism, we created a concept called The Art of Journalism. We gave the most in-depth and well-written articles of Helsingin Sanomat into the hands of Finland's twelve most celebrated visual artists and one artificial intelligence. They turned these millions of words into 13 pieces of poster art.

Creative Execution

Each of the 12 artist represented different visual genres/crafts; illustrators, graffiti artists, photographers, textile artists, graphic designers, font designers and visual journalists. We gave the most in-depth articles of Helsingin Sanomat into the hands of these artists and they all chose themes that resonated with them the most. The 13th piece was created by IBM Watson Artificial Intelligence. It analyzed thousands of Helsingin Sanomat articles and then showed us the world today through the eyes of data. The only given guideline for the artists was to create the work around the iconic outlines of Helsingin Sanomat logo. What started as a poster/OOH campaign, expanded quickly to digital platforms such as AR and social media. The posters were also on display at art exhibitions. Most importantly, they decorated the streets of Helsinki as urban outdoor exhibitions; they mostly appeared, not on single OOH spaces, but as location take-overs (bus stops etc.).

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

With The Art Journalism we highlighted the fact that Helsingin Sanomat is Finland’s beacon of thoughtful, in-depth journalism conveying deep understanding for its readers in form of impactful articles. According to the results our message seems to have struck home. The amount of subscribers grew for the first time in 25 years. The campaign reached 11 242 000 consumers. Instead of forcing advertising on consumers, HS turned its core content into pieces that people spent time with. The public loved the art; many purchased them for their homes. The revenue, worth thousands of euros, went to charity. The campaign didn’t underestimate its audience. It provided the consumer a joy of discovering the intellectual themes behind the art. This turned into high awareness numbers (83% over the average OOH awareness). Helsingin Sanomat turned its core essence into impactful art and urban exhibitions in a way that none of its competitors could.

We are used to encounter art in showrooms and galleries. With The Art of Journalism campaign, we wanted to bring art with social themes to the streets of our capital. What started as a poster/OOH campaign, expanded quickly to digital platforms such as Augmented Reality and social media. The posters were also on display at art exhibitions. Most importantly, they decorated the streets of Helsinki as urban outdoor exhibitions; they mostly appeared, not on single OOH spaces, but as location take-overs (bus stops etc.). Elements of augmented reality gave a deeper look into the artists interpreting their themes. By scanning the posters with Arilyn (Augmented Reality application), the viewer had a chance to read the artists comments and thoughts on the art piece and the theme behind it. With this poster campaign Helsingin Sanomat wanted to attract new, younger audiences (18-45 year olds), who are conscious and media literate.