In September 2008, a print, online and OOH campaign was launched for The Economist in Philadelphia, as one city in a cross-country promotional blitz. The Economist, already popular in the United States without advertising, wanted to increase awareness and trial even further here, where they saw almost unlimited potential for growth.

Well, everybody loves pizza. And it was correctly assumed that college students would enjoy a little food for thought with their meal. Pizzerias close to large college campuses were supplied with 80,000 Economist-branded pizza boxes. The pizza pie charts reinforced the “Get a world View” platform with facts that applied to pizza consumption from a global and intellectual perspective.

The entire campaign significantly increased positive perception across all key measured attributes. Fifty-three percent of those aware of the campaign reported they were more likely to read The Economist.