The Guardian turned 200 years old on May 5th 2021. Our challenge was to create a campaign around the bicentenary which didn't feel overly self-congratulatory. That felt like a celebration of the history and the impact of 200 years of progressive journalism and most importantly talked to the challenges which lay ahead.

We created a campaign positioning the Guardian as one of the world's original challenger brands — born from a need for the facts, challenging journalism and new ideas — which remains as strong now as it did back in 1821.

Most brands, when turning 200, choose to celebrate past achievements. But the Guardian – never one to follow the herd – chose to focus on what’s next. ?Their mission has always been to make the world a better, fairer place for everyone. But it’s a mission far from being finished as our campaign line acknowledged through its double meaning: the Guardian. For 200 years, a work in progress.

?A newspaper with a reputation for driving change deserved bold, disruptive copy at the heart of the multi-channel campaign.

Using the Guardian's historic and award-winning typography, we created headline lead art direction which blended the past and the future of the brand. ?The editorial-style art direction stood out and cut through the noise in London, Manchester and Bristol. We also choose meaningful locations that had special significance for our audience.

Most brands, when turning 200, would choose to celebrate past achievements. But the Guardian isn't like most brands. It's been a work in progress since 1821.

So we created a campaign that reflected that. That was as bold and disruptive as the newspaper itself.

With intelligent, thoughtful and playful executions that drove talkabilty with current readers and new ones. We also choose meaningful media placements that had special significance for our audience.

Using the Guardian's historic and award-winning typography, we created headline lead art direction which blended the past and the future of the brand. ?The editorial-style art direction stood out and cut through the noise in London, Manchester and Bristol.

Most brands, when turning 200, would choose to celebrate past achievements. But the Guardian isn't like most brands.

The Guardian may be 200 years old, but it's just getting started. It's been a work in progress since 1821.

So we created a campaign that reflected that. That was as bold and disruptive as the newspaper itself. it launched on their 200th birthday. And ran for the entire year. With even the masthead of the paper and website changing to reflect the campaign.

There was bespoke OOH executions, direct mail, a special edition reprint of the original first edition, social and digital elements and even merchandise that could be bought.

The campaign resonated with the readers, other brands, competitors and even royalty.

We achieved a staggering 41.6 million page views per day across the site. And 6 million on G200 birthday pages. It was also one of the Guardian’s best performing campaigns to date. Delivering substantial financial support with 59.8k acts of support across single and recurring revenue. ?

We also saw a 16% increase in awareness with non-readers, a powerful starting point for the next 200 years...

And thousands of personal birthday wishes from readers and rival newspapers to Hilary Clinton.