Results and Effectiveness

In Oct 2013, LANDMARK brought back fond memories and the stories travelled far beyond the print readership (573,000 copies distributed). "The paper encapsulated the key milestones and memories of our society, provoking nostalgia." - Investment Commentator. "The news is actually not as engaging as the Ad…" –Commentator from Commercial Radio. "It demonstrates that with good expertise, mutual trust and creative mind, HK’s print advertising is still blossoming" - Chairman of The Newspaper Society of Hong Kong. More than advertising, LANDMARK connected modern HK to that of earlier generations and created a sense of connection to its property, heritage and community.

Creative Execution

Working with editors of prominent English and Chinese newspapers, we dug into past archives for HK and LANDMARK’s most important milestones. These became the cover stories for modern HK in vintage newspapers replicated from the 1970s. The news was composed with authenticity and style, even the layout of the Chinese characters were read from right to left just like in the past! The unprecedented collaboration between a media agency and media owners gave 'print' a compelling opportunity to innovate beyond a cover wrap. Editors found the concept so engaging that they even broke the rule for their papers’ most sacred space – the headers! So we took their logos back in time and truly created the FIRST newspapers that travelled through time. For the first time, a luxury brand’s print ad fully took over newspapers’ front page news with its brand stories and heritage that meaningfully evoked pride for its shoppers.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

As Hong Kong’s very FIRST luxury shopping destination, LANDMARK has always symbolized HK people’s quest for craftsmanship, perfection and quality. But the arrival of new shopping malls drove people to look for ‘Novelty’ and ‘Excitement’ in shopping experiences. Spontaneous awareness for LANDMARK remained low among its competitors. We were challenged to create attention and to safeguard LANDMARK's position as the iconic landmark and shopping destination that meant something to the ‘generations’ of Hong Kongers. So we decided to reflect LANDMARK Atrium’s 40 years of heritage with HK people’s memories of the past 40 years. With a budget of just US$95,000, we turned to a medium that has always informed HK of what’s important – newspapers and appealed to HK by creating the “FIRST newspapers that travelled through time”. Vividly commemorating HK’s glorious days (news) with the new generation of Hong Kongers and reconnecting the older generations with LANDMARK’s heritage.