I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while, and mostly, the campaign has come and gone, or at least, it’s much less emphasized as it once was. But you can still see remnants of it around town, both on billboards and on bus wrappers and banners.
For years, the P-G ha been the dominant newspaper in Pittsburgh, and I don’t think that that has changed. But I don’t know if that was even the goal of this campaign. More importantly though, it got the Trib front and center to many more people in the market. Coupled with the opening of the Consol Center last year, with the Trib Total Media Gate (along with Verizon Wireless and American Eagle), it did seem as though the Trib was everywhere.
To me, the visuals of the large ships and anchors were a bit overreaching, and I found it tough to make the connection sometimes between their visuals and the message they were trying to convey.
I did always smile however, as my bus would go by one of the Post-Gazette news stands (specifically the one near Wood Street Galleries), especially if I was in a Trib-wrapped bus.
City Paper has a great write up about it the campaign, here’s a snippet:
In any case, the ad campaign is long on swagger. Another ad asserts that “Our circulation is growing — the PG’s is shrinking.” And one of those billboards is posted along the Boulevard of the Allies Downtown — just a stone’s throw from the offices of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Oooh, snap.
The article continues, along with a few quotes from CEO Ralph Martin, who I’ve met, and is very kind and engaging to talk with.
I’m hoping to have some pictures to add next time of some of the pieces, so look for that soon.
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