What the WSJ’s new ad campaign says about its future

Sarah Scire of Nieman Lab writes about The Wall Street Journal’s new advertising campaign.

Scire writes, “With a new color-blocked campaign featuring a heavier-weight version of the iconic Journal font, the news org hopes to reach a younger demographic that currently believes the Journal isn’t for them.

“‘Our name, The Wall Street Journal, is one of our greatest strengths, but arguably one of our greatest weaknesses as well,’ Dousie said. ‘For that audience, they hear it and they go, ‘I’m not interested in Wall Street. So why should I read you?’’

“‘What we’re trying to do here is to get that audience to understand [that], no, the type of content we’re writing about not only should be right for them — it should be interesting to them — but it’s really imperative for them to advance in their professional and personal lives,’ Dousie added.

“The Journal did extensive reader research before partnering with Mother on the brand campaign. The newsroom believes this untapped younger audience has ‘almost the same attitudes and ambitions’ as their career-focused core audience but they haven’t ascended to the C-suite or top tier of their profession quite yet.”

Read more here.