INMA Awards 2015 | Best Idea

to Grow Digital Audience or

Engagement

Postmedia – The Great War

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Objectives

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Project objective was to create a site for the 2014 WWI centenary. Highly visual, brand themed to WWI,

responsive, allowing linkout to National Post WWI content, virtual gramophone integration, local content

inclusion, video content, infographics, ad units (LB, BB, Tallblock, Portrait, Billboard), sponsorship logo

inclusion, advertorial option. Content drivers from local newspaper sites and network subsections.

Overarching Goals:

• Place stories in a uniquely Canadian context

• Tell stories about individuals (as opposed to history lessons)

• Represent the homefront as well as the battlefronts

SITE LAUNCH: June 17, 2014

URL at ww1.canada.com but

publically branded as

postmedia.com/thegreatwar

Background

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The story of the First World War, the Great War, has been retold for the last 100 years in film, fiction and history lessons. But behind the sweeping narratives and countless statistics were ordinary men and women whose future hinged on these dramatic historic events. Postmedia’s First World War special section brought these stories of ordinary Canadians to life.

Whether looking at sweethearts left behind or young men going to war, we told stories that brought to life the reality of wartime in both individual tragedy and triumph. These stories covered what happened on the home front as well as the battlefront, from efforts to support the war effort from home, to significant changes that took shape while we dwelled in the shadow of war. Through rich and interactive infographics, videos and historical materials, our section is underpinned by stories of individuals—stories that can be just as easily felt and related to today, 100 years later.

Fully optimized for desktop, tablet and mobile, this responsive digital special section was designed to conjure the mood of the time, to make relatable the lives of those affected by war. Features like a virtual gramophone and stunning archival imagery and materials conjured the life and times.

The theme of putting faces to war continued in our post-war analysis and commemoration: How fortunes were made and destroyed by war. How women’s emancipation took hold in those years. And right up to present day, how we teach our children about the First World War today.

Stories were sourced from across the network, representing the diverse voices and demographics of each market (including The Vancouver Sun, The Province, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Windsor Star, Ottawa Citizen and Montreal Gazette). These stories were penned by leading writers like Matthew Fisher, Tom Villemaire, Richard Foot and supported by graphics by Dean Tweed.

In a showcase initiative, planned a special commemoration of those faces through a video-recital of In Flanders Fields, featuring key personalities, veterans of subsequent wars, and faces of young and old. This digital initiative made available a broad range of stories, art and graphics that could also be used in print, either as a locally sold special section or as individual stories in the normal print run.

Results

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The story of the First World War, the Great War, has been retold for the last 100 years in film, fiction and history lessons. But behind the sweeping narratives and countless statistics were ordinary men and women whose future hinged on these dramatic historic events. Postmedia’s First World War special section brought these stories of ordinary Canadians to life.

What we did:

Fully optimized for desktop, tablet and mobile, responsive digital special section

Repurposed existing Sochi Olympics site to reduce development lift

Features included; virtual gramophone (image 2), virtual museum (image 3), Twitter widget “We Are The Dead”, Flanders Field widget, archival imagery

Syndicated right-rail widget placed on all story pages within News network (image 1)

Syndicated widget placed on all newspaper.com and canada.com homepages and news index pages (image 4)

All local stories placed on WW1 Centenary site

Site hosted by WP Engine

Results

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The WW1 Centenary site averaged 138K+ unique visitors and 331K+ pageviews per month. In addition,

the average user consumed 1.73 pages, and spent an average of 5.47 minutes per session.

2.3 million total page views

Top sub-sections were After the War, Faces of War and Battlefront

Source: Key Metrics Report | WW1.canada.com website | Mon. 17 Jun. 2014 - Wed. 31 Dec. 2014

Results

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During the WW1 Centenary site the News Network saw an increase of 22% in visits in October.

Pageviews also increased, by 4% and unique visits increased significantly by 30%.

Source: Site Sections Report | All Postmedia Network | Jun. – Dec. 2013 & Jun. – Dec. 2014

Results

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From June 17th to December 31st, 2014, the WW1 Centenary site delivered 6,339,876 impressions. As we

got closer to Remembrance Day, the site saw a huge increase in impressions delivered. The 3 month

average sell-thru-rate for the WW1 site was 47%.

Unsold inventory was made available and sold through the Ad Exchange network and RON/ROS ads;

which resulted in over $40k incremental revenue earned.

Source: Historical & Projections STR | WW1 Site | Jun. 2013 – Dec. 2013 & Jun. 2014 - Dec. 2014

Promotions

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Traffic was driven to the WW1 through various initiatives.

Content Modules – Top WW1 stories were promoted across the Postmedia Network through

content module placements

o.canada.com – Link added to main navigation, under featured sites on footer of site and

story homepage content module

News Channel – Branded content modules added to news channel (WP & Lego versions) and

all news story pages

Newspaper Sites – Branded content modules added to all homepages, right-rail widgets

added to news channels and story pages

Newspaper Apps – Link added to main sections navigation of all apps

Marketing – Print and display

Promotions

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Marketing

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Due to the length of the site life; The Great War site was promoted in five phases with refreshed

creative treatment for each:

Phase 1: Memory Project call for submissions May 26 to June 15, 2014

Phase 2: The Great War Site Promotion: June 17 to July 28, 2014

Phase 3: Faces of War July 29 to September 14, 2014

Phase 4: Memory Project September 15 to October 31, 2014

Phase 5: Flanders Fields November 1st to 30th, 2014

Heavy-up promotion coincided with project key dates for editorial:

• June 17: site launch

• August 4: anniversary of the start of WW1

• November 11: Remembrance Day

Marketing

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Marketing Advertising Channels

ROP print ads (regular banner, 1/3 page horizontal, ½ page horizontal) in all Postmedia metro

newspapers and in their unique specialty print products

19,800 print advertising lines PER MARKET

197,700 total print advertising lines ACROSS NETWORK

Digital ad units including on-network leaderboard, big box and permanent tiles

On-network digital ads on mobile and tablet products

On-network home page takeover (wallpaper and leaderboard) on key dates of June 17 and

November 11 (based on availability)

Inclusion in over 20 Postmedia e-newsletters

Social media promotion – including Ottawa Citizen’s “We are the dead” Twitter feed

remembering the names of Canadian Forces members killed in the line of duty, every hour at

11 minutes past the hour.

Marketing | Creative

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Marketing | Creative

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Thank you

Kathy Glenn | Manager, Marketing & Audience Development

kglenn@postmedia.com | 403.235.7129

Pooja Shirke | Network Products Coordinator

pshirke@postmedia.com | 416.442.2005

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