Case Study IN THE HEART OF THE SEA

2 Warner Bros Pictures December 2015 The Times, Times Online, Tablet edition CLIENT: CAMPAIGN DATE: PUBLICATION: CAMPAIGN ELEMENTS: IN THE HEART OF THE SEA

This was how the true story that inspired Herman Melville’s Moby Dick was first reported in The Times in When we discovered that Oscar-winning director Ron Howard was focusing on the doomed tale of the whaling ship Essex in his next blockbuster Hollywood movie, In the Heart of the Sea, we contacted Warner Bros Pictures with an audacious plan: to recreate the original Times reporting as a special souvenir poster to our 1.4 million Times readers in print, online and on their digital devices. THE IDEA “A VESSEL DASHED TO PIECES BY A WHALE” 3

4 THE CHALLENGE We know that Times subscribers and readers are loyal to the newsbrand; a third are regular readers and the average subscription is purchased for over 6 years. Taking a slice of history from the Times archive and sharing it with our current readers would therefore be hugely engaging. Our challenge was to ensure the project also raised awareness and interest in In The Heart of The Sea, which premiered in the UK on Boxing Day To do this we secured a media first position in The Times for the poster as a special panoramic half-wrap. This wraps the paper and folds out to twice the height of the modern Times, with additional media space we could use to promote the film.

THE EXECUTION 5

6

7

8

“I’VE NEVER SEEN ADVERTISING LIKE THIS BEFORE” – Ron Howard, Director, In The Heart Of The Sea 9

All enclosed content created by Method, the strategic content agency for News UK. WHAT WE DO: Brand and campaign strategy, Media and account planning, Content creation, Video, audio, animation, articles, essays, supplements, magazines, journals and reports Design: Branding and co-branding, photography, graphic design, production services Social media management: Community, relationships, social content sharing AMY GUSTAR Director, Film and Home Entertainments Method at News UK 10