BNR 114: Lego, The Daily Mail, and People Power

Nov 16, 2016
Brand Newsroom Marketing Podcast

Lego has announced it will no longer do business with British tabloid newspaper, the Daily Mail.

It was a response to a public campaign, called #StopFundingHate, which directly targeted advertisers in several major UK newspapers, urging them not to support publications that promoted “demonisation and division” during the Brexit debate.

Sarah, James and Nic take a look at what this sort of campaign means for brands and the media.

 

Here are some key take-outs:

“This has been hijacked. This is the power of social media. We’ve built up a furore around it and we’ve placed Lego on this enormous pedestal of ‘true value’ — what a fighter for the Stop Hate campaign — when the campaign had actually come to a close.” — Nic

 

“Obviously Lego had identified that the readers of the Daily Mail were a good market for them, that there were some synergies there, and they probably didn’t take it to the next step and ask themselves ‘do we agree with the editorial?’ It was only when they got called out that they decided to address that. It’s up to individual companies to decide how much criticism they’re willing to take from their audience.” — Sarah

 

 

Here are the links you might need

 

Have you heard the one about…

Recently James, Sarah and Nic took a close look at whether the desire to “go viral” is killing trust.

 

And here’s a discussion about “newsjacking” and the virtues of controversy.

 

Like what you’ve heard?

Please subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. Or subscribe on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, Overcast, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to your favourite marketing podcasts.

For more information about the show, visit the Brand Newsroom website, where you can join the Brand Newsroom Community and receive exclusive content and opportunities to meet James, Nic and Sarah.