The Sun’s Upfront: The journey of an evolving digital media brand

“We’re not here to talk about newspapers or reach…  we’re here to talk about an evolving media brand in 2024 and that starts with one word: community” explained Owen Griffiths, Commercial Revenue Director at The Sun, kicking off The Sun’s 2024 Digital Upfront. Here’s a round up of what followed…

A younger, more diverse audience than ever before

The Sun reaches 26.6 million people every month across multiple touchpoints - from the main app to Sun Holidays. As the brand diversifies, the audience has become broader with Griffiths pointing to how its digital competitors now range from social media platforms to publishers like LADBible and Time Out. While The Sun remains true to its founding mission to be “the people’s paper”, it also means a host of different things to a host of different communities across platforms, according to Rachel Shields - Assistant Editor. She pointed out that the majority of The Sun’s digital readers are women, with content becoming very platform-specific. As she put it: “The Sun is incredibly dynamic. You’ve got established print journalists who are now also presenting YouTube shows, like Harry Cole, The Sun’s Political Editor and host of the hugely successful Never Mind the Ballots show.” 

Connecting brands with communities via the power of data

Key to The Sun’s offering to advertisers is the wealth of first-party data it has from across its ecosystem to help brands connect with communities. Charlie Celino, Head of Strategic Development at the company, gave delegates an insight into Nucleus - The Sun’s first-party data tool - that allows for real-time planning and draws on audience insights across seven core variables including platform, socio-economic group and time of day. The next addition? Emotion, with the team incorporating insights on how audiences feel when consuming content. The results speak for themselves with campaigns that utilise Nucleus targeting seeing CTR increase by 27.95%.

Continuing to invest in journalism has never been more important

“On the ground veracity is very important”, explained Shields, discussing the value of journalism today. The Sun is a cross-platform media brand, but verified journalism remains its core function, she said: “Continuing to invest in verified, regulated journalism… that has never been more important.” She cites the on-the-ground war reporting provided by The Sun’s Defence Editor Jerome Starkey, who has been filing words and video reporting from the front line in Ukraine over the last two years. In tandem with this, running campaigns on behalf of its readers remain central to The Sun. Shields shared an example of how her own volunteering at a Baby Bank - like a food bank but for children and parents that need support - resulted in the creation of The Sun’s Baby Banks campaign, leading to the creation of a National Baby Banks Alliance. 

For more on The Sun check out https://www.thesun.co.uk/ or The Sun’s YouTube channel.

Digital Upfronts is running 2-24 October 2024. Find out about all the events that are running here.