How do you get non-readers to read The Economist, in spite of the obstacles?

By giving them no choice.

The idea is that we place current and original articles from The Economist in completely unexpected places in the middle of the everyday life of Berliners.

We served up our fresh articles as a morning appetiser on sandwich wrappers and coffee cups, as a burst of knowledge at bus stops and at underground stations. For the night owls we made them the centre of discussion by placing them on beer mats & napkins—always ensuring that the content matched the environment. The articles on coffee cups dealt with food speculations, napkins featured the fast-food industry, and on the underground sustainable urban development.

All of a sudden, The Economist had tens of thousands of new readers in Berlin who saw its true colours first hand for the first time.

An 8% rise in subscriptions speaks for itself. The Economist was not only able to stop its downward trend and massively increase its brand awareness, but it also gained a very special fan. The Chief Editor of leading German weekly "Die Zeit" tweeted "painfully brilliant". Thanks for this Mr. Blau, we are thinking of a free subscription!