With more and more news brands around the world investing in reader engagement platforms like crosswords and puzzles, the Irish Times has revamped its own popular ‘Crossword & Puzzles’ offering by enhancing player interactivity through a range of new and easy to use digital features.
Players will now be able to play and save their games across multiple devices including their desktops, mobiles or even through the ePaper. In addition to the celebrated Crosaire and Simplex crosswords, numerophiles will also now be catered for with the addition of Sudoku, one of the most popular and challenging puzzle games of all time.
Using the strapline ‘Pleasingly puzzling every day’ the paper has launched a major outdoor campaign in Dublin to communicate the changes to existing readers and draw in new ones.
According to Aoife O’Connor, head of digital subscriptions at The Irish Times: “Our much-loved Crosaire and Simplex puzzles have a wonderful history and tradition, so we wanted to keep that while enhancing the interactive experience for subscribers. They can now play anywhere they like, save their progress, and play later or even engage in a little friendly competition by playing against their friends. We’re really proud of the new design and functionality and believe it will be hugely popular with readers.”
John Gildea from Owens DDB, the creative agency behind the outdoor campaign adds: “ Crosswords & Puzzles’ is an offering on The Irish Times platform that enjoys both incredible engagement and deep loyalty. To celebrate its re-design, we wanted to maintain the sense of enjoyment people derive from it. The idea was to utilise the crossword imagery people are familiar with and offer accessible clues to reflect the ease of use of the new platform. It was all tied together with the line, ‘Pleasingly puzzling every day’ ”.
The outdoor campaign was devised by PHD Media and will run throughout the summer on a variety of formats including Dublin Bus T Sides, on Luas as well as at Busáras and Connolly and Pearse Street stations.
