Media: Strategy of the Week - Metro drive aims for Newcastle saturation in May.

Metro wants to focus on one city to maximise the impact of its push, Ian Darby writes.

It seems surprising that the free newspaper Metro has not run a major consumer advertising campaign for more than three years.

The brand has created such a buzz around itself, especially in its London heartland, through trade initiatives and groundbreaking research, that you'd think it safe to assume it must also have been spending hand over fist on awareness campaigns.

Not so. But the campaign that broke in Newcastle on 26 April recognised that occasionally it needs to remind consumers of the product. The objectives were to raise awareness of the brand, to strengthen its profile with the right audience and to reach a business audience of potential advertisers.

Barrett Cernis created the work, which flows from a large outdoor campaign that will attempt to dominate the centre of Newcastle throughout May, and Starcom MediaVest handled media planning and buying.

The line used in the 18 creative executions is 'news at the speed of life' and it attempts to target Metro's main audience of thirtysomething commuters with the message that Metro gives them the information they want in the time they have to read it.

Metro chose Newcastle as the city in which to run the campaign because since the title launched there, four years ago, Newcastle has been through major regeneration and expansion.