USA Today Goes Big in Trade Campaign

Launching what it calls a way to highlight its connection to readers, USA Today this morning announced a new campaign dubbed “What America Wants.”

The campaign is reportedly set to be promoted in a string of media outlets, according to the paper's social media blog, Media Lounge. Among those are Ad Age, AdWeek and CNN.com. “Ads will also run on popular social networking sites Facebook and LinkedIn," the blog item stated. "Facebook ads will offer polling and direct readers to become a fan of USA TODAY. A newly launched tab on ... Media Lounge, will provide marketing updates, media industry chatter, company news and a direct connection to advertising opportunities with USA TODAY."

Sounds like a full frontal assault via business press and social media, and likely not the last for a major newspaper.

A USA Today press release today offers more of the same: The campaign emphasizes USA TODAY's signature voice both in its clear and concise format as well as its balanced and unpretentious reporting on the issues that matter the most to Americans, whether that is American foreign policy, last night's big game or American Idol.

“USA TODAY is proud of its unique position in American media. While other media brands like to claim that they are telling their readers what they think they should know, USA TODAY prides itself on writing about what our readers actually want to know. The tagline What America Wants highlights this connection with our readers. They are engaged with our product across all of our media platforms,” said David L. Hunke, president and publisher of USA TODAY.

So if you see a note on Twitter or Facebook about the campaign, be not surprised.