In an age of brain rot, the NYT’s new campaign champions ‘active absorption’

It’s all about telling a “compelling” story and conveying the daily “personal value” readers get, explains Chanelle Kalfas, NYT’s head of enterprise brand marketing. “We leaned on insights from our curious audience. We really dug in and interrogated what’s going on in culture. What we know about our audience is that, for them and many of us, it has become easier to passively consume rather than actively interact with media, which tends to leave people feeling full, but not necessarily fulfilled.”

The NYT team believes that its readers are “active” and “compelled” by journalism that feels “meaningful.” This led them to a starting point that was rooted in painting a picture of how the publication can help people “navigate life.” Which is where creative shop Isle of Any came in. Led by its co-founder, Toby Treyer-Evans, the team homed in on the idea of “active absorption.”

“That was an interesting starting point for us. The more you lean in, the more you get from it,” he explains. “We were really keen to kind of find a new voice and tone that reflected the larger relationship that subscribers have with The New York Times.”

Where readers’ heads are at

At the end of last year, that research led the NYT team to “interrogate” exactly where its readers’ heads were at. “Given the socio-cultural landscape, there’s a lot going on in the world,” explains Kalfas. “Our consumers are navigating their lives in a variety of ways, alongside the biggest stories of the day.” Often, that can be cooking dinner for their families or making crucial shopping decisions. “It’s about getting clarity around the fact that our audience is so multifaceted and, luckily, we have a product that is able to meet them where they are.”

At its core, the intention behind the work was to create something that felt more intimate and open, an invitation for people to see themselves reflected within it. Whether it’s the simple act of baking bread or the joy of playing familiar games, the hope was that audiences would find echoes of their own lives in these moments. Ideally, the brand positioning allows viewers to experience their own world through the lens of this one.

Antithesis of brain rot

This notion of actively consuming content comes at a time when the term ‘brain rot’ (the Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year in 2024) is a hot topic. Brain rot is defined as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Also: something characterized as likely to lead to such deterioration.”

From TikTok doomscrolling to the lore of Labubus to the never-ending matcha lattes and Dubai chocolate trends, the way in which the algorithm impacts our lives is startling and the AI slop shows no sign of slowing. But on the flip side, with low-quality and low-value content on social media, there’s a real opportunity for publications such as the NYT to make a statement.

“The campaign allows us to talk about the broad brand experience, but also the hard-hitting work. It holds a lot of space for all of that,” Treyer-Evans says. “We wanted it to feel like a big positive statement, that’s got a lot of dimensions within it. It’s deeply individual and personal, but it’s also universal. It’s an invitation to get out as much as you put in.”

The execution and evolution

“’It’s Your World to Understand’ feels like it has the capacity to hold all that we do across the enterprise, our brand has evolved, we’ve got news, cooking, games. We have so much in terms of how people can engage truly with news and information and media,” adds Kalfas. “With the line being able to really work across a wide swath of topics, but still making sure that, in execution, we’re putting our reader at the center of it all, it felt really, really compelling.”

That vastness, from the creative team’s perspective, was a little challenging to wrap up in 60 seconds. With the film itself, the Isle of Any team decided that starting small was the best way to tackle that, with just a single minute and building a “sense of empowerment” from there, which comes from understanding the world around you more and more. This approach worked as the message gains momentum throughout and doesn’t ask the reader to “grasp” everything all at once.

“We hope that your eyes and your world start to feel bigger as the piece goes on and, by the end, you feel like, ‘Yeah, I want to understand more of the world. And the more I lean in, the more I get from it.’ And it should feel really nourishing in that respect,” explains Treyer-Evans. “This passive kind of absorption, you get to the end and it’s not nourishing at all.”

Reflecting on the process, Kalfas acknowledged the sheer volume of content published on the NYT each day, which could be seen as an “embarrassment of riches,” she says lightheartedly. This made it all the more important to approach the project with a clear and focused creative vision, which Isle of Any provided. Equally essential was the strength of the partnership: a collaborative effort rooted in thoughtful curation and a careful interrogation. Striking a delicate balance, the goal was to select journalism that not only felt timely and representative of the moment but also resonated deeply with a broad and thoughtful audience.

This is an ‘evergreen’ approach

With today’s launch being the inaugural push of the new brand platform, the NYT sees it as a completely’ evergreen’ project. “It can take on different messages and different areas of focus across the portfolio, which we’re quite excited about,” says Kalfas. “It’s important to note that our business has evolved meaningfully over the last several years. There was a time when our brand work was more news-forward. And news is still obviously crucial, it’s the anchor and a core part of what we deliver, but we’ve evolved as a destination. The way in which people engage with us is different. This message and platform speak more to the overall news, plus lifestyle and products.”

In terms of measuring success, the NYT says it is always looking to assess how it drives “affinity and consideration” for its brand. The team collaborates closely with the in-house audience insights team, as well as other key partners, to evaluate the impact of the work. But beyond that, there’s also a broader focus, considering the full funnel and how internal teams work together across functions. It’s about understanding not just how the work resonates, but how it fits into the larger ecosystem, supporting everything from engagement to long-term audience growth.

Kalfas adds: “Once we draw people in through this message, we are driving engagement and reinforcing the message of subscription to ensure that we’re really capturing that interest and making sure that this is fully considered and comprehensive.”