The above banner images mark NPR’s first-ever marketing campaign created to portray the brand as an interactive, innovative medium for advertisers.  The campaign is meant to emphasize NPR’s penetrative reach as a cross-platform media outlet that extends beyond radio.  The company released an iPhone application for its podcasts on August 15 and as noted by the second panel, achieved over 1 million downloads, which is certainly helping it reach a younger audience (via: ClickZ).  

I’m particularly struck by the campaigns references the demise of “old media.”  The accompanying sponsorship information page states NPR reaches more than the “combined circulation of the top 55 newspapers.”  This certainly highlights print media’s fleeting influence.  The bold, albeit cliché in approach, slogan in the last panel implies that radio, television’s predecessor, has successfully combined a throwback medium with progressive media usage sensibilities and garnered a loyal following. 

Side note: I’ve never seen a brand brag about the number of Twitter followers it has and perhaps in the not-too-distant future, that number will be just as important as web traffic figures.