• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, October 6, 2008

What news and pictures would you like to see on the front page of your Sunday morning newspaper?

That question was posed to subscribers of O Estado De S. Paulo (The State of Sao Paulo), a daily newspaper published in Brazil, over the course of two Sundays.

Sunday subscribers received a blank front page one week, featuring vacant boxes where headlines, pictures and copy normally appear.

Subscribers were given a task: generate the news and pictures that they themselves would like to see in the paper.

Below the fold was an ad for Nissan, the brand behind this initiative. "Escape the pattern. You, yourself should write the news," began the ad.

Inside the ad, created by Lew´Lara/TBWA, were instructions for readers to create their own front page, which consisted of going online, clicking on a Nissan banner ad, writing headlines, uploading pictures and proofing the finished product before submitting the work.

Imagine the surprise of subscribers the following Sunday when each person that submitted a customized front page received their news and pictures printed on the cover of O Estado De S. Paulo. More than 1,000 personalized front pages were created and distributed; a Nissan ad at the bottom of the front page exclaimed, "we proved that deciding what should be the news is out of the pattern."

A full-page Nissan ad on the next page read, "Now that you've read the news, you have a whole day to buy a new car." Subtle, it's not, but it is a great way to connect readers who are used to getting their news from traditional media with digital options to "escape the pattern."

The sheer volume of customization needed to undertake such a project is also impressive, and not seen often in newspaper campaigns.