• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, December 11, 2006

TIME magazine launched an outdoor ad campaign in London using its easily recognizable red border to target international business travelers.

"TIME. Where news meets business" is the tagline for the campaign, in which the magazine's red borders create a timely, recognizable portrait of current world events.

Eight ads were created in-house by TIME and placed at Canary Wharf and at the Eurostar terminal at Waterloo, two high-trafficked business and commuter locations in London. Mindshare London handled the media buy.

One ad features a group of borders lined up to create a gun with adjoining copy stating, "Urban warfare & hostile takeovers."

Another shows a wall with an opening in the middle, and compares "breached borders & boardroom oustings."

A slot machine full of TIME borders compares the gambles of "social hazards & high risk investments." In another ad, a series of tiered borders represent "celebrity pairings & mega-mergers."

The first phase of the campaign launched at CanaryWharf on Aug. 28 and ran for two weeks. A series of 25' x 6' sheet backlit panels were erected in underground walkways to and from the Jubilee line tube station. CanaryWharf was used as a location because of the number of international banks, financial institutions and global brands that reside in the area.

Phase two launched Oct. 4 and ran through the end of the month at the Eurostar terminal at Waterloo.

Ads were featured on 120 panel posters leading to the escalator platforms and at elevator entrances and exits within the terminal.

The ads are a cruder version of a series of recent campaigns created by BBDO for BBC America.

Using compelling imagery, the BBC ads tell the story of recent events occurring in countries around the world. Pictures representing the Avian flu, a city underwater and a solider holding a gun were formed on a map via the outlines of countries.

A follow-up ad went a simplistic step further by featuring a series of words that, when read together, spelled out a current world event. Such issues as immigration, oil spills, suicide bombers and landmines were addressed.