Today Evening Standardannounces the winner of its Be London’s Headline competition that pitted media and creative agencies against each other to design the most creative cover wrap for The Evening Standard.

The winning design by creative agency FCB Inferno on behalf of its client, paint brand Valspar, will wrap today’s edition of The Evening Standard. The prize also includes a homepage takeover of Standard.co.uk and an out-of-home presence with 300 branded vendors across the capital and 500 vendor bills and trolley panels, which will be decked out in Valspar colours. This makes up The Standard’s Own The Day proposition, inviting clients to engage with London commuters throughout the day.

The creative, titled “Express Yourself with Colour” celebrates the diverse opinions of Londoners. The tongue-in-cheek creative draws inspiration from the over 2.2 million paint colours available, matching Valspar’s fun and provocative colour names to different public opinions and sparking debate.

The creative is tied to the first address in Parliament following the summer break made by Boris Johnson today. The tagline of the creative reads, “However you feel, we have a paint colour to match”.

“When we launched this competition, we were looking forward to seeing the industry response, but we’ve been bowled over by the high level of entries and creativity we’ve seen. The winning creative by Valspar and FCB Inferno is testament to this quality. It’s a perfect fit for The Evening Standard audience, sparking debate at the forefront of the news agenda and celebrating the diversity of Londoners’ opinions, allowing them to truly own the day in the capital and ‘Be London’s Headline’.”

Jon O'Donnell , Managing Director, Commercial at ESI Media

New research from Evening Standardshows that the reach of a cover wrap on The Evening Standard can be boosted by up to 72%*, due to the non-Standard reading commuters who see it when moving around London. Evening Standard cover wraps have also been proven to deliver across different marketing objectives, be that branding or consumer action; they also take advantage of the unique mindset of evening commuters, who feel 80% more positive than morning commuters**.

The competition, launched by Evening Standardin June, saw more than 30 agencies submit 56 entries. Creative designs were reviewed by an expert judging panel including Sonoo Singh (The Drum), Pam Vick (Caspia Consulting LTD), Ben Walker (Who Wot Why), Niki West (Newsworks) and Jon O’Donnell (ESI Media) and judging was based on a strong media argument, clear brand recognition and brilliant creative.

Sources: *OnePulse, 2019, Evening Catch, 2016

“It was great to see creative, relevant thinking applied to actual products, things consumers can go and buy. The winning work was smart, fun, eye catching and answered the brief really well. I’m off to buy some paint!”

Ben Walker , Founder and Executive Creative Director of Who Wot Why and one of the Be London’s Headline judges

“The creative from FCB Inferno is brilliant and we’re excited for it to bring some colour to London’s evening commute. As a paint brand we embrace people’s individuality, so it is fitting that we’re bringing to life Londoners’ differing opinions with a media brand that lives and breathes this diversity.”

Jane Ryder , Marketing Director at Valspar