The Atlantic Reinvents the Q&A; Partners with Wieden+Kennedy on New Brand Campaign

New editorial project, “A&Q,” challenges popular answers to pressing questions.

Washington, D.C. (March 8, 2016)—The Atlantic has released “A&Q,” an editorial project challenging popular answers to pressing questions—and turning the conventional Question & Answer format on its head. The project, which celebrates the magazine’s storied tradition of questioning the news rather than simply reporting it, arrives just as The Atlantic announces it is partnering with Wieden+Kennedy New York for the development of a related brand campaign.

In each A&Q, Atlantic reporters begin with some of the most frequently posed solutions to consequential matters of policy, and complicate those answers with thoughtful questions. The A&Q is presented in a custom dashboard showing 20 subjects. The first eight published today, including: How should the U.S. go about reducing its sky-high rates of gun violence? How can wages for men and women be made more equal? What are the best answers to stopping political polarization in the U.S.? How can the U.S. reduce rates of teen pregnancy? The remaining topics will be released over the next four weeks. Pitney Bowes is the launch sponsor of A&Q.

The A&Q model is connected to a new brand platform The Atlantic is developing that will launch in full later this spring. The Atlantic has signed renowned advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy’s New York office to create the consumer-facing campaign; more details will be shared in the coming months.

“The Atlantic has been challenging conventional thinking for more than 150 years. In our first decade, before the Civil War, our editors questioned the institution of slavery, which at the time was a widely accepted ‘answer’ to the economic needs of the time,” said Bob Cohn, The Atlantic’s president and COO. “Over the years we have returned time and again to that tradition, and A&Q is a reflection of how we continue to question easily accepted assumptions. The new platform we're working on with Wieden+Kennedy will express this same spirit.”

Having recently been named Magazine of the Year in the 2016 National Magazine Awards and to AdvertisingAge’s “A-List,” The Atlantic is in its largest year of investment and growth, continuing the momentum of record audience, revenue, and profit in 2015 and 2014. TheAtlantic.com broke three consecutive audience records at the close of 2015 and had 50 percent YOY digital growth, reaching a high of more than 31.5 million unique monthly visitors. Total revenues across platforms and businesses grew 20 percent in 2015. The Atlantic also increased its staff by 50 percent in 2015, and has similar hiring plans this year.

As part of Pitney Bowes’s sponsorship of the A&Q platform, Atlantic Re:think, The Atlantic’s creative marketing group, developed three native advertising experiences, questioning topics of e-commerce, retail, and globalization. The first, “Brick and Mortar is Dead,” is running now at TheAtlantic.com.