Free newspaper Headline Daily increased its circulation to a million copies just for today to cash in on Christmas advertising dollars and test the waters for doing similar campaigns in the future.
According to the Hong Kong Audit Bureau of Circulations (HKABC) audit in Q3 2014, the newspaper's weekday circulation is over 850,000 copies.
Despite the fact that approximately 150,000 more newspapers needed to given out, the publication simply distributed more copies through its existing distribution networks.
Data collected about the impact of the one-day campaign will help the publication decide whether it should increase the newspaper's circulation on a temporary basis during festive seasons other than Christmas, said a Headline Daily spokesperson.
Today's campaign doubled as a relationship-building exercise as ad spaces were sold to customers in industries from banking and retail to travel and property at the same advertising rates as before.
"It is a token of appreciation for the support of advertisers," the spokesperson said.
To advertise the campaign, the newspaper published editorial stories and print ads in its own print publication as well as digital ads on its Facebook and POP News platforms.