Overview

TheLococo’s inaugural hyperlocal publication, Camdenist, soft-launched during lockdown back in May. A cross-platform media title featuring storytelling and insights from across the London Borough of Camden, it aims to give agency to residents of all backgrounds and ages, and offer targeted editorial coverage and marketing support to businesses.

After months of planning, the launch was inevitably delayed and disrupted by the Covid-19 crisis. We used the early days of lockdown to refocus our model to be best suited to the suddenly changed landscape. What could we do that would be most supportive to the local ecosystem; the people, groups, venues and businesses of Camden? How could we harness everyone’s sudden focus on all things local? And how could we learn quickly from the crisis to build a better product for the huge challenges of the Covid era ahead?

By mid-May, the team agreed that the launch should not be delayed any further while awaiting the situation to improve, so we soft-launched a bare-bones website (as opposed to the full app and print platform we had expected), and started a weekly email (which was always central to the plans). Editorially, we focused simply on a series of Covid Stories, interviewing local business-owners about how they had come through lockdown, giving them a platform to promote their current offering, and sparking ideas for collaborations with others.