The South Wales Evening Post has taken news of its circulation success out on to the streets of Swansea, with a cryptic marketing campaign.

Its latest circulation figure is 55,616 (Mon-Sat, Jan-Jun ’06), making it the biggest selling paper in Wales, and the figure has been mysteriously appearing around the city.

The year-on-year sales were down 0.9 per cent, compared with losses of 6.4 per cent and 4.3 per cent for the Echo and Argus respectively.

Students dressed in old style trench coats and hats have been stalking the city centre, carrying newspapers with the numbers on the covers, and the publicity campaign began with posters being put up around the area.

Images of old style journalists leafing through copies of the Evening Post were also projected on walls across Swansea, including at the Heineken Cup clash between the Ospreys and Calvisano on Friday.

The story behind the mystrious crptic figures was then revealed in the Evening Post.

Spencer Feeney, the Evening Post’s editor-in-chief, said: “The Evening Post’s success is a story that is worth shouting about.

“Regional newspapers, like all media, face increasing challenges in a tough competitive environment. “But our success shows that all the talk about local papers facing terminal decline is, at the very least, premature.”

The campaign was developed with Swansea marketing company MGB.

Alex Sheehan, head of PR, said: “We were asked to develop a campaign which would highlight the paper’s amazing circulation figures in a fun and exciting way.

“At this time of year most of us are out and about shopping and enjoying Christmas parties, so we thought we’d literally take this good news onto the street and shout about the success from the rooftops.”