Corporate & financial
Pugnare
We took an academic work on Roman economics and made it a financial press event — landing FT Top 5 Books at Christmas, The Week Top 10, MoneyWeek podcast and Amazon #1 in its category.
A book by mathematician and entrepreneur Dr. George Maher exploring the economic drivers behind the rise and fall of the Roman Empire — drawing parallels with modern financial systems and monetary policy.
Scroll to follow the story ↓
The brief
Bridgehead was appointed to promote Pugnare through the media and position Dr. Maher as a credible commentator on contemporary economic challenges — translating Roman economic history into timely commentary for financial journalists and investors.
Dr. George Maher
What they needed
Raise awareness of Pugnare among financial and policy audiences.
Position Dr. Maher as a commentator on modern monetary policy.
Draw links between Roman economic history and present-day financial issues.
Promote the book through business, financial and broadcast media.
The approach
A media engagement programme drawing parallels between Pugnare's themes and live financial debates — from currency debasement to quantitative easing — to make a historical work feel essential reading.
Timely economic hooks
We aligned Dr. Maher's commentary with live debates on currency debasement and quantitative easing, securing interviews and opinion placements timed to real financial news moments.
MoneyWeek as the cascade trigger
Securing a MoneyWeek podcast appearance created the editorial credibility that cascaded into the FT's Christmas reading list and Amazon's category charts.
Cross-platform broadcast
We secured a GB News broadcast interview and a dedicated Jeremy Warner column in The Telegraph — extending the book's reach from specialist to mass financial audiences.
The results
pieces of coverage
readers and viewers reached
social shares
Coverage over time
Coverage built through 2022, peaking around the MoneyWeek podcast in autumn and the FT Christmas Books list in December (representative split; 44 pieces).
The coverage
2.4M subscribers
Books
Top Five Books to Buy Before Christmas — Financial Times economists' picks 2022
Financial Times · December 2022
100k+ daily readers
Economics
The Roman Empire has a lesson for Andrew Bailey on devaluing currency
City AM · 2022
1M+ readers
Podcast
Our pension system, little changed since Roman times, needs updating
MoneyWeek Podcast · 2022
The cascade
MoneyWeek podcast → FT Christmas Books → Amazon #1 in a single campaign arc.
By securing the MoneyWeek podcast first, we created the editorial credibility needed for the FT's Christmas books team to take notice. The resulting FT listing drove the Amazon chart spike — a textbook cascade from specialist podcast to mainstream financial press to commercial performance.
Seen in
The impact
Named in the Financial Times Top 5 Books to Buy Before Christmas 2022.
Included in The Week's Top 10 Business Books of 2022.
Amazon #1 in category at peak campaign activity.
Dr. Maher established as a commentator on monetary policy across financial media.
The outcome
44 pieces, 410,000 readers, and an Amazon chart-topper — with the FT, MoneyWeek, City AM, Telegraph and GB News all running the story.
