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STATISTICS continue to confirm the switching of promotional budgets into digital channels, yet consumers still place their trust in newspaper and magazine advertisements. According to a recent pan-European survey by Finland’s national research institute, almost 70% of responses showed that of all advert types, print plays the most important role in their purchasing processes.
Another broad survey, by Germany’s Adblock Plus, indicates that as few as 5% of consumers trust online advertising, relying strongly on what they read in the press. Significantly, unlike with online adverts, they opt in to seeing what is offered by traditional media.
Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of the world’s largest advertising agency group, has said: “We are starting to see with traditional media, particularly newspapers, a bit of a pendulum swinging back, because the market is realising they are more powerful than people gave them credit for.”
Newspaper circulations may be in decline but almost eight million copies of the nationals are sold each day in the UK. At the last count there were 75 regional dailies as well, plus established weeklies throughout the country and a host of newer, local independents.
Nearly two million copies of the glossy ‘National Trust Magazine’ are printed per edition and it claims a readership of more than double that figure, enabling it to ask £21,000 for a single page advert. First published in 1828, ‘The Spectator’ is the oldest continuously published magazine in the English language, has a weekly circulation of almost 55,000 and is increasing its advertising income year on year.
PROMOTIONAL PIE
Printed papers and magazines have surrendered their dominance in the marketplace, but they remain front-line options for beefing up brands. They are an important ingredient in the promotional pie and an outstanding means of reaching upscale adults.
What is known as the advertising ‘rate card’, or list of prices, is nothing more than a statement of what publishers would like to receive. Everything is negotiable. Saving budget and freeing up cash for more adverts in the future can be straightforward and is always worth extra effort.
Having negotiated and booked your campaign, do it well. You could be laying out sizeable money for the advertising space and it would be false economy to skimp on production. Don’t leave it to the paper’s in-house department. Choose a creative agency or designer with specific experience of your markets, making sure there is access to a skilled copywriter: who will need to be briefed by you.
The writing professional understands that every advert demands a simple but stand-out headline. Once the reader’s attention has been grabbed, the succinct information that follows will permeate the senses and spell out a call to action. Every word will count.
POWERFULLY DIFFERENT
Graphically, what you say has to stand out on the page. Vivid visual impact is fundamental to making you look powerfully different from your competition. Instantaneous effect, but with carryover.
Your (also briefed) designer will have a thorough understanding of photography, computer images, colour schemes, the use of white space, typefaces and composition. He or she will know how to marry pictures with the words – and when to ask the writer for minor modifications to fit the evolving scheme of things.
From concept to completion, the focus will be on bolstering your message to deliver it to the right audience in the right way, creating positive feelings and leaving lasting impressions. It will allow your brand to stay true to its values. It should be a flagship in your promotional armada.
Make the most of that press advertising. For instance, tell the world of Twitter that your advert is on page whatever of ‘Glamour Puss’ magazine; alert your Linkedin contacts that you are featured on a prime page of ‘The Daily Shout’ newspaper; post it up to your website; add a reference to your e-mails; maybe organise reprints.
However, if advertising is going to pay big dividends, you will need to be good at it with consistency. Few businesses do enough advertising of a sufficiently high standard.
Yet this is long-established as a multi-billion pounds industry: proving it can work for your enterprise if you set out to control input as well as output.
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