Research into Newspaper Advertisement by Kate Parkinson, candidate number 9204

What is advertising?

An advertisement is a message designed to sell the advertiser’s goods or services to prospective buyers.

Kate: We are trying to persuade people that our documentary is the best thing on TV to watch and that they should watch it. 

Types of newspaper advertising

There are two types of newspaper advertising – display and classified. A display advertisement is a written message, often accompanied by an illustration or photograph, which can be placed in any section of the newspaper. A classified ad refers to those advertisements that are separated into specific classifications and located in one or more sections of the newspaper.

Kate: We will be using a display advertisement for ours in the paper as we will use still shots from the documentary and persuasive sentences to advertise our documentary.

Display advertisements

There are two types of display ads found in the newspaper – national and local. National advertising usually refers to products that are promoted on a nation-wide basis, such as automobiles and brand-name products or retail chains. Local advertising is used to promote local, regional or national products. The ad is written, however, to appear in the local market.

When placing a display ad, the advertiser is charged by the amount of space the ad occupies in the newspaper. The price of the space varies with certain factors:

• Newspaper circulation (the larger the circulation the higher the price charged)
• Size of ad We will have a large ad so it sounds out from the rest
• Use of colour We have made a decision to use to colours that occur most often in the documentary for the advertisement so a lot of brown, green, cream, etc.
• Guaranteed position in newspaper We will guarantee a good position in the newspaper, I would like it to be one of the first ad's that someone will see when they turn the page, I want it to catch their eye so they don't ignore it.
• Day the advertisement runs We will have it running for a couple of days on the run up to when the documentary will be on TV.
• Advertising frequency As our documentary is a one off we will have it like I said for a couple of days straight on the run up to the doc being broadcasted.

To attract a reader’s attention and to sell a product, many techniques are used in the creation of a display ad. As a result, these ads are usually professionally prepared in creative services departments of the newspaper, the advertiser or a contracted advertising agency.

The physical appearance of an advertisement often determines its attractiveness to the reader. Some aspects considered in ad preparation are:

• Size of the ad
• Use of colour
• Amount of white space, i.e., not too crowded
• Graphics chosen
• Type style and size of text

The information included in an ad can definitely influence its effectiveness in selling a product. Some display ads are purely factual and appeal to reason. Information in these ads usually relates to:

• Quality of the product
• Price or value of the product
• General description of the product
• Guarantee of the product

Other display ads appeal to the emotions of the consumer and may emphasise:

• Brand loyalty – the advertiser wants you to identify with and continue buying established brands.
• Conformity – the "everybody is buying this particular brand or item" approach.
• Hero worship – endorsement of a product by a personality in entertainment or sports.
• Status – an appeal to the buyer’s ego.
• Humour – entertaining, but deceptive; says little about the product.
• Personal attractiveness – a wishful-thinking ad appealing to a particular feminine/masculine image.
• Style changes – the buyer is asked to keep up with the times.
• Vanity – this kind of ad appeals to the buyer’s self image or ego-gratification where the buyer’s happiness comes first.
• Economy – everyone likes to think he or she can economise while spending.
• Luxury – symbols of wealth and excess.
• Convenience – work and time-saving devices.
• Lifestyle – the advertisement associates a certain lifestyle with a product.
• Security – this covers many kinds of security: emotional, personal, financial, etc.
• Sex – the ad uses the lure of sex appeal. It is similar to the appeals of feminine and masculine attractiveness.

Keep in mind that more than one appeal may be found in the same ad.