I wanted to look at some ads from the Weekend section. I like restaurant ads. Chances are these are done at the newspaper for the owner directly as opposed to an agency or an in-house department. So quality can vary. And newspaper artists are usually slammed so the amount of time you have to edit is probably short for these ads.
What is more, because all these restaurant ads are jammed right next to each other, they compete. They compete for your eye. They jostle along the bottom of the page and up the inside fold trying to get attention. Those that win attention get sales.
In general the noodle ad is a little more eye catching than prime for a few reasons- it has a picture, and some interesting grayscale background, and a very good headline. I’m going to say three things about each of these ads.
Willamette Noodle Company
This is a great place to eat by the way. It is one of my favorite restaurants in Salem. The ad has some strong points. The headline is great. The website is easy to read. The logo is eye-catching.
This ad has three things to pay attention to: brains, relevance, and fax
Here is the problem with black and white pictures of food. Noodles tends to look like brains. The longer you look at the picture, the less appetizing it looks. So it really puts the advertiser in a quandary. Show the product or don’t show the product? Each advertiser has to answer it themselves but you can also have pictures of smiling customers etc.
Here is another thought though…On the left you have June specials: strawberries and ribs. Next to it is a picture of noodles. So which way to go? Noodles for the restaurant or strawberries or short ribs for the specials? If you want the photo to be relevant to the specials, then you go with that.
Finally I have a strange little peeve about fax numbers. Does a restaurant need a fax number in its ad? Do they receive many faxes? If they do then leave it in, but my guess is that they don’t get any faxes form their advertising, so take it out and upsize your location and times.
Prime Steak and Seafood
This ad in one way is more complicated and on the other hand very simple. But, one thing is clear. There is too much text. They are trying to do too much stuff in this ad. So I will say 3 things: choose, reduce and logo.
This ad is about three different unrelated things. It is about banquets and special occasions. It is about Friday through Sunday specials (I don’t know if these are specials)? It is about natural sustainable products. Any one of these topics would make a great ad. The problem is with the amount of space you have in the weekend section, you end up with an ad that looks like a big block of text. The designer does a pretty good job of separating those thoughts. But the problem is no one idea has much impact. In the end though, you really need to choose what the ad is about and go with it and drop the rest.
So choose one and reduce your text block by kicking out the rest of that now unnecessary copy. Put some design features in that draw the eye, and entice the reader. For the banquet, a photo of the patio for instance.
Big logo…good. Logo that looks kinda like the rest of the print on the page…bad. When using a logo like this the designer has to be aware that if they are not careful they can blend the logo into the rest of the ad. For this logo for instance, think seriously about using serif fonts on any subhead or text so you can be sure there is a differentiating between your message and your logo. This will also give your ads a slightly more dynamic appearance.
What is more, because all these restaurant ads are jammed right next to each other, they compete. They compete for your eye. They jostle along the bottom of the page and up the inside fold trying to get attention. Those that win attention get sales.
In general the noodle ad is a little more eye catching than prime for a few reasons- it has a picture, and some interesting grayscale background, and a very good headline. I’m going to say three things about each of these ads.
Willamette Noodle Company
This is a great place to eat by the way. It is one of my favorite restaurants in Salem. The ad has some strong points. The headline is great. The website is easy to read. The logo is eye-catching.
This ad has three things to pay attention to: brains, relevance, and fax
Here is the problem with black and white pictures of food. Noodles tends to look like brains. The longer you look at the picture, the less appetizing it looks. So it really puts the advertiser in a quandary. Show the product or don’t show the product? Each advertiser has to answer it themselves but you can also have pictures of smiling customers etc.
Here is another thought though…On the left you have June specials: strawberries and ribs. Next to it is a picture of noodles. So which way to go? Noodles for the restaurant or strawberries or short ribs for the specials? If you want the photo to be relevant to the specials, then you go with that.
Finally I have a strange little peeve about fax numbers. Does a restaurant need a fax number in its ad? Do they receive many faxes? If they do then leave it in, but my guess is that they don’t get any faxes form their advertising, so take it out and upsize your location and times.
Prime Steak and Seafood
This ad in one way is more complicated and on the other hand very simple. But, one thing is clear. There is too much text. They are trying to do too much stuff in this ad. So I will say 3 things: choose, reduce and logo.
This ad is about three different unrelated things. It is about banquets and special occasions. It is about Friday through Sunday specials (I don’t know if these are specials)? It is about natural sustainable products. Any one of these topics would make a great ad. The problem is with the amount of space you have in the weekend section, you end up with an ad that looks like a big block of text. The designer does a pretty good job of separating those thoughts. But the problem is no one idea has much impact. In the end though, you really need to choose what the ad is about and go with it and drop the rest.
So choose one and reduce your text block by kicking out the rest of that now unnecessary copy. Put some design features in that draw the eye, and entice the reader. For the banquet, a photo of the patio for instance.
Big logo…good. Logo that looks kinda like the rest of the print on the page…bad. When using a logo like this the designer has to be aware that if they are not careful they can blend the logo into the rest of the ad. For this logo for instance, think seriously about using serif fonts on any subhead or text so you can be sure there is a differentiating between your message and your logo. This will also give your ads a slightly more dynamic appearance.
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