Today’s ads were taken from page 15A of Wednesday’s Statesman Journal. This is really not the best place to be. Sure you are on the right hand side which is an advantage, but if you are not on the back cover, being that far back in the section and at the bottom of the page is not the best place to be.
My suggestion is to have a short conversation with your ad rep about getting in a better placement next time, right hand page, high and toward the front of the section. Additionally, both of these ads might be better off in the Life Section on the Wednesday Statesman as it is food day. But that is really a call for the individuals placing the ads.
You can tell the ad rep from the Statesman which section you want to be in…believe me if you want it in the Life section he or she will get you in there. Which brings a bigger point, when placing ads, if you have a special section request, do not hold back, be forceful. If there is a specific regular run section: news, sports, life, business, where ever, you can request those positions and the paper they will put your ad there, and if they don’t or want to charge you extra, give them some heat. With the newspaper business in the straits it’s in, they are in no position to argue.
If you are relying on an advertising agency and you get this placement, it is a signal that the agency is not getting the best placement it can. So, you need to kick them around a little.
My suggestion is to have a short conversation with your ad rep about getting in a better placement next time, right hand page, high and toward the front of the section. Additionally, both of these ads might be better off in the Life Section on the Wednesday Statesman as it is food day. But that is really a call for the individuals placing the ads.
You can tell the ad rep from the Statesman which section you want to be in…believe me if you want it in the Life section he or she will get you in there. Which brings a bigger point, when placing ads, if you have a special section request, do not hold back, be forceful. If there is a specific regular run section: news, sports, life, business, where ever, you can request those positions and the paper they will put your ad there, and if they don’t or want to charge you extra, give them some heat. With the newspaper business in the straits it’s in, they are in no position to argue.
If you are relying on an advertising agency and you get this placement, it is a signal that the agency is not getting the best placement it can. So, you need to kick them around a little.
Oregon Garden Ad:
I like this ad for a few reasons; the use of blue with reversed text helps make this ad stand out on the page. Not only that, this offer is absolutely killer: $89 for a room, 2 dinners, breakfast and admission to the garden. Usually the room in most hotels would be at least $89. So the offer gets an A+. A motivating offer is half the battle really and the Oregon Garden Resort has it…this ad should be effective because the offer is so good.
I like this ad, but have 3 things to say: header, copy and contrast:
I’ll say it again: I like this ad. One weakness however is I have to get into the copy to learn what it is about. The header is OK but can be read in two ways. When you say “$89 Dinner Escape Package,” the question is “why does dinner cost so much?” After you reading you understand that the cost is for the package of dinner, lodging, and everything. But, to get that message you have to read the copy. Will your target market want to read the copy if they have a question from the headline? So look at the headline again and decide which way you want to go. Maybe “$89 Escape Package” is enough. There are lots of ways to go with that headline. I understand that the dinner is the big feature of this offer, so the task is to write a headline that is effective, short, and not ambiguous.
Because of space I understand the copy can’t be War and Peace. At the same time there is no sizzle. A single 35 word sentence is quite a bit longer than what you want in most advertising. At the same time it outlines the program nicely. I am torn about what to do. If you add a sentence at the beginning you will likely have to make everything smaller, which is not ideal. If you leave it, the copy is a mouthful. So it is really up to you. Perhaps splitting it into two sentence somehow is the way to go.
There are 2 areas where contrast is hurting you in this ad. The phone number for reservations is dark blue on lighter blue. This is never a good idea. You lose readability, particularly with older readers when you do that. The only way that color combination would work is if the letters were outlined in white. Leaving that line a white knockout and perhaps in italics might be a good idea.
The bigger problem however is the Oregon Garden Resort logo itself. The dark logo is outlined in white drawing the eye so that is good. But because of the size you can’t read the word “Resort.” At first read of this ad it is possible to go through it and literally not know who is advertising. Logos are what logos are, sometimes they have limitations, so it is probably out of your hands. Perhaps making a statement in the copy who is advertising are might be helpful.
Discount Liquidators ad:
I like this ad too. It is all about urgency and saving money. No copy to worry about, just substantial savings in red and little pictures and times and locations. You might be going a little crazy with the exclamation points but who cares.
This is a real simple ad and probably effective.
One comment only: “Habla Espanol” You don’t need it.
In general we put information in advertisements that we need to generate business…create interest…force information. If we were running this ad in a Spanish language newspaper, we would not include text that says, “We Understand English.” Here we are advertising in an English language newspaper, we can make the assumption that everyone reading it (everyone reading this ad) will be able to communicate in English up to the fourth or fifth grade level.
If Spanish speakers are a portion of your target market, find Spanish language advertising venues and advertise directly at them in Spanish. Focus your advertising for your target market, in the Statesman that would be English speakers. With this subhead, with any subhead, always ask how does this address my target market, why am I saying this, will this be effective? The other subheads in this ad answer those questions admirably, by driving home the urgency message. In this context, “Habla Espanol” does not add to your marketing message, so remove it and upsize.
I like this ad for a few reasons; the use of blue with reversed text helps make this ad stand out on the page. Not only that, this offer is absolutely killer: $89 for a room, 2 dinners, breakfast and admission to the garden. Usually the room in most hotels would be at least $89. So the offer gets an A+. A motivating offer is half the battle really and the Oregon Garden Resort has it…this ad should be effective because the offer is so good.
I like this ad, but have 3 things to say: header, copy and contrast:
I’ll say it again: I like this ad. One weakness however is I have to get into the copy to learn what it is about. The header is OK but can be read in two ways. When you say “$89 Dinner Escape Package,” the question is “why does dinner cost so much?” After you reading you understand that the cost is for the package of dinner, lodging, and everything. But, to get that message you have to read the copy. Will your target market want to read the copy if they have a question from the headline? So look at the headline again and decide which way you want to go. Maybe “$89 Escape Package” is enough. There are lots of ways to go with that headline. I understand that the dinner is the big feature of this offer, so the task is to write a headline that is effective, short, and not ambiguous.
Because of space I understand the copy can’t be War and Peace. At the same time there is no sizzle. A single 35 word sentence is quite a bit longer than what you want in most advertising. At the same time it outlines the program nicely. I am torn about what to do. If you add a sentence at the beginning you will likely have to make everything smaller, which is not ideal. If you leave it, the copy is a mouthful. So it is really up to you. Perhaps splitting it into two sentence somehow is the way to go.
There are 2 areas where contrast is hurting you in this ad. The phone number for reservations is dark blue on lighter blue. This is never a good idea. You lose readability, particularly with older readers when you do that. The only way that color combination would work is if the letters were outlined in white. Leaving that line a white knockout and perhaps in italics might be a good idea.
The bigger problem however is the Oregon Garden Resort logo itself. The dark logo is outlined in white drawing the eye so that is good. But because of the size you can’t read the word “Resort.” At first read of this ad it is possible to go through it and literally not know who is advertising. Logos are what logos are, sometimes they have limitations, so it is probably out of your hands. Perhaps making a statement in the copy who is advertising are might be helpful.
Discount Liquidators ad:
I like this ad too. It is all about urgency and saving money. No copy to worry about, just substantial savings in red and little pictures and times and locations. You might be going a little crazy with the exclamation points but who cares.
This is a real simple ad and probably effective.
One comment only: “Habla Espanol” You don’t need it.
In general we put information in advertisements that we need to generate business…create interest…force information. If we were running this ad in a Spanish language newspaper, we would not include text that says, “We Understand English.” Here we are advertising in an English language newspaper, we can make the assumption that everyone reading it (everyone reading this ad) will be able to communicate in English up to the fourth or fifth grade level.
If Spanish speakers are a portion of your target market, find Spanish language advertising venues and advertise directly at them in Spanish. Focus your advertising for your target market, in the Statesman that would be English speakers. With this subhead, with any subhead, always ask how does this address my target market, why am I saying this, will this be effective? The other subheads in this ad answer those questions admirably, by driving home the urgency message. In this context, “Habla Espanol” does not add to your marketing message, so remove it and upsize.
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