This week we have two pretty good ads to look at. Both are from the September edition of the Northwest Senior and Boomer News. They are bottom strip ads, which the NW Senior News seems to sell a lot of…it is a good buy. If your ad is visible the full width of the paper gives your graphic artist a lot of room to work with.
Hollywood Station
This ad is OK. On the plus side it is packed with information and that info is pretty good. One the negative side it looks a little like a classified ad that has been transplanted into the senior paper. There are three things to discuss here: design, contact confusion, contractions, and design.
There are a few design elements of this ad that don’t do it justice. The first comment is a little industry specific: when advertising to seniors contrast is king. Yellowing vision will blur black text on blue backgrounds. Your target market might not see your logo.
This is one ad divided into two different sections a photo section and a text section…but it also looks like two separate ads. This is made worse because the gutter above the ad splits the page in half so the reader questions if this is one ad and location or if it is two? The artists tries to bind the two halves together with the star burst “only 12 left” which is a great urgent message. Rule number one of design is to not leave readers with questions about advertising. Ad are supposed to deliver little knock out punches and confusion only blocks the message.
What makes tops off the confusing design is the contact confusion. On the left hand side is “call Cathie Miles” at one phone number on the text side you are asked to call “Sam Labbe” at a different number. That is what really makes it confusing. Maybe one contact is for leasing and one for purchase? I assume that is the way it is. Anyway again it raises more question marks among potential customers and decreases the effectiveness of the whole.
Finally the contractions. HOA I assume is home owners association. For most people outside the real estate industry that acronym it takes a few minutes to figure out what it means. Again speed of understanding positively affects your ad performance.
Another word choice I thought was strange was “Steel appliances.” I keep getting a visual picture in my mind of a large clunky box with rivets holding it together. I assume Stainless steel is the appliance type discussed. “Stainless” is probably the more accepted contraction of stainless steel, as even if they didn’t get that is was steel it would be at least easy to clean. Of course if it is some other kind of steel using the space to simply put a modifier on steel would be well worth it: “Brush steel” etc.
The basic of this ad are good; a clear idea of what is being sold, some urgency and clear contact info. Some fine tuning will increase responses.
This ad is OK. On the plus side it is packed with information and that info is pretty good. One the negative side it looks a little like a classified ad that has been transplanted into the senior paper. There are three things to discuss here: design, contact confusion, contractions, and design.
There are a few design elements of this ad that don’t do it justice. The first comment is a little industry specific: when advertising to seniors contrast is king. Yellowing vision will blur black text on blue backgrounds. Your target market might not see your logo.
This is one ad divided into two different sections a photo section and a text section…but it also looks like two separate ads. This is made worse because the gutter above the ad splits the page in half so the reader questions if this is one ad and location or if it is two? The artists tries to bind the two halves together with the star burst “only 12 left” which is a great urgent message. Rule number one of design is to not leave readers with questions about advertising. Ad are supposed to deliver little knock out punches and confusion only blocks the message.
What makes tops off the confusing design is the contact confusion. On the left hand side is “call Cathie Miles” at one phone number on the text side you are asked to call “Sam Labbe” at a different number. That is what really makes it confusing. Maybe one contact is for leasing and one for purchase? I assume that is the way it is. Anyway again it raises more question marks among potential customers and decreases the effectiveness of the whole.
Finally the contractions. HOA I assume is home owners association. For most people outside the real estate industry that acronym it takes a few minutes to figure out what it means. Again speed of understanding positively affects your ad performance.
Another word choice I thought was strange was “Steel appliances.” I keep getting a visual picture in my mind of a large clunky box with rivets holding it together. I assume Stainless steel is the appliance type discussed. “Stainless” is probably the more accepted contraction of stainless steel, as even if they didn’t get that is was steel it would be at least easy to clean. Of course if it is some other kind of steel using the space to simply put a modifier on steel would be well worth it: “Brush steel” etc.
The basic of this ad are good; a clear idea of what is being sold, some urgency and clear contact info. Some fine tuning will increase responses.
River Road
I have always been torn about this ad. On one hand it really pops off the page. It is clear. The photo is good. The headline is clear. The contact information is up front. It has a great call to action.
I think because of this ads location in NW Senior News we can assume at least a glancing idea of what assisted living offers among the readers. So for the readers of this senior publication it is sufficiently targeted.
I think the problem I have with this ad is that every other Assisted Living community Salem can say this exact message. The question is…do you need to. In the end the answer is probably no.
It used to make me crazy when I’d ask an assisted living community, what makes you different from your competitors, and the answer would be, “We are real homey” or words to this effect.
At the end of the day I think for this specific market location is way more important that market differentiation. Most to all assisted living communities provide the same services in the same way and try to be homey and none ever really achieve it. The best don’t look tacky. The really best don’t try to ape at a homey pretence and instead try to deliver good service in a kind and caring atmosphere.
Well I am a little off track here. Suffice to say, this ad is a good one. Clear and hopefully effective.
I have always been torn about this ad. On one hand it really pops off the page. It is clear. The photo is good. The headline is clear. The contact information is up front. It has a great call to action.
I think because of this ads location in NW Senior News we can assume at least a glancing idea of what assisted living offers among the readers. So for the readers of this senior publication it is sufficiently targeted.
I think the problem I have with this ad is that every other Assisted Living community Salem can say this exact message. The question is…do you need to. In the end the answer is probably no.
It used to make me crazy when I’d ask an assisted living community, what makes you different from your competitors, and the answer would be, “We are real homey” or words to this effect.
At the end of the day I think for this specific market location is way more important that market differentiation. Most to all assisted living communities provide the same services in the same way and try to be homey and none ever really achieve it. The best don’t look tacky. The really best don’t try to ape at a homey pretence and instead try to deliver good service in a kind and caring atmosphere.
Well I am a little off track here. Suffice to say, this ad is a good one. Clear and hopefully effective.
