Raising the bar on traditional advertising: take 2
Not too long ago, I wrote a post on the L.A. Times taking a “homepage takeover” concept from web and adapting it to print. This past week, I came across an AdAge article that further asserts the notion that traditional advertising space is looking more and more non-traditional.
Lately, I’ve been noticing that a lot of magazine advertisements are looking more like the ads I see online. Where it use to be that the advertisements were kept separate from the editorial content, we’re now beginning to see them intertwined. As advertisers are given more creative freedom with their ad space, the mixing of the two is becoming more common. While some, like myself, view this as a creative initiative to stand out amongst the rest, others are seeing it more as a distraction than anything else.
In an AdAge article on magazine advertisements, the CEO at the American Society of Magazine Editors, Sid Holt views this marriage between editorial content and advertising as disruptive to the reader experience, which could have a negative impact on the reader’s relationship with the magazine. I disagree.
As companies continue to move more of their marketing dollars online, magazines are going to need to think outside the ‘norm’ when it comes to print advertising. With type of buys available to advertisers online, traditional advertising will need to step up the type of ad space they offer. According to Robin Steinberg, senior VP and director of print investments and activation at MediaVest Worldwide, such thinking is necessary in order to continue evolving the design element of engaging and interacting with the consumer. I couldn’t agree more
At the end of the day, you have to be distracting if you want to engage and interact with your consumers.
I don’t think intertwining advertisements with editorial content is distracting. Having advertisements as page break is even more distracting. It breaks the flow of my reading.
I see it as using advertisements as design elements.
But, it’s risky for the publishers. The designers really need to know and understand how to incorporate advertisements in the layout. Otherwise, it can become hazardous.
Maybe Chief Executive didn’t realize that magazine exists today because of advertisers. So, you gotta do what make the advertisers happy and still make your magazine looks awesome.
Fake “article” ads are still showing up in women’s magazines.
They are so easy to spot and gloss over that I haven’t read or noticed one in a long time.
I have no idea why advertisers use them – they are very ineffective for me.
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The more the media becomes incorporated into our lives, the more advertisers must adjust their tactics. Using “fake articles,” as advertisements does not seem to me the best option for affective advertising in this generation.
With the popularity of things like “twitter” and “facebook” for advertising, consumers are looking for what is fast, easy and often times unnoticeable. Large and extensive copy is not ideal in my opinion because today’s readers are not patient, they want the information to enter their lives with little to no effort at all.