GE isn’t alone in wanting to get more attention from newspaper ads recently. Other brands like Equinox and Take 5 Oil as well as agencies like TBWA New York have taken a similar approach hoping newspaper ads generate social media buzz in an ever-more cluttered digital environment. (Equinox, Take 5 Oil, and General Electric — and its agency Giant Spoon — declined to answer follow-up questions from Digiday. The New York Times did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

“It’s the power of doing something in print, making the statement, getting the logic right, and then knowing that it’s going to go viral,” said Rob Schwartz, chairman at TBWA New York Group, who added that creativity of a print ad is the strategy for brands to keep its readers’ attention before turning the page.

The cost of print

Schwartz estimated that a brand would need between $25,000 to $125,000 for the cost of running one full-page advertisement in a major newspaper, which is the same range that TBWA paid for its “Last Ad from the Last Big Ad Agency on Madison Avenue” full-page ad in The Times. The ad, which ran on Jan. 19, advertised the agency’s move to a different location in Manhattan. When it comes to print ads, Schwartz believes that it is less about money and more about making a statement.

“Sometimes it’s hard to kind of have the gravitas of the statement as a tweet,” said Schwartz, who noted readers’ affinity for taking pictures of print ads and sharing them over social media. “And if the ad itself is provocative or worth viewing, social media gives the ad a chance of widening the circulation.”

As previously reported by Digiday, marketers have been giving more traditional advertising tactics like out-of-home a second look as they seek out more tried and true methods amid the economic downturn. At the same time, the ever-growing digital ad market is getting increasingly cluttered, making it more difficult for marketers to stand out.

The favorability of the QR code can also change a print ad experience — which can be used to bring a newspaper reader to the brand’s website or app. Recent brands such as Skkn by Kim and American Express have used QR codes to connect online users to products in its physical locations.

Print ads are good for direct-response ads so readers can easily keep any phone numbers, said Sherri Rosenberg, vp of media at Blue Chip, …read more

Source:: Digiday

Author: Aaron