Local newspapers typically feature advertising strips along the bottom of the front cover page. These strips can be a single large advert or be split between multiple companies. Newspapers may also include ads below the masthead or next to it. Ad placement and size can vary from thin strips to large blocks. Quality ads that offer popular promotions like concert tickets help improve perceptions of the newspaper and attract readers and buyers. Newspaper ads are generally aimed at adult readers over 30 through promotions and discounts on items like family activities, home improvements, and shopping.
2. APPEARANCE
In terms of appearance most
local newspapers layout their
adverts in a very similar way. In
nearly all the front covers I have
seen they have a strip of adverts
along the bottom of the page.
This can be done for just one
company taking up the whole
strip or it can be split between
different companies adverts
depending on what size they
have paid for. Some, but not all,
newspapers feature advertising
below the masthead before the
headline and sometimes even
next to the masthead. This can
be done to fill whitespace or as
plugs for their own products
inside e.g. tickets or a magazine.
3. FREQUENCY/SIZE
Local newspapers will nearly always have at least one
advert on the front page of every paper. Adverts
from the same company can appear on the same
newspaper more than once as they may’ve paid for a
slot every other week for example. The amount of
adverts featured on the front page can vary between
one to around 8. They will often have plugs for their
own products, but not always as they may need the
room for the main story/headline or other adverts
from companies that have paid them for the space.
They can range in size massively from a thin long
strip that goes along the bottom to a bigger block
(square/rectangle) that take a large chunk of the
whitespace. After researching all of this I have
decided to make sure my main adverts are placed at
the bottom of the page, but I need to decide if to
put one of three. I am also going to include plugs for
my newspaper as I have found that this is done more
often than not, therefore my project will look more
typical and realistic in comparison to real local
4. CONNOTATIONS FOR PAPER
The adverts used can affect the way in which people
perceive the newspaper. From some research I did I found
that people still very often use coupons and vouchers off
of newspapers and also have used many companies due
to them being advertised by a newspaper company. This
would therefore suggest that in general the more adverts
that are on the front cover the better it is as it will attract
people to buy the paper and then proceed to use the
coupons etc.
The quality of these adverts do however alter how it is
then viewed. For example this news paper has an advert
for tickets to see Spandau Ballet which, for many, would
be considered something very good to get from a
newspaper as concert tickets for a very famous band
would be expensive and hard to get hold of. However if
this was for a band that was a lot less famous and not
really known it would get a lot less attention from people
and therefore will be unlikely to aid sells, it may also make
the newspaper appear more cheap and potentially
unreliable.
5. WHO THEY’RE AIMED AT
Newspaper adverts are typically aimed at
adults. This is due to the fact that newspaper
readers tend to be 30 year +. They can be
aimed at a variety of different people which I
believe is done to help them open up their
chance of getting more readers. For example
there can be adverts aimed at parents with
families for things such a discount children
tickets to theme parks, there can be free
flights which may interest travelers and shop
coupons for people looking to save money. As
well as this there is often adverts for things
like window replacements, adding a
conservatory onto your house and buying
furniture for the home which aims the
advertising at an endless group of people as
there are almost always people looking to
redecorate and alter their houses.