Newspaper ads still the most effective

Newspaper ads still the most effective

By EUGENE MAHALINGAM
eugenicz@thestar.com

ADVANCES in technology may have spurred the growth of various forms of media, but newspapers are still a staple of our society and they continue to grab the lion’s share of advertising expenditure, says Omnicom Media Group (OMG) managing director Andreas Vogiatzakis.
Andreas Vogiatzakis ... ‘Habits don’t change dramatically.’

In its latest Optimum Impression 2009 study, OMG reveals that 57% of newspaper ads got noticed – which has been the trend since 2003.

“From the study, we found that habits don’t change dramatically. Newspapers continue to dominate in the ad spend despite the decline in ad spend,” says Vogiatzakis.

OMG director of communication insights for Asia Pacific, Guy Hearn, says the fact that the majority of ads were noticed by readers was proof of the continued relevance and importance of newspapers to advertisers.

He says that ad relevance picked up especially during a global economic downturn. In the study, it was revealed that readership of print newspapers in Malaysia rose 32% in 2009.

“Last year was the recession and the trend is that people spent more time at home. With the news that was going on in the marketplace, people wanted to be more informed about what was going on,” he explains.

Held in August last year, the study covered 2,452 different ads in 15 main newspapers and 1,023 readers aged 15 to 54 in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Penang, Ipoh and Johor Baru. Overall, there was a total of 14,522 ad exposures.
Guy Hearn ... ‘People wanted to be more informed about what was going on.’

The newspapers surveyed comprised five English newspapers (The Star, The Sun, New Straits Times, The Malay Mail, The Edge), six Chinese dailies (Sin Chew Daily, China Press, Kwong Wah, Guang Ming, Nanyang Siang Pau, Oriental Daily) and four Malay dailies (Utusan Malaysia, Kosmo, Harian Metro and Berita Harian).

OMG research manager Yong Shel Vei, in presenting the results of the study, says that ad noting among Malay language readers was the highest.

“More than two thirds (68%) of ads were noticed by these readers and this is probably due to the lower ad clutter in Malay language titles. On average, Malay language newspaper readers are exposed to 15% less ads than the Chinese language newspaper readers,” she adds.

Vogiatzakis says it is immaterial whether an advertiser chooses to place an ad in a paid or free newspaper.

“From my professional experience in Malaysia, once the decision is made to pick up the free paper and flip through the pages, whether it’s paid or free, it doesn’t matter,” he argues.

“If your creative is strong and is of substantial importance, like targeting a housewife with a shopping coupon, I guarantee you she will pick it (the newspaper) up. The fundamentals don’t change. You have to have a great product and an idea that captures the heart and mind of the consumer.”
Yong Shel Vei says ad noting among Malay language readers was the highest.

Overall, the study revealed that ad noting on Saturdays was highest due to lower ad clutter. The study also revealed that newspaper circulation had surged to 4.8 million currently from 800,000 in 2003.

“The higher ad noting on Saturdays is also possible because people have more time to read the newspapers on that day,” says Yong. She adds that ads that are larger have a higher chance of being noticed.

“Bigger ads are not only more likely to get the reader’s attention, they also enhanced the brand recall and increase the chances of readers reading the ad and absorbing its message. A full-page ad yields 21% higher ad noting than a quarter page,” she says.

Coloured ads were also revealed to attract attention. According to the study, 59% of coloured ads were noticed compared to 53% of black and white ones. Ads placed on right-hand pages were also more likely to be noticed, especially in tabloids.

Yong also says ads that were creative were better recalled by readers. “Media creativity enhances ad noting by 15%, ad read by 30% and brand recall by 25%.”

She says sandwich ads, namely those placed in the middle of a page between news articles, could generate as much as 40% higher ad noting.