A newspaper ad for a documentary aims to simply not only
appeal but also inform the target audience. It is designed to tease the
demographic in order for them to discover for themselves exactly what the
documentary is about. This is a conventional technique of advertising – in the
case of newspaper ads – because it stimulates intrigue and awareness for the
audience. This is as a result of the print ad providing only one image to
convey it’s message, so it can be hard but that’s why you got to keep it simple
in order for that target audience to become engaged.
Newspaper ads conventionally attract attention due to their
clever play on words or indeed puns. For example:
This is why advertisers have to think outside the box with
print ads due to the fact that they’re working with a single image and that’s
it!
The wording often makes or breaks a print ad so it has to be
executed just right. Therefore, it the text displayed is considered a
conventional aspect when producing a newspaper advert. In addition, these print
ads are all about connotations so an active audience can think deep resulting
in a potential vortex of publicity occurring – depending on how intellectually
brilliant the print ad may be.
It is usually the case that informative information about
the documentary is found on the print advertisement in order to provide total
clarity for the target audience. This is the case because the link between the
information provided and the demographic is formed on a need to know basis.
The title is clearly presented in this documentary print
advert in order to capture the audience’s engagement; this is done through the
use of the title being highlighted and increased font size. This does indeed
attract the audience as it sparks their interest levels and in turn become
snared to the natural curiosity of human behaviour. Having the title stand out
within the print ad is of course considered a generic convention of
advertisements for documentaries located in newspapers.
Furthermore, the print ad states that it’s a new series and
provides the exact date and time in order to entertain their suited
demographic. Again, this relates to the idea of clarity whereby all print ads
must give of this impression – in this case it’s telling the target audience
exactly where to go in order to find this programme. Otherwise, it creates
confusion.
The production company behind this programme (Company
Pictures) has aimed to create a brand identity aspect between the programme and
the advert. The Channel 4 emblem is displayed clearly but subtly towards the
right of the advert. The link comes into play when target audiences identify
what the model is holding. It appears that he is in fact stealing the Channel 4
emblem connoting this programme is something you don’t want to miss out on,
signifying it’s worth your time - just another advertising technique to engage
a modern day audience. This emphasises the channel branding utilised to promote
this media text.
Moreover, the positioning of the character is in sync with
the mechanics behind the ‘Rule of Thirds’. This rule creates space and thus
making the advert more appealing on the human eye.
On another note, this form of advertising is known as Above
the Line (ATL) meaning it is distributed and found on a specific media
platform(s) for target audiences to embrace.
Out of the two print adverts, the one with the play on words
is potentially better at promoting the programme because it provides a certain
degree of entertainment for the target audience and in relation to Blumler
& Katz’s Uses & Gratifications theory it suggests that an active
audience watch the media for five main specific “functions” and one of which is
indeed entertainment. Therefore, that one will go down better with audiences.
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