A Snapshot Review of Long Copy Ads 27 th April 2011 (Revised July 13 th 2011)

It’s a component of the Newspaper Effectiveness Metric which is run by the newspaper industry marketing body, The Newspaper Works. A monthly study designed; To measure and identify the effectiveness of newspaper creative To help improve understanding of how to use newspapers effectively To improve the understanding of the roles newspaper advertising can play To improve the standard of newspaper creative To provide a consistent metric that is accepted as the industry standard

Pre/post effectiveness studies, measuring in-market effects and how newspaper work with Television Comparison of creative against category averages Comprehensive analysis of how newspapers can best be used to influence purchase behaviour The Newspaper Works’ effectiveness partner:

Recognised industry measures + Newspaper measures Proprietary newspaper measures The Newspaper Works’ effectiveness partner: Ad Recognition Brand Linkage Message Comprehension Brand Equity Impact Role Map Action Map Newspaper Creative Diagnostics

Examples of Long Copy Ads we’ve Tested August 2009 Sept 2009 March 2010 Feb 2011July 2010

“The ad improved my familiarity and understanding of this brand”

“The ad made the brand seem appropriate ”

“The ad made the brand seem different to other brands in their category”

This ad performs very well against most positive Creative Diagnostics. Some people perceive the ad as offering ‘Too much information’ however it also does well against ‘Catches my eye and ‘Headline makes me want to stop’. Importantly, the ad does very well against ‘Highlights an important product feature’ which indicates the communication, while copy heavy, is clear. On the Role Map, the ad has scored very highly against all attributes and in particular delivering campaign extension and delivery of information. Newspaper Norms Red Meat

Despite being quite an austere piece, this ad is seen as a ‘Good looking ad’ and does extremely well with scores against ‘Highlights an important product feature’. As we might expect, the ad scores very well on the Role Map against delivering to the Public Agenda as well as campaign extension. Newspaper Norms TAC

This Nescafe piece was part of a combined TV/Print campaign and it achieves a mostly positive result for Creative Diagnostics while falling below Newspaper Norms on delivering to ‘highlights an important product feature’. Linking this to the Role Map, we see the ad is not deemed to be about information, and has achieved high scores against the roles of Affinity and Reappraisal, which suggests the ad has achieved it’s intentions. Newspaper Norms Nescafe

The ad for Hyundai has achieved good results against both general Newspaper Norms as well as Averages for the Auto category. This Hyundai ad has achieved high scores against Affinity, Reappraisal and delivery of information, all critical aspects of the car purchase consideration process. It’s these results that can help put Hyundai on the shopping list. Newspaper Norms Hyundai Auto Average

This ad for nab meets but does not exceed most positive Creative Diagnostics. On it’s own, it’s viewed as cluttered and difficult to see what is being communicated. However, it was written as a provocative piece and part of a much larger, integrated campaign and within that context may have met it’s goals. Indeed, we see on the Role Map the ad has achieved high scores against Roles linked to brand perception and affinity rather than call to action. Newspaper Norms nab

Comparing performance against the Six Strategic Roles of Newspapers

Newspaper Norms

Newspaper Norms

Newspaper Norms +12

Newspaper Norms

Newspaper Norms

Action Map : ‘What actions are you likely to take as a result of this ad?’ There is every reason to believe that long copy ads are just as effective at driving a response as short copy ads. In general, they encourage word of mouth and help people remember the brand. A good web site is essential to allow interested readers to learn more about the brand or issue being communicated, demonstrating how print drives to online. Nb: ActionMap results surveyed since March ‘10

This comparison demonstrates that a well constructed long copy ad can provide strong differentiation, and brand reappraisal Although long copy ads can be seen as being cluttered and having too much information, it does not mean they are not effective as our analysis shows they can be Eye catching and good looking Delivering an important piece of (product) information Delivering strongly to key strategic roles Long Copy ads tend to perform well when they’re very cleverly written (like the MLA ad), or tapping into a highly emotive response (like the TAC ad) Both these ads do a good job of linking the copy, quickly and easily to the key benefit / message of the ad. The reader doesn’t have to read far, to understand what’s being communicated A single, strong and relevant image can help make this link and increase understanding If the ad is to be part of an integrated campaign, making sure the reader can easily link the ad back to another aspect of the campaign, via branding or campaign devices, will help increase Role Map scores

Appendix December 2009/January 2010

Creation of All Newspaper norms Testing of randomly selected newspaper display ads 5,100 ad observations in total 40 test ads, 100+ observations per ad Population representative sample of the five mainland state capitals Conducted online by Ipsos Media CT, July-August 2008 Sample size 1,737

Newspapers are a powerful medium to utilise across a broad range of strategic roles. Six strategic advertising roles have been validated both qualitatively and quantitatively, resulting in the creation of Role Map, one of two proprietary newspaper metrics. Role Map demonstrates how consumers connect with newspaper advertising across the six roles, comparing the performance of creative against a footprint of all ads tested. All newspaper norm

The second proprietary newspaper metric provides a set of creative diagnostics unique to the attributes of newspaper advertising. They’ve been developed to help identify areas for improvement where results across other brand and advertising measures may require further analysis and interrogation. All newspaper norm

Newspapers are recognised as an effective medium for delivering a Call to Action. Action Map, the third proprietary newspaper metric, expands on this strategic role to provide an understanding of the types of action a newspaper ad inspires. Measured via forced exposure, people are asked about the actions they would consider taking (or have taken) as a result of seeing the ad.