“10 Days in a Mad House” Core Concepts Elements of News Ad Project
Core Concept: Content What ideas are expressed in the news story? What values are expressed in the news story?
Core Concept: Purpose What was the purpose of Bly’s story? Inform? Persuade? Entertain?
Elements of News Is the story newsworthy? Which element is strongest? Timeliness Prominence Proximity Consequence Conflict Human Interest
Ad Project With one other person, Create an ad that would appear in The World a week before the story is published.
Newspaper Ad Conventions Border: something to separate ad from rest of page Kicker or eyebrow: top left corner, makes the reader stop. Arouse curiosity: “No other bank’s checking comes close” Introduce headline: “A Berwyn Bank alert:” Identify target audience: “Looking to buy a new car?” Introduce new product or service: “Berwyn Bank introduces a faster way to deposit checks” Headline: Grabs the reader and makes him want to act: Attention... Interest... Desire... Decision: “Save money with free checking from Berwyn Bank” Body copy: Expands on the headline. Conversational, friendly voice. Discusses major benefits of product/service. Appeals to emotions.
Newspaper Ad Conventions Call to action: what do you want the reader to do? Illustration/graphic White space: draw the eye to what matters Creativity: simple yet attractive and clear. Use different size and weights of font, color to provide contrast. One-second test