Craig Rentmeester's Blog

The numbers don't lie - Print is dying - Hooray for Online Ads

The newspaper industry has experienced the worst drop in advertising revenue in more than 50 years, according to the Newspaper Association of America.

Read the full article on Editor and Publisher.

Some Stats from the Article:

Print Advertising

• Total print advertising revenue in 2007 plunged 9.4% to $42 billion
• Classified plunged 16.5% to $14.1 billion.

Internet Advertising

• Internet ad revenue in 2007 grew 18.8% to $3.2 billion compared to 2006.

Advertising as a whole

• Total advertising revenue in 2007 -- including online revenue -- decreased 7.9% to $45.3 billion compared to the prior year.

Newspapers earning more of their money online

• The NAA reported that online revenue now represents 7.5% of total newspaper ad revenue in 2007 compared to 5.7% in 2006.

Tip of the Hat to The Cycle for pointing out the article.

Google, whose stock was trading at over $740 per share in Nov. 2007, had  no comment.

White Space in Print ads

I am thinking about print ads -- specifically using white space in print ads.

White space is critically important, especially in a cluttered world.

Here is a good paragraph I found on NetMechanic summarizing proper and improper white space.

A page with too little white space makes visitors feel uncomfortable because the page seems cluttered and hard to read. Visitors quickly get overwhelmed and move on to a more welcoming site. In contrast, pages with too much white space seem empty, as if there's not enough content to fill the page. Visitors may wonder: "why bother with this?" and go somewhere else.

Reminder
As you'll see below, white space doesn't have to be white.

Example
The company that comes to mind for me, in terms of properly using white space in advertising, is Apple.  Apple's print and TV ads are often loaded with white space to allow people to focus on the product's design and the message.

Below are some examples of Apple's ads featuring a good use of white space.

How Much Advertisers Pay in NYC

Here is a neat video a found on 5min.com about how much advertisers pay for various signage in New York City.

Enjoy.

Marketing and the Guthrie, Part Two

In May, I wrote about the new Guthrie Theater's advertising in downtown Minneapolis. After actually going to the Guthrie on two occasions recently, I thought I follow up post would be valuable.

The past two weekends I went to the Guthrie Theater to have drinks; the first time on a Friday from (roughly) 9:30pm-11:00pm and this past Saturday from 10:30pm – 11:30pm.

The first time I was there, the Guthrie was pretty quiet. There were roughly 8 couples having dinner while a small band played, and there
were about 15 others in the bar area of the Cue Restaurant (the main entrance to the Guthrie at night). The higher floors (4, 5 and 9) were also quiet, until a show let out.

This past Saturday, there was less than 50 people that I saw in the entire building. There was no performance and it was Labor Day weekend, so a smaller crowd would be expected.

The Friday before, there many people around once a performance let out. They were sitting around on chairs and sofas, while others were enjoying the view of the Mississippi or hanging out at one of the many bars. However, while the performance was going on, the Guthrie was, for all intensive purposes, empty.

For a 285,000 square foot facility to sustain itself, it must generate alternative streams of revenue. Ticket sales help, but there are other markets to serve than those willing to pay inflated prices for performances. Alternative revenue will only come in the form of food and, mostly, liquor sales.

The Marketing
The Guthrie is one of the best destinations in all of Minneapolis and the Twin Cities, as a  whole. 

Drinks are fairly priced -- $3.00 for a pint of Sam Adams, $5.75 for a mixed drink, there has yet to be an overwhelming crowd and one can enjoy some of the best views of both the Mississippi River and the downtown skyline. In addition, no area of the Guthrie is off limits to someone that is not attending a play.

This gem, in my opinion, has gone unnoticed. I don’t think the problem is the product. I think it’s the packaging and exposure. Rarely is this the case in marketing. Usually, people in marketing have to fight for great products to bring to market and are left to think of creative ways to gain awareness of a product or service with a tight budget.

My Prescription
For the Guthrie Theater to thrive it must ramp up its marketing efforts to increase exposure, draw in local visitors to build referrals, and draw in out of town visitors through advertising and media relations.

There is my take on the Guthrie. If you have experiences, ideas or suggestions, please post them.

Marketing and the Guthrie

Earlier this week I saw an article on CNN about the new Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, MN. The article basically says that the new theater wants to draw people in see theatrical performances, but also to hang out drinking coffee at the cafe, eating at the fine-dining restaurant or drinking at one of the 13 bars.

The reason for this post is not to publicize the Guthrie, but rather to critique their ads in downtown Minneapolis. Today, I was in the IDS Tower. I noticed a rather large, probably 7'x10', print ad. Rather than breaking up the ad and showing the versatility of the building, the ad shows a theatrical character and says "The Guthrie Theater" in large letters.

Maybe I am blowing this out of proportion a little, but the IDS Tower is one of the busiest in downtown Minneapolis. It attracts many business people that can afford fine-dining and expensive drinks. Also, it attracts visitors from out of town, but only during the week. These out-of-town visitors are great prospects for checking out the restaurant and bars at the Guthrie, since they are on expense accounts and want to experience the city during their stay.

The Big Deal: Marketing is in the details. Customers and prospects do notice the nuances. While ripping the Guthrie's marketing team, I do have to compliment their efforts for gaining placement on CNN's Travel section. This may help their cause more than one print ad in downtown Minneapolis, but I would argue that they are two different audiences.   

 

Business Idea for the Taking

After driving roughly nine hours over the last few days I came up with a business idea that is free for the taking.

In my highway driving experience, I've noticed that about 30 to 40 percent of the trailer parts of semis go unbranded. This is where the opportunity lies.

The Idea: Rather than putting the trucking company's logo on the trailer, the company should up-sell a banner or magnet advertisement to the company whose products it is hauling. This would give marketers an additional venue for advertising and allow trucking companies an opportunity to increase revenues.

The Catch: One major drawback of this idea would be that companies that pay to advertise might receive negative attention if a semi was responsible for an accident. 

The need for white space

I realized that advertisers should incorporate more white space into their ads as I drove over four hours today. Many billboards on the highway seem to tie in as much information as possible so that there is no white space left. For me, and many other people I am guessing, it causes confusion as to what to look at. Rather than seeing "best cheeseburgers in town", I see a 12 x 18 foot white sign littered with words, phone numbers and addresses. There is no direct area for me to focus my concentration --albeit for a matter of seconds. However, a matter of seconds is all that you have in todays world of messaging.

Example Billboard  (click the image a larger version)
Imagine trying to read this billboard from 75 yards away, going 70 miles per hour. Impossible. The rhetorical question attention grabber is meaningless unless you read the whole ad, which is nearly impossible at even 35 miles per hour. No one will see the web site address in the lower right corner.

The Big Deal: I think increased white space would work for advertising mediums as well. Whether it is something as elementary as a flyer or something online like a animated banner ad, advertisers shouldn't try to cram everything about the business into one small canvas -- it creates confusion and doesn't necessarily engage the viewer. Like presentation slides, billboards should utilize graphics, logos and minimal text convey the message. Make the emotional appeal through the image, tie it to your brand through the logo and state your claim using less than 10 words if possible.