Ads That Make News

The results of the 1996, Ads That Make News survey reports that the Conservative Party’s advertisements gained more national press coverage than any ad since records began.

Helped by the “Demon Eyes” campaign, the Tories managed to generate 126 stories last year. The research, conducted by Propeller Marketing Communications, reveals that the pre-election campaign, devised by M&C Saatchi, picked up four times as many newspaper stories as the Labour Party’s, “Same Old Tories, Same Old Lies” campaign.

Martin Loat, Managing Director of Propeller, said: “Like it or loathe it, the Demon Eyes icon was a stunning advertising image. It has been reported that the Tories scored £5 million worth of free publicity for a media spend of £125,000.”

The Labour campaign came fourth with 34 stories. While the Wonderbra campaign reached second place, gaining 51 related stories in the press in 1996 and BT’s “Its good to talk” campaign reached third place, with 48 press reports.

National newspapers ran a total of 1,978 advertising-related stories in 1996, covering 1,203 campaigns. The Independent was the paper most likely to run a story about an ad, with 341 stories. The Times came second with 208 stories and The Daily Telegraph came third with 194.

Propeller Marketing Communications:0171 636 6300