Newspaper Ads – Time For Change?

Maureen Duffy, CEO of the Newspaper Marketing Agency, explains how research among 6,000 consumers shows that a step change is needed in newspaper financial services advertising…

People’s finances are deeply bound up with their security, their lifestyles, their hopes and their dreams for the future.

Financial issues have a huge emotional resonance for most people, something that comes through strongly in a major piece of research we have just published, in which we talked to people recently in the market for financial services.

People experience a range of emotions in their search for the right financial product. Most are wary as they enter a market where they have to deal with technical terms that they understand poorly or not at all, and with companies they don’t trust to be straight with them.

On the way to a decision, there is often confusion, frustration and stress. People want to find a company that will treat them well, that will be friendly and accessible and that will give good service.

But that emotional range and depth isn’t reflected in most newspaper advertisements for financial services. The ads focus relentlessly on price, almost to the exclusion of anything else. Some consumers are exclusively price-driven, but most are balancing price against other factors, and they think that the current finance ads in newspapers are not talking to them.

The ads are packed with figures and small print. They seem cold, distant and unsympathetic, lending that personality to the brand. Not only do these ads jar with the emotional landscape in which the consumer is making the decision, they also jar with the newspaper context.

The ads are surrounded by editorial that is designed to engage the reader. Newspaper reading is an emotional experience. It is important “me time” for the reader, a relaxing moment to absorb insights and information about the things that interest them.

For readers in the financial services market, that reading time has a special value. Readers use newspapers to get a feel for the market, to work out what is around, what to look for and what to look out for. Their newspaper gives them time to look at and digest information – 74% of those recently in the market said so. The increasing use of online newspapers is reflected in 44% saying the same about newspaper websites.

Most readers agreed that their newspaper helped them to understand the market and to shortlist companies to consider. They said the money pages provided lots of advice and tips, they found the best buy tables useful and the paper was a convenient way of getting contact details.

The trusted money pages provide a powerful context for finance brands, but modern newspapers offer other opportunities to attract readers. Finance ads work best when they focus on the benefit of the product, so property, travel, lifestyle, fashion and other specialist sections and pages can connect with them when they are thinking of spending money.

Newspapers are working hard for their readers, who are using them in a range of ways to navigate this market. Effective advertising can influence those readers as, armed with market intelligence from their newspaper, they move on to the next step.

Most of those in the market who noticed newspaper advertising went to a website, either the brand site or a comparison site. Others chose to phone the free phone number or visit a branch. Only a tiny minority – 6% – took no action.

This ability of newspapers, both paper and online formats, to drive web traffic has been established in earlier NMA research. Just one example: in 2006 a TV plus newspapers campaign for the Toyota Yaris was tracked as part of the NMA’s effectiveness research. Newspaper ads drove a 44% rise in unique visits to the Yaris homepage. The extra hits came almost equally from the print and online editions.

It is true that finance advertisers face special challenges in putting across facts and figures, with statements that have to be made to satisfy regulators. But these challenges can be overcome.

Effectiveness testing of campaigns in the motors sector, which faces similar challenges, has shown that product detail can be wrapped successfully in a brand context. The Toyota Yaris campaign is a prime example, and Toyota is continuing to use the techniques in its current campaign.

One important learning from the Yaris campaign was the effectiveness of multiple executions in newspapers. TV plus one newspaper ad drove a 49% depth of information score. Adding three more newspaper ads and an online newspaper ad took the score to 85%.

Newspapers are a cost-effective medium for multiple executions, and this is especially relevant for finance brands, which often want to give out several messages.

ING is already using the technique in an imaginative way, with a series of ads each announcing a specific benefit for the consumer, with the key number – the rate – incorporated in the design.

Our research into financial services advertising points the way to making newspaper ads an even better investment for brands, and future effectiveness studies will increase understanding of advertising in this sector.

There is no doubt that national newspaper advertising can put extra power behind a finance brand campaign. A step change in advertising is needed, and the NMA is determined to help bring that about.