Research Claims Agencies Neglect Print Advertising
Over half of media industry professionals believe that agency creative and planning departments do not have a good understanding of how print advertising works, according to the latest online poll carried out by the Media Research Group.
The research questioned industry insiders on what could be done to rectify the situation and who should take the lead in training agencies on how to create the most effective print ads. Views on which authority should take responsibility were mixed, with a majority of 37% favouring the Newspaper Marketing Agency, followed by the IPA with 30% of the vote.
The Periodical Publishers Association was also considered to have responsibility by some, with 19% believing they should take the lead. Just 3% of respondents thought that training should be the responsibility of the Account Planning Group, meaning that the onus for change lands firmly at the feet of publishers.
Aside from training issues, an overwhelming 75% of respondents were of the opinion that too little pre-testing was conducted on print advertisements. However, research presented to the MRG by Roper Starch US outlined six key principles to ensure good advertising is created.
The most important of Starch’s principles are to ‘keep it simple, followed by ‘grab them by the eyes’ and ‘understand the value of good flow’. However, there was feeling amongst respondents that the UK should develop its own rules for advertising creatives, which could differ significantly to those presented by Starch.
Earlier this year the World Association Of Newspapers released research claiming that too many newspaper campaigns fail to deliver the required results due to poor quality creative work. The research called for advertisers to work harder to ensure the quality of their marketing messages matches up to the effectiveness of the medium (see Too Many Newspaper Campaigns Fail To Deliver).
Media Research Group: www.mrg.org.uk
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