People want to bad mouth newspapers, and say that it’s old fashion. They are right, and that’s why people like it. Newspapers are kind of like the Rocky Balboa of the advertising world. No one expects them to win. The underdog concept is not new, even the cliches we used to describe the concept are so old that millennial’s have never even seen the movies that reference it. But being old fashion doesn’t mean that you don’t have some tricks left up your sleeve. Display advertising in newspapers can definitely have advantages that maybe you are not aware of.
A well done print ad can literally stop you in your tracks and make you look twice. This is something many digital campaigns are just not able to do in the same way. Digital advertising is thrown at us from every direction and we are training ourselves to look away! Print advertising has an authenticity that all generations can appreciate.
Being able to reach out and touch an ad can actually have a very profound effect on an audience. Studies show that despite the prevalence of all things mobile, people of all ages, especially the young, are still showing a strong preference for the printed versions for news as well as books! What people do not know is that jumping on the digital bandwagon was more about creating additional advertising revenue and less about the preference for all things mobile.
Display advertising is still one of the few mediums that has the ability to compel a person to reach out and physically touch and grab hold of an ad. “Creative that encourages people to touch a print ad produces even stronger brand impressions. Touching print ads increases people’s belief that the brand is honest and sincere by 41%, quality perceptions by 20% and purchase intent by 24%…( and)  it creates tangibility for messages while at the same time being a catalyst for emotional connections…(newsworks.org) This is great news considering that ad blockers in both digital and mobile forums are being much more popular making which makes it increasingly easy to ignore ads online and the cost of print advertising is affordable and far reaching. Additional studies have also concluding that print ads have shown to increase purchasing behavior over other types of ads and were 7% higher than online and 3% higher that TV .
Creating an great display ad that draws you in is all about incorporating tactile elements. Creating a visually compelling ad requires elements like weight, shape, and, texture, and use of color. With as old fashion as print can be, it still allows for the use for a lot of variables so that you can create a visually compelling ad. Adding tactile elements to an ad can range from super simple to extremely complex.  Textures can be to overlay-ed on  an image using Photoshop and conforming it to the shape that tactile element sits on. Other techniques that can be used are UV printing  to create a shiny or metallic finish.  Embossing  can be used to give the impression of raised paper or die-cuts to create specific shapes.
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