Newspaper Adverts Research

I found it difficult to find existing examples of Local Newspaper advertisements as these simply do not exist, however I found a number of examples of advertisements for National Newspapers. I feel the reason for the lack of Local Newspaper advertisements may not only be the move towards a digital world, but generally with a smaller audience than national newspapers, often word of mouth is used to spread awareness of a newspaper and therefore huge billboard posters may not be needed. I will therefore take what I learn from national newspapers and attempt to apply them to my own local advertisement. 

Example One: METRO

The Newspaper
Metro is a free tabloid newspaper which is most commonly seen distributed on public transport across the UK, at bus stops and train stations, as well as being distributed to pedestrians, and has been described to contain 'bite-size' news for reading on the go. 

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Image
Immediately the idea of public transport is clearly the key focus of the main and, only image on this advertisement. There is a train in the background, and other passengers clearly rushing around in the background, demonstrating this is a busy scene in which the stock character has stopped to read the newspaper in, supporting the ideology of the newspaper as well as presenting the view that the newspaper is worth reading even on the go. The stock character is clearly a man of business as he is dressed in a suit, and as a young man, goes against the typical stereotype of newspapers being for the older generation, widening the target audience at which this advertisement can be aimed. The use of a 'Railway Modeller' magazine to cover up the 'secret' of the Metro newspaper not only relates to the main text of the advert but also creates a sense of comedy as the stock character is pretending to have stopped at the train station in order to study trains, but the real reason is to read the metro, emphasising that it is not only something worth reading, but also something you don't need to hide. The expression on this man's face also shows he is clearly enjoying reading this, adding to the appeal of the newspaper and increasing it's potential readership and it is shown to be something light hearted to read as opposed to having to really read into the stories to understand the news, again supporting the newspaper's ideology.

Text
'Your dirty little secret' is clearly a pun in relation to the hiding of the metro behind a magazine, and it also immediately draws your eye to the advertisement to find out what the 'secret' is. Furthermore, the use of the word 'your' is a personal pronoun and therefore directly addresses the audience, almost encouraging them to also take up this dirty little secret along with this man in the image, with the ellipsis afterwards as an almost lingering, waiting for them to also read this newspaper. The simple use of just 4 words to advertise the newspaper is also effective as like the readers of the newspaper,the target audience of the poster would not have time to read a long-winded advert and it is therefore important they get their message across in as few words as possible.  

Other Details
The masthead of the newspaper is also repeated at the bottom of the poster in order to reiterate the subject of the advertisement as well as making sure the audience know it is free, as the masthead of the actual newspaper in the advert is slightly harder to see for those just walking past the advert. The inclusion of the website is also important as it emphasises that there is a possibility to access this newspaper online which a lot of people 'on the move' would find useful. In addition it adds extra information for anyone who has time to stop and look into the advert, but is also small enough for those passing by to ignore if they do not feel if they need to look into it further, in a similar way to the inverted triangle theory of newspapers. 

Conventions
Ideology
Due to the joke slogan on the advert, this suggests this newspaper has a more light hearted ideology than most. Overall it displays it as a necessity for everyone to have in their life, and suggests it is everyone's dirty little secret. It generally has a very open ideology, and is clearly a product that is not exclusive but for anyone to enjoy.  

Example Two: THE GUARDIAN 

The Newspaper
The Guardian (and it's sister Sunday paper The Observer) is a national newspaper, daily in the case of The Guardian and is the third most read in the world. It is a Berliner newspaper, a format which covers the middle ground between tabloid and broadsheet newspapers, and is also a Liberal party inclined paper. 

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Image
The image is not just simply a visual representation of the pull out of the newspaper it is advertising, but it is also very eye catching. It appears to be on fire and the bright colours this therefore creates makes it extremely eye catching to a passing by audience. This fire could not only represent obviously the subject of cooking, but also the expression 'hot off the press', implying this something you should purchase while you can.It also looks as though it is making an imprint into the background and it is therefore something very significant and something the audience should let make an 'imprint' into their lives. 

Main Text
The main text is a series of rhetorical questions, immediately drawing the audience in as they wonder what the subject of these questions actually is and therefore leading them to read the sub-text. In addition, the final question uses a personal pronoun, directly addressing the audience to continue reading into the advertisement and they wonder how they actually do 'like their own'. The questions are extremely ambigious, making them more curious to the audience and causing them to be draw in, and as white text on a dark background, also stand out. 

Sub Text
The sub text begins by explaining the information and extra detail not addressed in the main text, providing extra information for those draw in already by the main text, so the intention is not to attract the audience but to inform them, as if they have got to this point, they are likely already interested in the product being advertised. It ends with two extremely short sentences 'Dinner time. Owned', which finalises the information in an effective and capturing way, as having informed the audience, they have now 'owned' them, but expressing the view that there is no other way to have a truly successful dinner time than to purchase The Guardian 'tomorrow' and subsequently also get this pull out that goes along with it. 

'Hash tag', Slogan and Logo
'we own the weekend'  is a repetition of the word 'own' from the sub text, and again implies that this is the only way around having a good weekend, and that it is not possible anywhere else as the Guardian 'owns' it all. The hash-tag in the bottom right hand corner also reiterates it with #owntheweekend, encouraging the use of the social networking site 'Twitter' to spread the word about this advertisement and therefore furthering the audience, social networking is something I hope to make use of in my own product. Finally the logo 'g' in the top right hand corner is well known to represent the Guardian and therefore gives the audience and immediate idea of which newspaper is being advertised. 

Example Three: THE TIMES

The Newspaper                               The Times is a national daily newspaper in 'compact' format, meaning a broadsheet quality newspaper in the format of a tabloid newspaper. It was printed as broadsheet up until 2004 when it began being printed in 'compact' to appeal to commuters and younger readers. It is a varied newspaper in terms of political support.

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Image

The image is simple in terms of detail, being a oversized football in a goal at a football stadium. However, it is highly symbolic in relating to the main text, as well as perhaps implying that as a newspaper it represents a larger football whereas in comparison other newspapers only represent the size of a normal football. This image also gives the audience an immediate idea of the advertisement without even having to read the text, which is handy for those interested in sport as they would become drawn in to the advert, however, for those without an interest in sport, they would be put off and therefore pay no attention to the advert. This advert is therefore clearly aimed at certain readers of the newspaper as opposed to the whole readership. The football in the goal could also represent a goal being scored, and therefore the audience would be winning at the 'game', perhaps of life, if they choose to purchase this newspaper. 

Text

The words 'BIGGEST FOR SPORT' is self explanatory, because as well as relating to the picture, it is a simple statement that portrays to the audience why they should choose The Times to read about sport news. It is important as seen in the other advertisements also to keep words to a minimum in order to not bore or put off your audience, especially as my target audience is young people. Underneath this text there is a list of famous names who also 'read' the newspaper for sport, and as famous people in sport, this will surely not only encourage fans of them to read the newspaper, but also anyone who recognises them as popular names to be reassured this is worth reading. By endorsing these names almost as 'brands' it increases the validity of the advertisement and therefore creates a more popular response. 

Other Details

The logo of the newspaper is included underneath all the other information to inform the audience what newspaper it is actually talking about once it is ensured they are interested in the content of the sport. It also includes the website in the top right hand corner to ensure that if readers wish to know anymore information, they can.