Also in this report:

– Times are changing: New looks for newspaper ads p.17

– Shapes, color can make ads the focal point: In an ocean of squares and rectangles, an unusual shape can be an absolutely unbeatable eye-magnet, says Parker p.20

– Format provides endless opportunity for creative buys: Why creative people need to think like media people and media people need to think like creative people p.20

– Can advertisers compete with bad news? Art directors, copywriters must put focus on making ad relevant to readers p.21

The idea for this special report came out of a conversation we had some months ago with Lorraine Hughes, media director at TBWA Chiat/Day, in which she said creative and media people alike could stand to be more open-minded with respect to advertising in newspapers.

Hughes said most agencies are still using predictable advertising formats, even though advancements in technology, and increasing flexibility in the way newspapers are sold, have given advertisers more choice.

Using Hughes’ comments as a starting point, we asked three agency creative people to tell us whether their approach to newspaper advertising had changed.

As well, we highlight several ads that have taken full advantage of the medium.

Despite good distribution and a high volume of local ads, it’s still an uphill battle for community newspapers to capture that national advertising dollar.

Michael Anderson, executive director of the Canadian Community Newspapers Association, (ccna) estimates national ads in the average community newspaper account for only about 5% of total ad revenues.

Most of those ads come from the triumvirate of car companies – Ford, gm and Chrysler – as well as major retail chains such as Kentucky Fried Chicken, a&w, Dairy Queen and Color Your World.

But by far the largest share of ads, says Anderson, are booked by local and regional advertisers.

In an effort to make themselves more attractive to national advertisers, community newspapers are embarking on a number of initiatives, including verification of circulation, standardization of ad rates and sizes, and the offering of added value to advertisers in the form of flyer and sample delivery.

On the circulation verification front, fully 84% of the ccna’s total membership of 670 titles verify their circulation claims with either the Audit Bureau of Circulations (abc), the Canadian Circulations Audit Board (ccab) or through Verified Circulation (vc) — an audit system run by the ccna.

Murray Skinner, vice-president of marketing for Metroland, a Toronto-based community newspaper chain, says 16 of his company’s titles applied for membership to the ccab last February, and he expects the remaining eight papers to follow soon.

As well, for the better part of a decade, each of the seven regional community newspaper associations that comprise the ccna has operated with a ‘one order, one bill’ system, says Anderson.

While progress is being made on the verification issue, standardization of ad sizes may take a little longer.

With a 100% rise in newsprint costs in the past year alone, many community newspapers have adopted a tabloid format, effectively throwing the Canadian Newspaper Units format for broadsheets out the door.

The Vancouver Area Newspaper Network, which operates 19 community papers on the Lower Mainland and four in the interior of b.c., is standardizing to a six-column tabloid format with two depths.

Similarly, at a meeting last month, the Manitoba Community Newspapers Association (mcna) proposed all tabloid papers adopt a standard six-column format by 1997, says mcna board member Lana Meier.

Tabloids are currently five, six or seven columns.

Shelah Allen, executive director of the Atlantic Community Newspapers Association (acna) understands from experience the need for standardization.

Allen used to be a media buyer and recalls how, because of these variant formats, she had to come up with 36 different sizes to accommodate one ad in several weeklies.

The ad never went through.

In addition to standardizing sizes, community newspapers are attempting to add value to their products by providing advertisers competitive rates on flyer and sample distribution.

Last year, Metroland papers secured contracts to distribute 932 million flyers and 10 million samples, including products such as shampoo, cereals and chocolate bars, says Skinner.

Derrick Chamberlain, VAN Network’s director of sales and marketing, says community newspapers can provide advertisers the ‘missing link’ when it comes to sampling and couponing efforts.

An ad in the paper can be used to tell customers where in their local community they can buy the products being sampled, he says.

Whether through ads, flyers or samples, a client’s mandate is coverage in certain markets, and community papers are assuming the responsibility and cost of hiring research firms to provide advertisers the justification they need to advertise.

Metroland commissions readership studies every two years, for example, while the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association (awna) has data on 98 markets from StatsCan and CompuSearch detailing average household incomes, population, age groups and consumer spending habits.

Both the mcna and VAN Network commission surveys from public opinion and market research firm Angus Reid Group.

Allen says newspapers in Atlantic Canada are not yet in the position to offer this kind of research since it can be costly.

‘But it’s something we’re looking at. We have to give buyers a reason to buy,’ she says.