There are certain myths about newspaper advertising. One is that good ad placement will get your ad noticed. Research proves otherwise. Strong creative execution is the single biggest reason that your ad will grab the reader’s attention.

The Canadian Newspaper Association (CNA) is regularly asked by advertisers and their agencies to provide information about what makes advertising in newspapers effective. In order to provide insight into this issue, the CNA initiated a research project to collect and collate as much Canadian and international data as possible related to the impact of various factors on newspaper advertising effectiveness.

We recently released this comprehensive summary of newspaper advertising effectiveness studies from around the world. The report analyzed 30 studies from 10 countries including the U.S., U.K., Germany and Sweden.

One of the study’s conclusions rebuts the ad placement myth: over the last 20 years, studies have consistently shown that nothing impacts the performance of a newspaper advertisement more than good creative.

One of the most important findings relates to the debate over right vs. left pages. Most studies indicate there is no difference between right and left pages for either male or female readers. These results have not changed over time.

However, unlike ad placement, size does have an impact, with ad notice increasing as size increases. On average for all countries, full-page ads increased ad noting by 45% and half-page ads increased noting by 15%. The Canadian studies showed even stronger results for large ads.

The use of colour increased ad noting by about 20% in Canada and the U.S. and by as much as 48% in other countries. It is important to note that colour is less likely to attract attention if the majority of the editorial photos and ads in your newspaper contain colour. For example, in Sweden, eye camera tests indicated almost no difference between black-and-white and full-colour ads when the majority of the newspaper’s pages contained colour. Colour has a much greater impact on ad noting among women than men.

While colour does attract more attention than black-and-white, creative is still a critical factor. One U.K. study found that the best colour ads outperformed the worst colour ads by almost 300%.

So while colour and size can help in grabbing the reader’s attention, ad placement is not a factor. What then constitutes an effective newspaper ad? Virtually all of the studies revealed that strong creative is the key to successful newspaper advertising.

In addition to the Effectiveness Research Study, the CNA also summarized research and case studies to compile 13 Newspaper Creative Principles to serve as guidelines for the creation of compelling newspaper ads.

Effective newspaper advertising is all about leveraging the strengths of the medium. There are endless opportunities to make ads topical. The news is fresh every day and the advertising can be as well. Ads should appeal to readers, since newspapers are a reading medium and their readers are information seekers.

As one of the previous judging chairs of the Extra Awards, which showcase outstanding daily newspaper advertising, Jack Neary said, ‘In my experience, the most effective newspaper advertising of all is that work which deploys wit, charm and intelligence to engage the reader.’

Anne P. Kothawala is president & CEO of the Toronto-based Canadian Newspaper Association. For those interested in seeing newspaper ads that really stand out, no matter what side of the page they were on, Anne suggests checking out the Extras at Toronto’s Carlu on Sept. 18.