What kind of advertisements attracts the attention of readers the most?
Most people would say-‘The one that is big and colourful with interesting content’.
Well, this is a layman’s definition of what we refer to as Display advertisements in the world of media.
Display advertisements are the most extravagant newspaper advertisements which require proper media planning, budget allocation and creative resources. It may apparently seem quite simple but a lot of hard work goes behind making it comprehensive for the readers.
Since newspaper advertisements draw a major chunk of their advertisement revenue from display advertisements, there are certain essential conditions that are the deciding factors for the pricing of such adverts. These factors need to be critically examined for a better understanding of the resources invested in it.
The basic structure of a display ad involves the use of images, custom logos, choice of page and position in the newspaper and of course creative deliverance. Now let’s find out how they affect the rates of this ad specific ad format.
Size of the Ad
This is the first basic factor that plies with the cost of the display advertisement. An ad can be as small as the postcard or can be as large as a full page advert. The charges obviously vary based on the size of each ad.
- Each display ad is measured in terms of per sq. cm unit of space occupied by the advertisement on a particular page.
- Every ad size is calculated in terms of height or length and width or columns occupied by the ad
- The minimum display ad size should be at least around 4 cm (Length) X 4cm (Width)
- The larger the ad, the higher is the cost, simply because larger ads ensure more attention from the readers.
- There are certain ads that occupy the front as well as the last page and are referred to as jacket ads, which are again charged double the price of a full-page ad. The cost goes up based on the number of pages occupied by an ad or rather a campaign.
For Instance, a full page ad on the front page covering only one side of the page of Times of India costing about 8.5 lakhs will cost almost 17 lakhs if it covers both sides of the front page.
Placement of the ad
Along with the size of an advertisement, even the page where it is placed is quite crucial in determining the price of the advertisement. A display ad can be placed on different pages of a newspaper based on there are additional charges applied on the same advert and the pages are mentioned below:
- A front page display ad makes the best impact on the reader as its the first thing he/she sees in the newspaper hence it has the highest premium applicable on it.
- Then there is Page 3 which also demands a premium since it is one of the most visited pages of every newspaper and is particularly preferred by the upper classes, businessmen and socialites.
- There is also a premium applicable for advertising on the last page of a newspaper since it is another page that receives a lot of attention from the reader as well as those surrounding the reader.
- Apart from only the pages of the main newspapers, there are supplements as well which are dedicated to a certain category of advertisements. For Instance, Hindustan Times has a special recruitment supplement known as HT Shine, which is meant only for display recruitment adverts.
- Each supplement has a different rate, which is different from that of the main newspaper. The reason behind this is that a recruitment advertisement placed in a recruitment special supplement covering articles, editorials and write-ups on jobs and career is bound to get more eyeballs from relevant job seekers compared to a similar ad in the main newspaper.
Position of the ad
Which corner of the newspaper is a reader liable to notice first?
As a reader flips through the newspaper pages, the advertisement that first catches his/her attention is the one that is visually convenient for him/her to notice. Based on this convenience there are 4 different corners that are usually preferred by advertisers in a newspaper
- The first preference of an advertiser is of course the upper left-hand corner of the page which has the highest premium applicable on it
- Then there is the Upper Right-hand corner of the page that has a lower premium on it
- The next in order of expensiveness is the Lower Left Hand Corner
- The last but not the least is the Lower Right Hand Spot, which though visually convenient is the one that has the lowest premium charges
For instance, if an ad is placed on the upper left-hand side of the page on the left, it has better chances of being noticed by the reader compared to the one that is placed in the lower left-hand corner.
Hence picking a more visible corner has a premium charge applicable to it. These options are available only for those who choose a quarter page ad or a lower ad size.
Black and White/ Coloured
Of course, to make your ad more prominent, you need to make it colourful which is why there are different premiums applicable to different colour formats. There are two colour options available for all display advertisements-coloured and black/white.
- Obviously, the black and white format is a cheaper option
- The coloured ads usually have higher rate than the black/white formats
Although there are certain publications who do not charge any premium for a coloured advertisement, but most of them do.
So if you are publishing a black and white display advertisement in Anandabazar Patrika which is 8 cm wide and 9 cm long in Kolkata edition, it will cost you around Rs.2.10 lakhs while a coloured ad of the same size and edition will cost around Rs.3.2 lakhs. This shows that the colour of your advertisement can make a difference of almost 50% in the cost of the ad.
Day of the Week
On certain days of the week, all of us spend a little extra time with the newspaper, catching up with the entire week’s news and information updates, especially on Sundays. You must have noticed that the newspapers on Sundays are particularly heavier and have a higher number of supplements than on other days.
On this specific day readers also spend quite a bit of time reviewing advertisements, ensuring more attention for them.
This is one reason why charges for advertisements placed on Sundays are higher than those published on other days of the week. This is mostly true in case of popular newspapers like Times of India, Hindustan Times, Anandabazar Patrika, Dainik Bhaskar etc.
Gathering attention is the main and only objective of most display advertisements. So while publishing your own display ad, make sure that you review and incorporate the above options as per your convenience and budget size.