In today’s increasingly digital world, it’s sometimes easy to forget about the importance of printed material — both as a content distribution channel and as an advertising platform.
Yet print is still very much in the game. Readers tend to focus more intently on print ads, but they also see print ads as more credible and relevant when they’re already engaged in publications they trust.
Here’s a look at some of the top trends to embrace in the world of print advertising. Overall, expect to see an increase in strategies for generating user-specific personal content, which will generate higher return on investment. In addition to everyday best practices for print ads, keep these evolving trends in mind as you create your print material for the year ahead.
1. Ikea
February is Valentine’s month, but how to celebrate without indulging in cliché and alienating the unattached half of the population? This tongue-in-cheek campaign for furniture retailer Ikea took a simple but brilliant idea and used it to raise a smile from people on both sides of the divide.
2. Pedigree
A fun take on our ever-growing love of gaming, this fun print ad for Pedigree saw the treats ‘controlling’ the dog to be on its best behaviour. A great execution of a fun idea.
3. Mcdonald’s
Leading fast food restaurant, McDonald’s created another new and innovative advertisement to convey their latest offering to their customers. This time, the advertisement collection features a box of fries, carved directly out of the very ingredient from which they are made.
4. Toronto LiveGreen
Littering is something almost any town, city or state suffers from and the City of Toronto’s Livegreen Organisation decided to tackle the problem with these clever print ads – which was fine until they were accused of plagiarism and then had to pull them, after the companies involved weren’t too happy about their logos being associated with litterbugs. Still, nice while it lasted.
5. Fanta
The new Fanta Campaign boasts the title as the first tastable print advertisement. This means that you tear a piece of their advertisement and place it in your mouth. Of course, you can do that with any advertisement but this once tastes like oranges, similar to their signature soft drink.
6. Mom’s Demand Action
A collective of mothers calling for gun law reform, was behind this hard-hitting ad campaign, which focused on children in schools. ‘Choose One’ features children carrying weapons, alongside classmates holding either a Kinder Surprise egg, the book ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and a ball from the school yard game Dodge-ball. One child is holding something that’s been banned in America to protect them, with the audience asked to guess which one.
7. French Ministry of Health
This ad campaign for the French Ministry of Health highlights the growing the growing issue of obesity in children. An original concept, the illustration, art directed and copy written by David Lesage, features an image of an ice cream, topped with a big belly. The copy reads “L’obesite commence des le plus jeune age,” meaning “obesity starts at a young age.”
8. Durex
Print magazine advertisement to promote the new extra large condoms in South Africa.
9. Chupa Chups
New Ad to promote the “It’s sugar free” tagline.
10. Volkswagen
New Park Assist ad campaign to promote precision parking by Volkswagen.
