Small ad with a big voice

Did you know there really is a fish called Red Herring? It uses diversionary tactics to attract the attention of prey away from its eggs in order to protect them.

Such is not the case when it comes to good design where attention attracting strategies (contrast, shape, repetition, alignment to name a few) are actually used to guide the viewer through a hierarchy of information to the message. On the other hand, a poor design can become congested with visual elements that interfere with its intended message. Not good at all.

When you decide to spend some of your marketing dollars to have a promotion piece designed and printed it’s understandable you’ll want to maximize its impact. Unfortunately budget pressures can sometimes unduly influence decisions over content. There’s a desire to fill every spec of visual real estate with as many details that will fit.

We’ve all seen local desktop-published flyers where a letter-sized sheet of paper is filled to the brim with extra large bold type set in all capital letters. The intended audience of this budget-conscious ad is less likely to get the message because there’s too much being said. There needs to be a prioritized sequence of information as well as space where the eye can rest to maximize comprehension.

Before booking ad space it’s important to decide on the message, where and how it will be displayed, and the call to action. What are the deliverables you are looking for?

Last fall I was contacted by the Inns of Distinction. They are a group of Island estate properties offering an artistic, cultural and historic journey with all the pampering luxuries of today. The group had booked a 2.25 inch square ad in the CAA guide. This publication provides mammoth exposure for advertisers at, of course, a premium price.

With an imminent deadline Dianna Linder, president of the group, and I developed a concise creative brief. The group wanted to let discerning CAA members know that if they travel to the Island they deserve the best, and the best being boutique-hotel-style pampering at one of the Inns of Distinction. For some time their tag line has been Discover the Island through the windows of elegance! It had become outdated.

The few existing photos didn’t convey the message the Inns wanted in the ad and the timeline was tight. The Inns approved the crucial new tag line You’ve made the journey, we’ll make it memorable! Key contact information: the group’s name, logo and web address (with a CAA member welcome page to capture ad responses). This was all included in the small ad paired with warm colours that represent our Island. Focus was given to the Inns logo by setting it in the bottom right corner within a welcoming yellow arch.

The result was a simple, uncluttered design that will draw the reader’s eye from a collection of text and multi-coloured images and give them all the details they need. This is a small ad with a big voice. The Inns now plan to have their website redesigned to support their message.