We like to blog a lot about high-concept advertising, but we tend not to pay attention to the fact that many media outlets get lots of money out of more mundane ads.
So this article in LA Weekly is quite interesting, suggesting that movie studios are thinking of drastically slashing the money they spend on splashy display ads for films, particularly in the LA Times and the New York Times:
All advertisers dearly love the 18-to-34 demographic, and the Hollywood movie studios are no exception. In their eyes, the newsosaurs aren’t measuring up. Sources at the two Hollywood studios who are axing their movie display ads in newspapers gave me that information on the condition they not be identified. But, studiowide, it’s on everyone’s to-do list. “We’re rethinking our newspaper ads and I mean, literally, on every movie. Everybody is,” one movie mogul tells me. “The only people who read newspapers are older and elitist. Movies like Sky High don’t need ads in The New York Times. But the studios did it because newspapers were seen as a necessary evil.
“But I don’t think it’s as important anymore.”
Add to that the advent of Craigslist, the decline of in-paper classified ads, and the ability to generally get news and info anywhere and anytime you want. So what’s the future of actual newsprint newspapers if readership keeps declining and advertiisng dollars go away?
I’m 25 years old and I prefer to read my news from the internet, but I wouldn’t write-off the medium altogether yet. I mean, there’s still that all-important bathroom stall. And until they put monitors and wifi connections in there, I’ll be happy to flip through a newspaper.