Page 1 banners and teasers

[Owen Gallagher]

Hello. I'm looking for some opinions/advice on the use of banners and teasers at the top of the front page. At The Press of Atlantic City, we're re-examining how to make sure they are as effective as possible.

There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of research on the topic, mainly just editors applying their judgment as to what they think will get readers to look inside the paper.

Questions we're addressing include: Should a paper always use some sort of banner? Should it be consistent from day to day? Is a text-only streamer effective, or simply better than nothing at all? Right now we often rely on a text-only streamer, although we do use art, graphics, cutouts, shaded boxes, etc., when the content calls for it.

Who handles the banner at your paper? Is there a certain type of story you look to banner to? Anyone aware of a resource to go to on the topic? Have you changed the way you use banners recently?

Owen Gallagher
night city editor, A.C. Press
OGallagher@Pressofac.com

[bthrock]

Have you talked to the people in your Marketing division? My copy desk had a summit with the Marketing staff a couple of years ago, and they brought lots of concrete suggestions about promo writing. After all, promos have more to do with advertising than with journalism, so asking editors about them isn't necessarily going to garner all the very best information.

Our staff said that these promo gambits sell papers:
-- Be clear; avoid wordplay; make sure they instantly know exactly what you're offering. ("Summer concert guide," though bland to the copy editor's ear, is better than "Sizzling summer sounds," which could be about music, or grilling, or weather ...)
-- Promote items that promise a quick, painless, fact-crammed read: "Top Ten ..." and "How to ..." and "Tips for ..." are effective.
-- Topics that large numbers of readers respond to: stories that affect their children, their health and how they spend their money. Also: sports, especially if you don't often put sports on your A1.

From the journalism side, my insight is to be aware of the news cycle and be on the lookout for tangy items that show up late in the evening. I once killed a sports promo so I could promote a business-oriented story on page A6 or so. It was a story that came to us after 10 p.m., in which Bill Gates predicted (wrongly, it turns out) that spam would be extinct within two years. As a reader, I'm drawn to such items, which upend the way I perceive the world. If you're editing something that makes you call across the room -- "Hey, Joe, Bill Gates says spam will be extinct!" -- it might be worth making sure your readers know it's in the paper.

[Neil Holdway]

Brian nicely summarizes the key points about Page 1 promos. There's also the general philosophy that a piece of art with type will get the type read more than the type alone.

We have tiny spots on both sides of our nameplate. Our paper doesn't want to budge from that, while at the Chicago Tribune, you'll see them play with their flag and throw their nameplate all over the place inside a big promo, of varying shapes. It's actually pretty cool -- sometimes it doesn't work, but I think for the most part they're effective. You'd have to think promos should be treated like any front-page element, with consideration given to the headline (as Brian says) and use of art, and how big a piece of the front page they should constitute.

Another thought I've heard, and that Brian alludes to somewhat: Promote the good stuff *inside* the paper, even if it's not on a section front. You might have a great, useful consumer feature inside Business, so why not steer your readers to it?

[athurart09]

Have you talked to the people in your Marketing division? My copy desk had a summit with the Marketing staff a couple of years ago, and they brought lots of concrete suggestions about promo writing. After all, promos have more to do with advertising than with journalism, so asking editors about them isn't necessarily going to garner all the very best information.

Our staff said that these promo gambits sell papers:
-- Be clear; avoid wordplay; make sure they instantly know exactly what you're offering. ("Summer concert guide," though bland to the copy editor's ear, is better than "Sizzling summer sounds," which could be about music, or grilling, or weather ...)
-- Promote items that promise a quick, painless, fact-crammed read: "Top Ten ..." and "How to ..." and "Tips for ..." are effective.
-- Topics that large numbers of readers respond to: stories that affect their children, their health and how they spend their money. Also: sports, especially if you don't often put sports on your A1.

From the journalism side, my insight is to be aware of the news cycle and be on the lookout for tangy items that show up late in the evening. I once killed a sports promo so I could promote a business-oriented story on page A6 or so. It was a story that came to us after 10 p.m., in which Bill Gates predicted (wrongly, it turns out) that spam would be extinct within two years. As a reader, I'm drawn to such items, which upend the way I perceive the world. If you're editing something that makes you call across the room -- "Hey, Joe, Bill Gates says spam will be extinct!" -- it might be worth making sure your readers know it's in the paper.

Thank you for the information.