One of the greatest tips to make the most out of advertising – may it be Google Adsense, affiliate programs, or even selling your own products is to “put your ads above the fold”.
Have you wondered why they say “put your ads above the fold”? Not “put your ads in the first screen”?
Here is how it originated. – News stands normally display your daily newspapers in a stack and folded in half. What they meant by “above the fold” was that position above the fold line on the first page – the one and only place that even passer-bys an see!
My parents subscribe to the Straits Times, and today, it came into my home with a brilliant “Above the fold” advertisement.
Check this out.
At my first glance, I thought they changed the quality of the newspapers and started to use glossy printing! Whoa! The colours were vibrant, and for once, the look of the papers became more like a magazine!
With further investigation, I found out that it was a slip of glossy printed advert, pasted like a Post-It pad.
Well done BMW. You certainly got my attention to your BMW M6. I’d pity the peeps who were supposed to be on the front page headlines today. 
It draws attention straight away and it is done on the web sometimes too.
Like at yahoo sometimes when i try to log int o check mails , there are some pops that covers largely over them before you could click the “checl mail” link and it happens just in the nick of time making you click it unintenionally.
What an advertising strategy.
Pingback: Essential Keystrokes » Thirteen Things Every Website Needs
Clever advertising indeed!
It seems to be more common nowadays. Both ST and TODAY are offering their front covers for sale, and they do also have wraparounds up for grabs. Another high visibility example is by TODAY, where they can help create a fake “headline” which emblazons your product and service across the front page, written in a typical newspaper headline fashion (eg MASSIVE CROWDS STORM CAR SHOWROOM)
The damage for a stunt like the above? Probably in the region of $50,000 or above. A full wraparound costs as much as $100,000 or more for ST (if we are talking about 4 full page full colour ads).
Hey Glenn! What you said reminds me of a particular “punch the monkey” advertisement they used to have – where you can actually control a boxing glove, and on the ad you have a monkey running around. 🙂
Haha… those days. Don’t know if they still have it today!
Wow Walter – I’ve seen those wraparounds! Its as if you can add another page to the newspaper, above the first page! I didn’t know they cost so much… but well, I think they have to be so effective!
Andy – I think the advertising agencies are getting very creative nowadays. I see advertisements in train stations speakers and a music player, I see buses painted like aeroplanes, and I remember very vividly the launch of a new Ikea store near my town – the whole train station was just Ikea adverts! – windows designed into shelves, even advertisements on the escalators!
What you just said above is a classic example of what Seth Godin would consider Interruption Marketing gone wild. They end up permeating every single corner of our lives and every which way we turn.
I don’t know if you have watched the Truman Show before (starring Jim Carrey)? In it, every single item appear to have outright endorsements built into them, with logos popping everywhere.
Even James Bond movies are no longer saved from these product endorsements, and you do see many mediacorp drama serials with hidden (and not so hidden) messages. Obviously all of these works but I wonder sometimes if marketers like us are going overboard….:)
hm…When were those days?How come i don’t remember..haha
Thanks Walter. I’ve not had the chance to catch the Truman show yet, but I’ve heard of it – I also need to catch up with my books! 🙂
Well I think this is this world for you – if it works, some people somewhere will do it, despite its consequences.