Advertising is primarily a selling tool. This paper focuses on its effectiveness, in newspapers. Academic researchers face the basic difficulties of results orientation and a creative element suspicious of hard-nosed research. Though they may seem over-simplistic, the views of sales experts and advertising professionals deserve much more attention and can be related to academic work on persuasion and attitude change. Some of the key rules are examined. Content and form are discussed in relation to headlines, body copy, and illustration. An Australian Advertising Effectiveness Award is proposed.
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