Magazine advertising is dominated by mediocre art direction and pre-school ideas, according to JayGrey creative head Jay Furby.
Furby, an award-winning creative who has worked as creative director at DDB Sydney, The Furnace Sydney and Arnold, told AdNews that magazine ads are under-utilised by advertisers who should use the medium to entertain consumers.
“There is no formula for magazine ads, and anyone that supposes there is, is failing to understand the power of the medium that is for the most part under-utilised,” he said.
“What works best is what works best for the product and the target market. But boring is not a solution to any problem. Looking at most magazine ads, it seems lobotomies are quite common practice, judging by what goes to press.”
Furby said magazine
advertising needs to strive to be simple yet entertaining.
“It
is amazing amongst the clutter contained in magazines that executions
aren't simple and eye catching, rather they hide for the most part
amidst mediocre art direction and pre school ideas,” he said.
“The magazine reader is neither dumb nor boring. They bought the magazine for entertainment so entertain them.”
Furby told AdNews
that magazine advertising practiced well is “extremely
effective”.
“Practiced brilliantly it gives the consumer a reason to buy or keep buying what they love,” he said.
Furby said Diesel was a “heavy hitter” creating magazine
advertising that continually stands out.
“If you do ads in
magazines that allow the consumer to too easily turn the page you are
failing to turn on the consumer to your brand and might as well call
it a bland,” he said.
Furby joined up with the WPP-owned agency Grey in September 2009 to launch JayGrey in Sydney. British-born Furby has worked both overseas and in Australia at agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney, Lowe Howard Spink and Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore,
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