[chiekennugget]

Newspaper, defined as a printed publication (usually issued daily or weekly) consisting of folded unstapled sheets and containing news, articles, advertisements

when I was younger my information about cars used to come from going to showrooms, father telling me stuff, highly professional/academic discussions by FBI (fourth grade bureau of investigation) etc. Never used the internet much.

Newspapers played a major role in expanding my knowledge about cars. If I wanted to know about the latest gewgaw in the car world they were right there. I used to collect car ads from a newspaper. I complied it into a book but I can't find it anywhere.
My favourite ad was by BMW for the i8. It was awesome! It occupied the entire front page and behind it were details about the tech in the car.

I decided to do it again and document my observations.

News paper of choice:The times of India, main paper.
Oldest paper checked:1|3|2024
Recent paper checked:1|7|2024 (a few papers were missing in between)

Maruti Suzuki

As expected, they advertise a lot. At one point I got up and stopped going through the papers because I felt fatigued looking at them. I also found a Wagonr ad from an eenadu paper, I am not going to include that.

Toyota

Toyota advertises their Maruti products more than they advertise their own, which makes sense. Toyota also published a Camry ad on march-13. I know the exact date because it had the most car advertisements (3 including Skoda, Maruti, Toyota), I can't find the Camry ad anymore.

(Hotwheels for scale)

Skoda and Volkswagen

They don't advertise a lot, combined they advertised only 6 times. Maybe the newspaper is under engineered for there over engineered cars.

Jeep

They advertised only once.

Renault

They advertised only once but the ad was ruined by adding a person in it. It would have looked perfect without it.

Nissan

I expected to Nissan to advertise only once, but they proved me wrong by advertising TWICE!!.

Mahindra

I thought Mahindra would advertise more, but they didn't. They had two advertisements but they were the same, to announce the launch of the 3XO.
But, Mahindra has a bigger digital advertising footprint. I have seen a lot of Mahindra ads online compared to any other company.

Citreon

They advertised only once. They took up all of first 2 pages just to announce the arrival of the C3 Dhoni edition. (Forgot to take a picture)

MG

I went through the stack of papers twice to see if I missed an MG ad. I decided to check the Hyderabad times paper and found them there.
In the ads I have seen, they put the Gloster way back occupying little space. I don't think MG is interested in selling this car.

Lexus

They advertised only once, which is one more than I expected them to advertise.

The German trio

Audi

I have seen only one Audi ad which was shocking. I was expecting to see at least 5 from them since I remember them having a stronger newspaper presence when I was younger

BMW

I have not seen a single BMW ad. This disappointed me quite a lot but it is in line with what I remember. There is also a possibility of them preferring one publication to another and advertising there more.

The most surprising of all

Mercedes Benz

Mercedes like their advertisements quite a lot. I have seen so many. Expected them to advertise once or twice. Was in the opinion that luxury brands would be frugal with their advertisements to maintain their image/exclusivity.


This article was behind a Mercedes advertisement:


I thought of providing probability of seeing a car ad in a paper, but midway through doing this I stopped counting how many papers were checked and lost count.

Probability: Favourable outcomes/Total number of outcomes

In this case: Favourable outcomes: Car advert
Total outcomes: Number of newspaper checked

But, what I can do is check the probability of seeing an advertisement from a certain company when we know the number of car advertisements.

I have missed only around 15 papers in between and the likelihood of all of them having an advertisement seems low.

I have seen 61 advertisements in total (only 59 are attached)



If anyone has a different newspaper, please do share which companies advertise and how they do it (frequency).

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Indian Car Scene. Thanks for sharing!

[vyom_elan]

Originally Posted by chiekennugget

Newspaper, defined as a printed publication (usually issued daily or weekly) consisting of folded unstapled sheets and containing news, articles, advertisements

Newspapers played a major role in expanding my knowledge about cars. If I wanted to know about the latest gewgaw in the car world they were right there. I used to collect car ads from a newspaper. I complied it into a book but I can't find it anywhere.

.

Definitely a trip down the memory lane....... cutting out those pictures from a newspaper ad or a brochure and then writing about it. Yes, the number of advertisements in the newspaper have decreased. I miss those days when a new car was launched and the creative ways they used to advertise it(Remember a particular Volkswagen advertisement campaign from 2012/13 with a certain piece of hardware hidden in the newspaper).
I also hate the use of e-brochure by the companies(sure it's environment and cost friendly). Holding a physical copy of the brochure with each shiny page telling you about the features of that car was truly a special experience.

[BullettuPaandi]

I have never seen ads from Audi, Benz, Lexus or any expensive brands; I suppose it makes sense as I live in quite a rural area. So, those ads quickly got my eye.

They look noticeably cleaner- without 'Benefits', 'Discounts', 'Features' and such; not even the names of the car in fancy fonts. I don't know if it's because of premium 'appeal' or these are straight from the makers who're advertising their brand with a new car posing as a model.

Originally Posted by chiekennugget

Mercedes like their advertisements quite a lot. I have seen so many. Expected them to advertise once or twice. Was in the opinion that luxury brands would be frugal with their advertisements to maintain their image/exclusivity.

Looks like Benz decided to be frugal with poster designer's salary instead!

[Joe367]

Few years back there were even more Maruti Suzuki advertisements from different dealers. Like in front page if there's an ad from Popular Maruti, in second page there will be one from Indus motors. Now with Nexa and Arena, we don't get to see that many advertisements.
By the way where's Hyundai?!

[chiekennugget]

Originally Posted by vyom_elan

Definitely a trip down the memory lane....... cutting out those pictures from a newspaper ad or a brochure and then writing about it. Yes, the number of advertisements in the newspaper have decreased. I miss those days when a new car was launched and the creative ways they used to advertise it(Remember a particular Volkswagen advertisement campaign from 2012/13 with a certain piece of hardware hidden in the newspaper).

YES! there is thread on team-bhp about that advertisement.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...g-26-a-26.html (Times of India? Nope, VW of India. EDIT: Vibrating ad on 11 Sept 2012 (Pg 26))

Originally Posted by vyom_elan

I also hate the use of e-brochure by the companies(sure it's environment and cost friendly). Holding a physical copy of the brochure with each shiny page telling you about the features of that car was truly a special experience.

The feeling of a physical brochure is unmatched. E-brochures feel soul less to me, everything is the same old PDF with routine picture style and similar metaphors used for everything.

Physical brochures had funky designs and shapes to them (kuv100 is something I remember)

Originally Posted by BullettuPaandi

They look noticeably cleaner- without 'Benefits', 'Discounts', 'Features' and such; not even the names of the car in fancy fonts. I don't know if it's because of premium 'appeal' or these are straight from the makers who're advertising their brand with a new car posing as a model.

They do have an image to maintain. BMW ads used to look amazing, Mercedes and Lexus had discount/offer stuff near the bottom. BMW ads used to be nothing but the car. An entire front page with a huge car and back of it littered with its features, absolutely insane.

Originally Posted by BullettuPaandi

Looks like Benz decided to be frugal with poster designer's salary instead!

We would call it cost cutting with advertisements, they would call use a fancy word and call it minimalism.

Originally Posted by Joe367

By the way where's Hyundai?!

I was actually thinking about the same. I did not come across a single Hyundai ad in the newspaper. But, I have seen a lot of Hyundai ads on YouTube (banner and video) and random websites I have visited. Maybe even they have a preference for digital ads just like Mahindra.

I do remember seeing an ad for the Hyundai Creta facelift (occupied full front page), but that was in January and my sample size dates back only till march.

[BullettuPaandi]

Originally Posted by chiekennugget

We would call it cost cutting with advertisements, they would call use a fancy word and call it minimalism.

I'd agree if the Lexus's, AUDI's or Toyota's (Fortuner & Hilux post) designers call it minimalism- they all have appropriate backdrops & just about enough info. Benz's is just blank, repetitive in template & wasteful in usage of space - so may be minimalistic, as in 'requires minimal work'.

Also, minimalism doesn't necessarily cost less. If anything the Lexus's designer, for instance, would be paid more for elegantly representing a luxury sedan in it's natural habitat.

[svsantosh]

On the same topic of NewsPaper, I used to collect the 'bit notice' (at least thats what the Tallus called it south of Bangalore. (Say - Bit Notisse - proper way).

These were pamphlets/leaflets in all grades of paper, thin, thick, blotting paper grade, recycled dirty wala grade, glossy and shiny, expensive thickers one too. Basically the idea was to slip in a region specific offer/scheme aimed at only 3-4 towns around, inside daily news papers. Tamil for homes buying Tamil paper, English for the English paper buyers.

For example 24 years ago, Salem was the closest Maruti showroom to Hosur. (YES - you read it right). The Salem SK cars (sadly closed down now) was the only Maruti showroom for Salem district and Dharmapuri District. There was no Krishnagiri district back then.

The pamphlets will be carrying a 'Coming soon to a bus stand near you...' under a 'Pandal' and red carpet and 5-10 chairs with 4 employees from the showroom and the mandatory 1 dude from SBI, 1 dude from Royal Sundaram and 1 local loan shark in formals and a silly neck tie. These pandals were right next to a bus stand - oh the Irony! Back in those days, town bus tickets were from 1:00Re to maximum 2:50Rs, and the first thing you see walking away with all the sweat and heat is a shiny car parked outside the bus stand and one dude handing out the same Notisse to you.

Those Pamphlets were every town kids dream, some day I will goto a Pandal to book a car and own one.

That is how my 2001 Alto LX was driven from Salem to Hosur (when it was still a 14 foot single road way before Golden Quadrilateral project), driven by the same sales man from SK cars who booked my order. I had no idea how to drive one! And I had gone in my Pulsar DTSi to whitefield office from Hosur.

I had the pamphlet with me for few years after I got the car, safely inside the pouch which held the owners manual and the invoice, loan papers.

[NutHead1270]

Great thread, I remember being surprised by a VW talking advertisement on the newspaper once!
It had an audio that used to play when the page is opened. I still remember my dad showing it to me and I instantly fell in love with VW.
I used to keep it under my pillow for few days until the battery ran out ( Was really obsessed with it).
If you ask me Car makers doesn't have that enthusiasm that they used to have a decade ago!

[krrisdrive]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

That is how my 2001 Alto LX was driven from Salem to Hosur (when it was still a 14 foot single road way before Golden Quadrilateral project), driven by the same sales man from SK cars who booked my order. I had no idea how to drive one!

And I thought I was the only one who used salesman's driving skill to bring new car home.

[Blue Express]

Originally Posted by vyom_elan

Definitely a trip down the memory lane....... cutting out those pictures from a newspaper ad or a brochure and then writing about it. Yes, the number of advertisements in the newspaper have decreased. I miss those days when a new car was launched and the creative ways they used to advertise it(Remember a particular Volkswagen advertisement campaign from 2012/13 with a certain piece of hardware hidden in the newspaper).
I also hate the use of e-brochure by the companies(sure it's environment and cost friendly). Holding a physical copy of the brochure with each shiny page telling you about the features of that car was truly a special experience.

Ohh Yes! I remember being so fascinated about the Vento ad, I went around the neighbourhood collecting the day's newspapers from all around and ended up with 10-12 speaker hardwares!

That was probably the most innovative method anyone would've thought of at that time.