Members of the planning team for the 'Press Ads that Fly off the Page' seminar in the final stages of preparation for the event at The Gleaner's North Street, central Kingston, offices yesterday. From left are members of the Advertising Agencies Association of Jamaica (AAAJ), Mike Hirst and Robert MacMillan, reviewing the promotional ad with The Gleaner's Advertising Manager Yvonne Senior (seated), Corporate Affairs Officer Terry-Anne Wilson, and Gleaner Deputy Managing Director Christopher Barnes. - Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer

The Advertising Agencies Association of Jamaica (AAAJ), in association with The Gleaner Company Ltd, will host a one-day creative advertising seminar titled 'Press Ads that Fly off the Page' on Monday at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Designed to introduce members of the creative industry and print media to international cutting-edge newspaper and online advertising innovations, the event will have two main sessions - 'Creative Newspaper Advertising' and 'Creative Print and Online Newspaper Advertising' - featuring United States-based advertising experts Earl Wilkinson and Jacob 'Jake' Kelderman.

Wilkinson is the executive director of the International Newspaper Marketing Association, while Kelderman serves as director of ad agency relations at the Newspaper Association of America.

Media consumption trends

This event is consistent with AAAJ's strategy to provide its members with useful resources that will enhance the services they offer their clients.

"This is one way that we are responding to the demands of our clients to provide more bang for the buck," said Andrew Rousseau, president of the AAAJ. "For some time we have been recognising the need to apply more creativity and ingenuity in the way we serve our clients, and a seminar such as this gives us a chance to collaborate on ideas which benefit the industry as a whole."

He added that the recent media surveys provided further evidence that the media landscape was changing and there was an urgent need to innovate in order to remain competitive.

"The results of our recent media surveys indicate that the consumption in our market is becoming even more discriminatory and specialised as we move from medium to medium, which tells us that as we seek to find the best solutions for our clients, we do so along the line of a fresh perspective and that is what we expect from this seminar," Rousseau said.

Interested persons are being urged to secure their tickets as only a limited number are still available.