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Tourism ads present a special challenge. They must sell both the sizzle and the steak in a limited space. The sizzle is the glamour and excitement of the destination, and the steak consists of the promotional enticements.

From my vantage point, the makers of this ad by the Portland Oregon Visitors Association wasn't quite as compelling as it might have been. It's not downright ineffective — it touched a lot of bases and made a lot of points. But it seemed to me it didn't make a reader and prospective visitor say, “Mabel, we gotta go to Portland.” Of the four illustrations, one is a store, one is a basket and one is a traditional-looking hotel.

I was also bothered that the top 4 inches of the page was sacrificed to a headline that is mildly humorous and targeted, but barely mentions the subject of the ad — Portland. So readers who don't identify with the main headline, and yet might be interested in visiting Portland, might pass on by. If you're not planning to “mow lawn, wash car, do laundry,” this weekend, then the message will miss its target. And those 30 or so square inches of space at the top might have been better used to attract and entice potential Portland visitors specifically.

I also wondered if the headline defined the prospect too narrowly. It seems to me it's addressed only to people who live within such easy distance of Portland that they can drop by on short notice — like next weekend. Many readers who live further away and need time to plan the trip might well say, “This ad is not talking to me.” (But since the advertiser undoubtedly has demographic data about likely visitors that I don't, I went along with the idea in my top subhead.)

I decided to try to evoke the fun and enjoyment of Portland with a montage of pictures, supplemented by a stream of attractions in words.

As always, I tried to keep the text type larger than necessary so that it would still be readable when my makeover was shown reduced in size.

After examining the original ad, it seemed almost certain that it was a co-op venture, with part of the ad's cost borne by the commercial establishments featured — the Mark Spencer Hotel and Columbia Sportswear. So I had to make room for featuring them, as well as details of the “Big Deal” offered to visitors.

Depending on the timing and frequency of the advertising insertions, it also would be highly desirable to include a mention of upcoming events, as the original ad did, with copy alongside the basket calling attention to the Portland Art Museum's Jan. 22-May 29 exhibit, “People of the River: Native Arts of the Oregon Territory.”

In the lower right-hand corner of the original ad, I finally noticed a microscopically small Oregon logo captioned, “It's not easy being green.” I didn't think this added anything to the ad and subtracted a little space, so I omitted it.

Does all this really matter? Living as we are in the midst of constant swift change, with new media and interaction springing up almost daily, are magazines and newspapers — and the advertising they carry — becoming obsolete?

I don't think so. The circulation of printed periodicals may be gradually shrinking, but they still show surprising vitality (see Oprah Winfrey's “O”). The truth is, for many people browsing through a newspaper or magazine, the advertising is a more efficient, relaxed way to roam through a great deal of information and entertainment choices than clicking and scrolling through a series of Web pages.

And print advertising has the advantage of being less intrusive than infuriating pop-ups on the Web. You don't have to tear out and discard each ad in a publication before you're allowed to pass to the next article. Pop-ups and ad banners insist on receiving your undivided attention before you can continue. Print advertising merely politely requests it, and allows you to linger or turn the page as you prefer.

So I believe print media advertising will keep its place at the table along with all the new media, though it may have to move over a bit to make room for the aggressive newcomers and allow them to share the media pie.

But Internet advertisers are becoming increasingly skillful at precise targeting — delivering the right message to the people most receptive to it or hunting for it.

This presents the competitive challenge facing print advertisers today. They must reach out and pull in the best prospects among the total readership, and move these prospects a step closer to a buying decision through click-response or other means.

Many advertisers manage to do it. But it seemed to me that this “Come to Portland” ad could have profitably gone further in this direction, as my makeover seeks to do.

THOMAS L. COLLINS (thomas.l.collins@verizon.net) has been a direct marketing copywriter, admaker, agency creative director and co-author of four books on marketing. He is currently an independent creative and marketing consultant based in Portland, OR.

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If you see a direct response or click-response print ad that you think is crying out for a makeover, clip it out and send it to me at 1350 S.W. Upland Drive, Portland, OR 97221. To e-mail comments and opinions: thomas.l.collins@verizon.net.