Is your company missing the value of print?

2044192 — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 13:49:00 GMT

The nuclear cloud has reached Australia. With the arrival of the cloud, no options for living are left. One by one, the inhabitants of Australia take their suicide pills. It is the only way to avoid a long drawn out death by radiation sickness.

You may have read a book by Nevil Shute. The novel is called “On the beach”. In his story, nuclear war has wiped out the Northern Hemisphere. The few countries leftin the South are waiting for a certain end caused by the radiation cloud that is being blown round the world.

Sometimes it seems that print buyers are sitting on the beach, waiting to be killed off by the ever-growing emergence of online marketing and communication.

Print is dying
It is a rare week when at least three printers do not go to the wall. Companies are busy reducing print runs whilst investing in online options. Companies no longer see the relevance in print. They choose to invest all their money online.

And those few companies that choose to try and persevere with the outdated strategy of print are being challenged by the economics. Constantly rising prices from both paper companies and postal providers mean that print is less and less cost-effective.

Even Print & Procurement avoids print and sends out all information electronically. There really is no hope for print.

But consumers seem to think otherwise
A recent study by DM News and Pitney Bowes suggests that print has a very strong attraction to consumers.
-   Nearly 94% of consumers surveyed reported taking action on promotional offers and coupons received via direct mail.
-   20% of consumers reported that more than 10% of the offers or coupons they received by mail led to a purchase.
-   Almost 40% of respondents said they had tried a new business for the first time because of information received via direct mail.
-   Nearly 70% of respondents said they renewed a relationship with a business because they received a direct mailing or promotional item.

The view of this survey seems to suggest that there is significant value in continuing to use print.

And this isn’t the opinion of just one survey
A 2010 study conducted by ICOM has reinforced this preference. The preference amongst those surveyed for receiving marketing information from offline (i.e. print) sources is two to three times greater than online sources. Print is perceived to be the most trustworthy channel. And whereas consumers are suspicious about the ever increasing number of e-mails that arrive in their in boxes, they do not seem to worry about the amount of print communication that they receive.

Big companies are turning back to print
Sony has recently increased their print marketing activity. They recently ran a campaign of mini catalogue inserts in newspapers.   They felt that print inserts were the way in which they would stand out most to customers.

I am talking to a client that wishes to stop publishing their e-zine and send out a print version instead. The reason for choosing print: that is what their readers have demanded.

And I have personally found printed leaflets the best way to distribute information at shows and have increased my spend on printed collateral.

According to a report by the Winterberry Group, spending on direct mail actually increased 3.1% in 2010. And spend on inserts increased by 2.4%. The Group predict much bigger rises in 2011.

But isn’t this turn to print just an attempt to attract oldies?
Isn’t it the case that many of the older generation do not react well to online communications and still require print? Isn’t it the case that this requirement will die out as this generation die out? Isn’t online communication the preferred channel for the younger generation?

No.

The ICOM study focussed a large part of their survey on 18-34 year olds. They went so far as to say:
“A key takeaway from this research is that marketers targeting coveted 18-34 year olds who are tempted to invest solely in social media could be missing a significant portion of their audience.”

And Sony is hardly a company that focuses on younger consumers for a significant portion of their revenues. And they are choosing to target these younger consumers with printed inserts.

And I find that a large proportion of my leaflets are picked up by people who appear to be younger!

So what should print buyers do about this?
At a recent presentation on the evolution of the print buyer, I was surprised at how few print buyers chose to engage in a discussion about how their roles should evolve. The overwhelming feeling was that print buyers should just put up with the threat of digital.

Print buyers should be print advocates!
It is their duty to promote the power of print within their companies. Print buyers need to engage with senior management within their companies and prove to them that print still has an important role to play.

Good news stories about the importance of print are not hard to find. You can even find good news stories in Printweek! Your suppliers should be able to come up with good news stories too. These stories should take the form new and innovative approaches to print solutions. Good print solutions will have an improved return on investment. Other print buyers should share their successes with you.

When you have all this good news, it is imperative to share it. Make sure you get as much air time within your company as the online advocates.

It’s your choice
You can sit on the beach and wait for death by digital. Or you can get active and fight back by promoting print.

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Is your company missing the value of print?