A typical company needs to promote itself through its identity and presence in the market place. With the opening up of new media formats distributable via the internet, has printed material become redundant?
With the recent launch of Apple’s iPad, some people will begin to question once more whether such technology will replace the need to print onto newspaper at all. In fact, personally, I consume news mainly through RSS feeds from various sites and less through TV. I never buy a paper to see what is going on in the world [but have occasionally read other peoples].
Ubiquitous Internet Access
Whilst iPad users and other media techies would love to live in a world with ubiquitous internet connection and immediate updates where ever they may be, we are still a way off this due to cost and technical capability – which makes a journey on the London Underground feel like a retro flashback to those pre 90′s days when mobile phones either did not exist or could only be found in cars. 
So, why are we still using print and not investing in creating a free, universal internet connection for all to download and consume content? Well, in short – it is still difficult to replace the trusty, versatile, battery-less, relatively low cost book, magazine or journal with an electronic equivalent with such desirable tactile and convenient features, though modern internet browsing products such as Smartphones, iPhones, Kindle and the Netbook are becoming less expensive, lighter and thinner. Advertising, printing photographs or creating physical bound books will continue to be a viable option for many businesses or authors for the foreseeable future.
Personally, I do not invest a huge amount of time and effort into print design as it does not fit with the business model I have for creating new leads or promoting projects. However, I do have 2 business card designs for different situations – one with a focus on my primary design business and the other with a focus on the network of portfolio, blogs and social networking sites I use such as YouTube and Flickr. I also designed a printed brochure to promote my business back in 2007 which I still use and refer to for some of my previous work.
Greenbarnes Ltd, a client of mine, uses a variety of promotional formats including a large amount of printed advertising and so I asked director Mike Barnes a few questions about his perspective on print – with particular focus on promotion of a business or product.
Interview with Mike Barnes, Greenbarnes Ltd
Is printing redundant?
I suspect that the answer to this depends largely upon your target audience. I recently read that, on average, it takes 7 contacts before a new customer is persuaded to purchase. In our own case, at least 2 of these are likely to be in printed form.
Do you use web technologies to promote your products?
We have what I believe is an effective
website and e-shop which are promoted via a number of online directories plus a Google Adwords account. We spent some serious quality time getting the Greenbarnes website user experience right and feedback would suggest that we got this spot on! However, something like 50% of those arriving at the site do so by typing the address into their browser because they have seen our ad in one of the wide variety of trade and specialist publications that still form a significant part of our marketing mix.
Any ideas on why this might be the case?
A significant part of our client base is made up not of individuals, but of committees such as parish and parochial church councils or architects and designers who need to convince their clients. These are not people who can be persuaded to part with their credit card details and buy on impulse. They will inevitably end up sitting around a table and discussing the purchase before making a decision. This is where a second form of print, be it a glossy brochure or a printout of a pdf file downloaded from the website comes into its own. Sitting round a laptop to study detailed information online is simply not as convenient in the majority of cases.
So have there been any noticeable changes since the internet?
Whilst the volume of printed information that we mail out has declined sharply over the last few years, there is evidence that this trend has begun to plateau. There will always be a significant majority for whom print is the most usable medium. And let’s not lose sight of the other opportunities it offers. We have recently embarked on our first trials of large scale e-marketing, but seem to be getting results by following up the hottest prospects with direct mailing of brochures. In another first, we have also embarked on a campaign to include printed inserts in magazines as this not only affords the opportunity to try new publications without committing to series of ads, but also allows us to create extra impact in those publications that we have inhabited for many years. We may ultimately produce less by way of volume, but as part of an overall marketing mix, I believe that we will be producing better targeted and more tightly focused print in combination with the newer marketing technologies available.
You can see Greenbarnes products by visiting their main ‘brochure’ site or visiting their e-shop where a selection of their standard products can be purchased swiftly, securely and efficiently over the internet.
Effect of your work
One thing that is more difficult with printed promotional material is the ability to gauge the effectiveness. How many people saw your article, promotional photography or call to action and directly made a move? How many people even read the page the article was on? This is where internet technologies are much more useful – a writer or advertiser will have access to information related to who saw the page the information was on? what browser they used? the city they were in? what pages they came from and how many people moved on to other pages and after how much time?
Another client of mine, picture framing company Gesso and Bole Ltd, use print in a slightly different way – print is part of the complete product rather than the means to selling or advertising. I caught up with Jim Anderson and asked him a few questions
Interview with Jim Anderson, Gesso and Bole Ltd
Is printing redundant?
For us, printing is pretty fundamental; if printing was dead then we wouldn’t have anything to put in our frames. Obviously this isn’t the case – and we’d argue that rather than becoming redundant printing has just changed tact.
How has printing changed?
For many picture framers, printing is now something that’s done in-house. Many framing shops and galleries now have their own wide format digital printers which enables them to print exactly what their customers want, when the customers want it. Traditionally if an artist was going to produce a run of prints, the whole run would be done at once and the artist would often be left with hundreds of prints languishing in a warehouse somewhere. Now, these prints are done on demand when a customer orders them.
Is this change a good thing?
Yes! As well as being more cost-effective, printing on demand is far less wasteful than speculative printing. It also means that picture framers have more control over the whole process, as sizes etc can obviously be adjusted if printing is being done in house.
Gesso & Bole Ltd is a bespoke picture frame maker based in Derby. You can find out more about Gesso & Bole at www.gessoandbole.com or by following them on Twitter @gessoandbole.
Smelly Internet?
Another factor is the limited interactivity or media that paper will allow – though it does allow olfactory senses such as perfume samples, the smell of a quality paper or where the internet does not. Internet advertising allows for animation, audio, video and the ability to be tucked away, to suprise or to provide sequential information within a small space.
The basics
OK, taking this to an intellectual low – can you roll up an electronic ‘Guitarist Magazine’ digital subscription and place it in your back pocket like the paper equivalent – ready to read later on a lazy Saturday afternoon by the river? Not really, though some might like to try it. If you find that annoying fly sitting on the window [the one that's been buzzing around all afternoon] – do you hit it with the iPad, Smartphone, or the paper newspaper?! 
One Response
Peter this site is great – we must Talk!
Do I believe print is dead. . . My answer to that is definitely not!!. Existing and new technology like the QR Codes and the amazing ability of Augmented Reality can only make it stronger!
We have publishers embracing the AR within there publications, and with our direct links across the industry and our ability to bring the cost of AR development down to a more realistic level, it can only fuel it further.
We have all manner of industries taking up these services either direct or through advertising and design services.
LONG LIVE PRINT!!