“Print media is dying: A major misconception we need to get out of our heads” – Lucy Pearce, Senior Account Manager
The Debating Group recently discussed a thought-provoking topic that caught my eye, leading with the notion “Campaigns that include print are more effective”.
The report discussed the pros and cons of using print in campaigns. With the internet, smartphones, and social media now firmly established channels for information sourcing, print is often labelled a ‘dying channel’. However, according to the motion proposers in this debate, print works emotionally because it’s real. It stays with us, and “makes a brand promise concrete”. When KFC ran out of chicken, its two print ads with its ‘rebranded logo’ FCK created a 219% increase in positive brand sentiment because “committing to print made their apology real”. According to the report, 87% of people trust print ads more than digital ads because they’re not invasive, fake, or fabricated.
One example I did enjoy in this report was imagining that the King sent you a WhatsApp on your 100th birthday, as opposed to a card. Really, it’s the same as anyone sending you an e-card vs a physical card – there’s something more meaningful about receiving an actual card. I for one keep birthday cards, and while many are gathering dust in a drawer somewhere, others hold a special memory which always evokes emotion when I happen to dig them out.
That being said, digital is still essential. The opposers of the notion quite rightly state that often, print can’t reach the modern audiences of today – especially since 98% of Gen Z use smartphones as their primary brand discovery tool.
Digital is key for measurability. PRs have to work hard to prove their worth to clients and demonstrate tangible results that tie into their business objectives. While we can’t outright prove that a piece of coverage generated sales, we can look at back-end data to see how many click-throughs it drove to the brand’s website, for example. Print coverage makes that more difficult without a direct tracking method. On the other hand, QR codes have really come into their own – the report mentions that they make print thrive, offering a tangible way to track actions taken from coverage.
Where emotions are concerned, the print opposers in the report state that “emotion doesn’t belong to paper, it belongs to storytelling”. I agree in some ways, because obviously it’s words and visuals that spur emotion. But there’s also a perception around the way in which something is delivered, going back to the King’s card example.
If I get spammed with digital ads when scrolling through feeds, very often I’ll ignore the message regardless of what it says. It could be relevant to me, but I wouldn’t know. Flicking through a magazine, I’d be more inclined to stop and acknowledge an advert because it’s not being thrust down my throat. If you think about it, print puts the reader in control. There’s a slower pace to it, which today, may not be overtly appealing because we’re all running at 100 miles an hour and want immediate information. Yet with immediate information comes an influx of irrelevant and saturating information which can boggle the mind. Print is non-intrusive. We decide whether to stop and look at something, and that can make us more inclined to take notice.
A key point raised in this report is that campaigns should be built around people, not platforms. The platform you choose is irrelevant unless it’s actually going to be digested by the audience you want to reach.
Yes, the audiences of tomorrow are digesting more news online. But let’s not forget about the ‘older’ generations who rely on print media and are still very much key audiences for certain clients.
But what about clients with a predominantly younger target market? A very interesting point was raised at the end of this report about print having the power to hold the next generation’s attention. The chap in question’s seven-year-old niece spent a chunk of time colouring in a printed book while sat in the debate audience, rather than using an iPad. As a mum of a toddler, I can relate – I see constant videos on my TikTok feeds about ‘ways to reduce your child’s screen time’, and I limit TV time to a minimum each day. We’re already trying to steer our children’s attention away from the digital world, so an interest in physical/’real’ entertainment and indeed, print channels must be on the rise.
All in all, print is still – and will continue to be – an incredibly powerful information channel. The argument shouldn’t be whether we should ditch print in favour of digital, or vice versa. Both need to work together to create maximum impact, reaching audiences at multiple touchpoints; and most importantly, the channels we choose need to reach the RIGHT people.
Read the full report here: https://www.debatinggroup.co.uk/campaigns-that-include-print-are-more-effective/
