A New Role for Print in a Digital World

As with all pendulums, the print versus electronic one may be on its way back toward the print side of things. That's because digital communications—websites, emails, video—have become the norm for many communicators, and print offers a refreshing alternative in some contexts.

The advantages of digital communications are obvious: broadcast emails cost a fraction of snail mail...search-driven marketing is the key to getting the right eyeballs to look at your website...today’s YouTube-esque environment demands that you’d better have a good video clip to accompany your message or risk boring your audience.

But there are some things print can do that no electronic medium can touch, and I mean “touch” in the most literal sense of the word. The truism that electronic literature will never replace print until it can pass the “3 B’s Test” (able to easily be read in bed, on the bus or in the bathtub) is still valid, but this all important portability of print is just the beginning.

Print, by its very nature is a tangible medium. The reader must hold it in order to literally grasp your message. Print constitutes substance and reality in a highly intangible world of digital source code. It sends a subtle but powerful message that the organization described in the printed piece is one of substance, one with staying power and real-world success. (This of course assumes good design, quality printing and smart paper selection.)

The use of print also offers a tactile impression of your marketing message. The sense of touch can be enlisted in the overall audience experience in ways that digital media can't offer. The Internet and television are visual/aural media. But as people become increasingly jaded to the media mix thrown at them, the use of the tactile sense can create an edge over competition that restricts its communications to electronic distribution. The use of textured papers, die-cutting, embossing and other effects can create a truly outstanding piece of marketing communications.

Finally, the print medium offers an element of surprise that websites lack: When doing a Google search, or clicking the “About Us” tab of a website, you pretty much get what you are already looking for. It’s efficient, but you’re not likely to be surprised or delighted by what you find. But magazines and newspapers, despite their limitations, offer a surprise at every turn of the page. You don’t know what story or photo will appear on the next page. There is a sense of flow that develops—a rhythm of perusing, scanning, focusing, reading, and then moving on to the next two-page spread. It’s not to say this is better than a website visit, just different—a different modality by which your audience can interact with your message.

Thus, at The Creative Alliance, we see a renewed role for print in successful marketing communications. Some of our clients are already enjoying great success with the high-end printed pieces we’ve helped them develop, as well as some low-tech, but highly creative printed communications.

In a digital world, there’s nothing quite like a healthy infusion of tangibility.