We’ve all read stories, perhaps we even believed the hype for a while, but is print really going to disappear forever? Not likely we say. In fact, we’d go as far as saying it’s going to make something of a comeback.
Here’s why…
It’s got pulling power
Print is first and foremost a sensory medium. It has a relationship with the reader that digital content can’t even begin to match. The feel of it in your hands, the quality of the paper and ink, the attention to detail and finishing (sigh). A beautifully crafted brochure, catalogue or business card can speak volumes about a brand and help bolster both internet and in-store sales.
It’s got staying power
Secondly, a great piece of print will engage and draw the reader back to it again and again. Printed items have a longevity that digital does not. Used intelligently in the right context, a stand-out printed communication is truly memorable, much more so that a piece of throwaway content.
It’s got buying power
When digital really landed in the retail sector, many of the big brands re-purposed their brochure budgets into online channels for fear of being left behind. Sensible move you might think, but what did their customers think?
For example, Women aged 18 to 30 are especially motivated by catalogues, claiming that they enhance their impression of a retailer. More importantly, 45% say catalogues stimulate their interest in a retailer’s products, and a whopping 86% have bought an item after first seeing it in a catalogue. Some 58% of online shoppers say they browse catalogues for ideas, and 31% have a retailer’s catalogue with them when they make a purchase online.
That’s a potent argument for print.
Reading between the lines
Even more encouraging is the news that printed books are also making a global stand. In the USA, for example, the New York Times reported that e-book sales fell 10 percent in the first five months of 2015, and e-reader sales dropped from 20 million to 12 million in the space of a year. Even Amazon opened its first physical bookstore store in November 2015 in its home town of Seattle.
