Print vs Digital: Why great above the line advertising isn’t going anywhere

Foyles closing the doors of its iconic 111-year-old London flagship store was heralded as another example of the so-called print epidemic. We have all heard the rumours: “magazines are going online” and “print media is doomed.” And yes, there have been some casualties. Incisive Media, for example, decided in December to suspend the print run of its Mortgage Solutions magazine for the first quarter of 2014 and rely on its website and email alerts. However, just as the Foyles closure proved to be the stuff of myth (they had, in fact, just moved store – less than 100 metres down the road), for me, this readiness to cry the death of print and jump on the digital bandwagon is highly misleading.

To put the matter into perspective, we need only take a look at the 2014 advertising spend forecast. Despite mobile ad spending being on the increase, digital spend is still ￡38million behind print spending – which is predicted to be ￡2.59 billion by the close of 2014. Joe Pulizzi echoes this need to contextualise the rumours, suggesting that we just have to look to history to see evidence of their fallacy: “Just type into Google ‘The Death of TV’ and you’ll see hundreds of articles predicting the end of television.”

For me, it’s helpful to think about this argument in the context of how we interact with brands in our personal lives. Yes, B2B and B2C buying behaviour is different, but the importance of a great brand in the purchase cycle is the same in both cases. Whilst we consume a heavy diet of web, mobile and social media, this time is often not of the best quality. Can you, for example, tell me the last online advert you saw (excluding any on this website)? How about the last one you clicked on? And what about the last one you saw that made you sit back and think... “wow...great advert, I love that brand”? I imagine you are struggling to name many. Now ask those same questions about the last advert you saw in your favourite magazine or newspaper, on your favourite TV channel or along your route to work. I suspect you can think of quite a few. Asking yourself why your favourite brands are your favourite brands is very telling. Because I guarantee it is linked, in some way at least, to how and where they advertise, and that relationship to you.

Despite the digital bandwagon that everyone seems so keen to jump on, advertising the right message in the right environment is what influences brand perception or buying behaviour – and it makes no difference as to whether you are a B2B or B2C brand. Even if you disagree, numerous studies have shown that “consumers are more engaged when reading printed material, unlike websites, which are often skimmed in as little as a 15 second visit.” And from experience you will know that skimming and scanning to get key information, or reading a 140 character tweet and moving on, is very much the digital mindset – it’s embedded in its culture.

In contrast above the line advertising, and print in particular, offers a space for true reflection and quality thought, making it a great marketing tool – perhaps an even better one than it used to be, when all information was in print. It’s something tangible, that you can hold in your hand, and so is brilliantly positioned to make a lasting impact – something kept in boardrooms for more than a few days. Just compare the amount of unopened emails you delete, versus the unopened post you throw away. As we are getting fewer magazines, newsletters and reports through our letterboxes, more attention is paid to each physical piece. That is a big opportunity for advertisers. And the printed word is still perceived as more credible to many people than anything on the web: “It goes to the old adage, ‘If someone invested enough to print and mail it, it must be important’.”

So before you jump on the digital bandwagon and write off print, TV, billboards and direct mail, ask yourself whether this bandwagon is headed in the right direction for your brand, and even if so, whether it is the most efficient way to get there. Because above the line advertising isn’t going anywhere any time soon - in fact, we’re yet to see its Renaissance.