Is Print Dead?

Today I had the privilege of attending a talk put on by Think Patented and RIS The Paper House. The speaker: Daniel Dejan, National Print & Creative Specialist for Sappi Fine Paper.  The subject: Determining how print fits into the ever changing landscape of communication in today’s world.

Daniel is a widely respected designer, creative director, educator and speaker in the design community. He has written articles for Communications Arts, Step, and Signature, and I can attest first-hand that his engaging presentation was packed with useful information and expertise.

He started the talk by addressing the fact that the means of communication in even the last 3–5 years has been, and still is, constantly changing. The use of the internet and social media have obviously changed the way we communicate and have replaced much of the traditional media, namely print. Duh, right? Honestly, at this point in the presentation, I thought Daniel–being a “paper guy”–was simply going to make an empty case to keep printing going in an effort to sell paper. But he didn’t. He presented a strong case for using print successfully in combination with technology, backed by research and sometimes surprising statistics. He called out the print industry, saying that one of the reasons that so much market share has gone elsewhere is due to the fact that for hundreds of years the printed word has been the main vehicle of communication in the world and our arrogance has kept us from adapting. If we had only made strides to evolve to keep up, acknowledge the changes and accept them, print would play a much larger role in communications today.

So why use print today? Some reasons (Daniel
supported all of these reasons with research):

• Print evokes the highest emotional response
  This has always been my go-to argument. There’s nothing like getting a new magazine or book and opening it the first time, revealing it’s content. It’s holding the piece in your hand, feeling it’s weight and seeing the contrast of the printed word on paper. So much is communicated through that tactile experience. You feel texture, varnish, embossing. No digital media can come close to replicating this experience.
• Print, combined with technology, is THE most effective way to reach an audience
  Market research has shown that direct mail, combined with a social networking effort is now the best way to communicate to your target audience. Just a couple years ago, Daniel said, the most effective way was direct mail combined with a website.
• Print is the most engaging medium
  Most people, when they engage with a print piece, give it more dedicated attention when compared to other media. For example, when you read your mail, you’re focused on the content. When you read a book, you’re focused on the content. It’s more common for someone, like myself, to be on the computer reading content with the TV in the background or carrying on a conversation.
• Print is the most trusted medium
• Print has the highest ROI
  
• Print has the best retention rate

(Sidebar: I’m hoping to get a copy of Daniel’s presentation soon so that I can post the statistics supporting these facts)

So how can print adapt in today’s market?

Here’s just a few examples Daniel gave on how print can be used in new ways:

• Newspapers
  Everyone thinks newspapers are dead. While it is obvious that subscriptions to the printed newspaper are way down and newspapers have shifted much of their efforts to online, there seems to be a revolution afoot. This revolution is already taking place in Europe where newspapers are highly read, accepted and trusted. This “new” paper is pretty different than the traditional one we know. It is printed not on newsprint, but on a #4 coated sheet. It is journal size instead of tabloid. It contains relevant data, not yesterday’s news. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the US…
• QR (Quick Response) Codes
  You’ve probably seen these around. After downloading an app to your phone, you can snap a photo of these codes, and they will push information to you such as a website url. Apparently Europe and Asia are light years ahead of us in this realm as software comes preloaded on phones there. Restaurants are posting these outside so potential patrons can immediately get the menu, specials for the day and most recent reviews. Daniel told of another brilliant use of these codes: Harrod’s, the department store in London, put these codes next to each of the items in their display windows that would take customers directly to a web page for that specific item where they could view colors, sizes available and buy the product right there. Brilliant, right? Daniel also said that there has been much success in using these codes on direct mail pieces since there’s only so much room for information in direct mail.
• Augmented Reality
  Ok, I had heard of this and seen some examples, but it’s still blowing my mind. See the black box that Robert Downey Jr. is sitting on in the Esquire cover pictured to the right? Basically, when you hold this box up to your computer or laptop’s camera, it plays a video. Rotate it 90 degrees, it plays another video. Esquire had a total of 4 boxes in the magazine (16 videos) including one box with videos for each of a fashion designer’s spring, summer, winter and fall collections. Beautiful.
• Customized Magazine Content
  Maybe the most mind-blowing example that Daniel gave was a site that doesn’t exist anymore due to overwhelming response. It was a survey site that had you rank your top five magazine choices out of 8 well-known titles including Sports Illustrated, Real Simple, TIME, and a few others. The magazines represented a wide range of target demographics. After ranking them, you’re given a survey of 25 very unconventional questions such as, “Do you sing out loud while driving?”. After all of your answers are compiled, the system takes that data and basically custom-creates a 36-page, digitally printed magazine that pulls articles that would interest you from all 8 magazines. I need this. Bad.

Conclusion
I went into this talk thinking it would be a rallying cry for the print industry. In a way it was, but I came out of it inspired to think more about how print can be used effectively for the clients I work with when it is combined with the internet, social or other media. I also came out of it knowing that print is not dead, it could just use a little resuscitation and maybe a little willingness to change on our part.

Olympic Thoughts

I confess. I am a winter sports junkie. For some reason though, there’s something about the snowboarders that intrigues me. Maybe it’s because most of the competitors are teenagers pulling off incredible tricks and pretty much all of the events are exciting. But I think the main thing that sets them apart is that there is a comraderie among the competitors that you don’t see anywhere else. They’re always pulling for one another, and genuinely pumped when one of their opponents pulls off a sick new trick. It’s common to see someone finish a perfect run that clinches a medal, and the rest of the field is there at the bottom of the hill ready to celebrate. I love it.

And what about this kid, Shaun White? I know that everyone is talking about him and how good he is, but man. He’s IS good. I thought one of the commentator’s lines summed it up well when they said something to the effect of, “Shaun White is loved in the snowboard world, and your mom likes him too.” While this statement may sound odd out of context, it communicated to me how big of a “brand” this kid has become. When I think of top sports figures who I would consider to be big brands, I think of Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods* (you know what the asterisk means). While White’s estimated net worth ($90 mil) is nowhere near that of Woods and Jordan, it is amazing to think of where he’s at while in a sport that isn’t as mainstream as the NBA or PGA. He is the greatest snowboarder of all time. His sponsorships include Burton Snowboards, AC Retro, as well as Oakley, Birdhouse, Park City Resort, Target, Red Bull, Adio, and HP. Not to mention he has his own video game. His signature red flowing hair adds to the aura of who he is. If a brand is defined by perception, Shaun White’s brand continues to grow.

The Purpose of a Brand Analysis

This week one of my business partners presented a FORGE brand analysis to a client of ours. Our analysis in this case consisted of 2 internal surveys (for both company divisions) and an external survey (of the company’s customers). Then, based on the responses received, we summarized problem areas, noted areas where they were succeeding, and offered a strategy to solve the problems they were having.

It was quite interesting to sit in the meeting and try to process the data from our client’s perspective. Presentations of these kind sometimes seem to produce some uneasy feelings from the client because in most cases you’re telling them where their brand is failing.

What’s in a brand?

At FORGE, our approach to branding involves several steps, but on a high level it involves gathering as much information and research as possible about a company (mission, core values, competitors, industry, etc.), and crafting a way to communicate the core message successfully. Sounds simple right? But I’m surprised sometimes about how flippantly brands are created. I’m certainly guilty of this in the past, but often it seems the goal of a branding effort (from a designer’s perspective) is to make something that works visually and not enough thought is put into how the brand will be received by the consumer. Because really, that’s what a brand is ? as we say on the FORGE website, “It is a person?s perception of a product, service, company, organization or experience.” On occasion we communicate to our clients that the goal of working with us shouldn’t be to create a brandmark or website that they like, rather it should focus on their clients or consumer ? how will they receive it? If our client dislikes the color orange, but there is a strong case that it will positively impact the audience they are trying to reach, we’ll make a case for it.

We explain to our clients that brand’s communication components involve a brandmark (or logo) as the foundation, and a series of touchpoints. A touchpoint is any way that a potential consumer could interact with the brand, whether it be a business card, website, signage or brochure. We tend to take a holistic view when we discuss a project with a client. For example, if a client asks us to build them a new website and the current brandmark does not effectively communicate the desired message, a new website is not going to solve this problem and in most cases is a waste of resources. However, if a client has a beautifully crafted brandmark and successful touchpoints, but the product or service they offer is poor, the brand will still suffer. Our strength is seeing the bigger picture, developing a plan and delivering exceptional execution of the plan.

At FORGE, we strive to work with companies that offer exceptional products and services, because there are no limits to how the work we do can help to advance the brand.

Kids and Branding

I am the father of two young boys, ages 1 and 2, and am continually amazed at how their brains are like little sponges, soaking up all content (good and bad) that comes their way. I’ve found that if I tell my 2 year old something, he rarely forgets it. That information is in his head for good. It’s funny, I could tell him something completely off the wall, even incorrect (not that I do this) and he would accept the information and even argue if someone challenged the validity of it. My wife and I are finding that it’s pretty much impossible to keep anything we talk about private with him nearby. Sometimes he’ll be playing in the other room and we’ll talk about him and he’ll make a comment at that moment or later on that tells us he hears everything we were saying.

When you think about this from a branding perspective, kids are bombarded daily with so many messages. My two year old is just to the point where he’ll see a commercial on tv, say “I want that,” THEN see that product in a store and recognize it. He points out every McDonald’s (or, as he says it, McDongal’s) restaurant we drive by and knows that’s where he gets the coveted happy meal. He’ll even see a Nike swoosh, mention the nike golf ball I gave to him several months ago and say, “Tiger Woods uses Nike golf balls”. Okay, I’m the guilty party on that one…

Here’s some stats on kids and commercialism from newdream.org:

• Advertising directed at children is estimated at over $15 billion annually ? about 2.5 times more than what it was in 1992.
• Over the past two decades, the degree to which marketers have scaled up efforts to reach children is staggering. In 1983, they spent $100 million on television advertising to kids. Today, they pour roughly 150 times that amount into a variety of mediums that seek to infiltrate every corner of children?s worlds.
• A task force of the American Psychological Association (APA) has recommended restrictions on advertising that targets children under the age of eight, based on research showing that children under this age are unable to critically comprehend televised advertising messages and are prone to accept advertiser messages as truthful, accurate and unbiased.

The entire article can be viewed here.

It’s a bit scary to think about how much impact marketing has/can have on kids. It can affect their attitude, whether or not they’re accepted by their peers, and their self-esteem. I’m certainly more aware of the techniques being used now that I have kids of my own. And “McDongal’s” is getting a lot more of my money too!

The Power of Brand Perception

I’ve been wanting to write this post since this past Spring. My 10 year-old lawn mower had finally had it and I was officially “in the market”, as they say, for a new one. As much as I hated spending the money, I was really looking forward to putting a new mower in my shed. I had been looking around for a while and really liked the new Honda HRC Series. The funny thing is, I really had no basis for “liking” the Honda mowers as I hadn’t yet really done the research and comparisons. My perception of Honda as a brand, however, was very favorable as my family and I have owned a couple Accords that were great cars.

After doing a little research, my choices were down to the Honda HRC Series and the Toro Recycler. They were both in the price range I was looking for and had the basic features that I needed. Consumer Reports rated both mowers pretty evenly, but gave the edge to the Toro because in testing it mulched much better than the Honda. Mulching was a big concern of mine as I didn’t want to have to bag the grass and dispose of it afterward. Even still, I was leaning toward the Honda mainly because of their reputation for building engines that last.

So the day came to go to the store and pick out a mower. I had pretty much decided to go with the Honda until I met a gentleman at the store who was comparing the exact same two mowers as I was. We talked breifly about the features of each and he mentioned that the Toro mulched better. So, long story short, he decided to go with the Toro and I went with the Honda. This is where I wish I could have hired a two camera crews to film us taking the mowers home, putting them together and firing them up for the first time. It would have been a fascinating comparison.

Of course, I can only speak for my new Honda HRC. It was a pretty machine indeed, and I felt good with my choice. That is, until I got to the mowing part. I had dismissed the suggested inferiority of the Honda to the notion that, “How bad can a brand new mower mulch?” Well, I found out. I was very displeased with how it cut and also with the drive control on the handle. The controls seemed to be designed for someone well under 6′ tall. It was disappointing to say the least. I quickly boxed it back up and took it back to the store to exchange it for the Toro.

When I look back at all of the information that I had to make a decision, it’s amazing to me to think about how much brand perception plays into a decision like this. I knew the Toro got better reviews, I was reminded of this fact by the gentleman I met at the store, and heck, the Toro was $50 cheaper! Looking back I ask myself, why wouldn’t I buy the comparible machine with the best reviews, cheaper price tag and built by a company that actually specializes in lawn equipment? Brand Perception!

FORGE is Formed…

As of January 1st, 2009, I have officially become a founding partner of FORGE, a full-service creative firm offering branding, web design and development, and print design. This newly formed company will use the award winning expertise of three other partners: Chad Mullins (formerly with Chad Mullins Creative), Ben Callahan (Formerly with Design District), and J