1. REASONS
TO RETHINK
PRINT
Brands, in their frenzy over digital,
are missing out on the opportunities
and ROI of print – and agencies are
miscalculating it
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2. and content, why do brands persist in
trying to have ‘conversations’ in a room
where everybody’s shouting?
Print is consistently attributed with
higher dwell times and better recall
rates than any other medium. GfK’s
2014 research into ROI in advertising
found that print actually has the highest
ROI of all platforms, and Sticky Content’s
Annual 2013 Survey has documented
that 65% of readers expect to find the
best quality written content in print, as
compared to only 9% who said online.
So if all brands and media planners
are rushing to spend dollars in digital,
they’re joining a much noisier, more
crowded environment – and dismissing
the environment that has the best
documented return.
The major mistake in foregoing print is that
brands miss out on prospects when they’re
at their best – their most open-minded,
intellectually vulnerable and generous with
their time. It’s clear brands need to rethink
the value of print advertising.
WHATTHE STATS SAY...
Ad spend, according to Zenith
Optimedia, will have dropped to just
15.8% for newspapers and 7.2% for
magazines of total global ad spend.
It’s true – print ad spend is falling.
The decision to invest in print is being
questioned when it comes to ROI – but
too often ROI is conflated with ‘direct
response’ because C-level executives
are pressuring marketers to quantify
leads and shorten the path to purchase,
and agencies are always looking to
deliver on the next big idea. But these
trends are to the detriment of quality
marketing activity that genuinely moves
the commercial needle.
In the digital era, there’s a lot of
paid-for noise – and it gets tuned out.
Engagement rates are low, clickthrough
rates are low – but still people invest
because they are seduced by the dazzle
of reportability.
Meanwhile, print is being emptied
of ‘noise’ – so with such a valuable
opportunity to put forward quality ideas
Too often ROI is
conflated with ‘direct
response’ because
C-level executives are
pressuring marketers
to quantify leads and
shorten the path to
purchase
1 in 3
marketersusesprint
Source:
ContentMarketingInstitute/MarketingProfs
80%
ofadvertisersarechoosing
mediaotherthanprint
Source:
Publisher’sInformationBureau
65%
ofreadersexpecttofindthebest
qualitywrittencontentinprint,
comparedto9%whosaidonline
Source:
StickyContent,AnnualSurvey2013

3. Brands forget that the goal is not just to
capture attention, but to hold it. A single
copy of the London Evening Standard
paper is read by three different people,
and magazines and supplements are
passed to colleagues - but only 50% of
readers get halfway through an article
online.
Attention spans are short in the digital
environment but long in print. For
example, readers spend 27 minutes on
average reading print B2B publications.
Attention span in print also has a lot to
do with comfort and pace: GfK’s research
on the ROI of advertising found that
the internal pacing of print publications
benefits advertisers because it means
‘confrontation at a suitable moment’
unlike online advertising.
According to a study by Advantage and
Kantar, 74% of B2B readers take positive
action as a result of reading content
from a brand, whether that’s making an
enquiry, booking an event, purchasing a
product, visiting a landing page or another
action. And according to the Direct
Marketing Association, a charity print ad
spurred 40% (2 in 5) of people to search
online about the charity and its work.
Print is an environment in which
content piques curiosity that facilitates
interest and learning down the road.
Moreover, because it’s physical, it
sticks around – its shareability isn’t
decreased when you close your browser
or your computer and start fresh the
following day.
Circulation numbers don’t show you
the full picture – circulation means
copies sold or distributed, but using that
statistic to evaluate the ‘value’ of print
is a little like trying to say the World Cup
will only reach people who’ve bought
a ticket to watch it at the stadium
– it’s not accurate, and it ends up
underselling some of the most valuable
aspects of the whole medium.
So planners are buying at undervalued
rates and have a misperception of
what print is really worth because of
the way the industry has quantified
the ‘reach’ of print media and has left
value and quality unwisely out of the
picture. Planners need to re-adjust their
perspectives of these metrics.
Why is it that CEOs are so keen to
accommodate interviews for print
publications but won’t make time to be
interviewed for a blog or online article?
It’s because the perception amongst
senior business decision-makers of the
gravitas and influence of print is that it’s
a quality environment that offers both
permanence and implicit trust.
If print is where CEOs want to be seen
when they’re interviewed, and where they
go for their new knowledge, out-of-the-box
thinking and ‘lean back’ time, then that’s
where brands should be spending their
budget. The credibility of the environment
is also transferred to the ads within it – so
brands benefit already, solely from their
presence in high-quality print environments.
Ikea’s recent tongue-in-cheek ‘Experience
the power of a BookBook’ video shows
that not only is the demand for print
communication still high, but so is the
belief in its power by multimillion pound
brands. Online ads are seen as low
quality and irritating; print advertisers, on
the other hand, can position themselves
as the opposite.
With brands migrating to digital-only, there
is a vacuum of brands using print. But print
is the medium most associated with quality
and trust, making it best for prospect
nurturing and brand loyalty. Nielsen’s Global
Trust in Advertising Survey found that
46% of respondents felt newspaper and
magazine ads were relevant for them when
they were looking for further information.
THE ATTENTION SPAN
PHENOMENON
SAVE AND SHARE CIRCULATION NUMBERS
ARE LYING
THE QUALITY VACUUM THE TRUST FACTOR
THE 5 REASONSTO RETHINK PRINT
1 2 4 53
IN SUMMARY IN SUMMARY IN SUMMARY IN SUMMARYIN SUMMARY
Ads online don’t have a great reputation
– but print does. Advertising in print
positions you as a quality brand
Print can still have a call to action
– and it gets saved and shared for
much longer
Attention spans are better in print Don’t trust circulation figures to give
you an accurate understanding of the
ROI of print
Print is seen as a quality environment,
which rubs off on your brand

4. CYCLE OF BELIEF
6 steps to
repositioning your
thinking about print
Marketers are migrating to digital, leaving
a vacuum of brands using print’s many
assets to their advantage. With the
‘noise’ having migrated online, print offers
a ‘quieter’ and therefore more valuable
environment to engage with prospects.
The reason editorial spaces are so attractive
to advertisers is that they offer a knowledge
environment. Find out what your prospects
need to learn more about, and then work
out how to become part of that learning
environment by integrating your brand with
where they look for answers and ideas.
GfK’s 2014 research cited context as an
added benefit of print environments. With
print publications, the distinct flat plan
and layout offers you the opportunity to
contextualise your messages alongside the
‘right’ content – positioning that can’t be
achieved as successfully in the ‘one article
at a time’ environment of online media.
With perceptions of online ads sticking to
‘low quality’ and ‘irritating’, brands who
take print seriously by matching up with
high profile publications (or creating their
own) are taken seriously in return. Print is
considered a premium environment – even
more so now given its increasing dearth –
so brands using print well are considered
premium brands.
Senior decision-makers and AB1’s go to
print publications to spend time taking in
ideas. They also trust that print offers quality
information and analysis, often having built
up a relationship with a publishing brand.
Good marketers and planners will put their
brand where their prospects are spending
the most quality time.
Print offers readers a ‘sit back’
experience. So wherever your target
audience is going to ‘sit back’ with
their publication of choice is where
your brand has an opportunity. Whether
that’s trade press, national press,
lifestyle magazines or specialist
publications, the key is to spend
cleverly in the right environments for
your prospects.
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UNDERSTAND THE STATUS QUO CLOSE IN ON THE
INFORMATION GAP
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE
VALUE OF CONTEXT
POSITION YOUR BRAND
AS A PREMIUM PLAYER
THINK ABOUT THE REAL-LIFE
HABITS OF YOUR AUDIENCE
EVALUATE THE RIGHT PRINT
ENVIRONMENTS BASED ON
YOUR AUDIENCE
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5. Want to understand more about the value of print?
Get in touch:
Will Brookes
Head of Publishing
wb@raconteur.net
+44 (0)203 428 5238
Sources:
http://www.wan-ifra.org/press-releases/2014/06/09/world-press-trends-print-and-digital-together-increasing-newspaper-audienc
http://www.dma.org.uk/infographic/infographic-mobilising-print-media
http://www.inma.org/blogs/research/post.cfm/cross-media-study-shows-print-advertising-has-highest-roi
http://moz.com/blog/how-to-track-online-roi-of-offline-advertising
http://dmnmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/ri/post-21827260.png
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/06/how_people_read_online_why_you_won_t_finish_this_article.html