Publication Shows Why Innovative Use of Print Media Can Help Brand Marketers Succeed

SappiPRINT&DESIGNERS. At the PRINT 13 conference in September, the Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC) presented its 2013 “Positively Print” award to Sappi Fine Paper North America, a leading producer of coated papers used in magazines, catalogs, books, and high-end print advertising. Sappi was honored for producing “Print &,” a gorgeously designed publication that explains and illustrates the changing role of printed publications in integrated marketing campaigns.

“For the past decade, the increase in digital advertising spend has led to assumptions that print would soon reach its demise,” says Patti Groh, marketing director, Sappi Fine Paper North America. “Industry studies show that the opposite is true. The fact of the matter is that while this industry is constantly evolving, print and digital are proving to be mutually supportive, and brand marketers are learning to play to the strengths of each.”

The publication points out that “Brand marketers will adopt whatever tools produce the most effective results. Today, that means a combination of approaches, strategically planned to get the greatest impact for the dollars spent.” While online media is immediate and accessible, print is more permanent and elegant.

Before the digital revolution, marketing-communications managers, ad planners, and publishers had only eight media channels from which to choose. Today there are well over 100: “With a plethora of new platforms being declared the ‘next big thing,’ assessing which will survive, who it will appeal to, and how best to spend precious dollars to the wall is like pinning Jell-O to the wall.”

“Print &” also cites a neuroscience study commissioned by the Interactive Advertising Bureau that discovered that paper-based marketing (direct mail) leaves a “deeper footprint” in the brain. Because the physical act of handling tangible material feels more “real” to the brain than digital, it triggers emotional reactions that get internalized into the viewer’s memory. As “Print &” points out, “The brain associates the tactile quality of the piece with its perception of the brand.” Perhaps this explains why print continues to be popular medium for marketing high-value good and services.

“Print &” also reports on studies that show the Millennial generation may be more receptive to print than some might expect. In a Two Sides study published in 2012, 69 percent of 18 to 24 year-olds said they prefer print and paper communications to reading off a screen.

Case studies and other examples featured in “Print &” confirm that when print and other media are strategically combined in marketing campaigns, the combination can produce the greatest return of marketing impact on dollars spent.

Through the use of QR codes and augmented reality, print and new media merge into one, generating endless possibilities for the future of print and consumer interaction. Sappi demonstrated this interplay in “Print &” by developing 10 unique print/digital experiences – ranging from a game of pool to a trip on historic Route 66. To access the augmented-reality (AR) content that has been laid over the printed content in “Print &,” you must download the free Junaio AR browser application.

Print&Spread

“The design industry has reached a turning point, and we are no longer constrained to only one platform versus the other,” said Kit Hinrichs, principal and creative director, Studio Hinrichs. “With innovations in printing and developments in new technology, we are now able to transcend the traditional method of thought and can truly start projects thinking in terms of the possibilities, not the limitations.” Studio Hinrichs and writer Delphine Hirasuna, editor of @Issue Journal, collaborated with Sappi to produce “Print &.”

“Print &” was printed on Sappi’s McCoy, a premium coated sheet known for its whiteness and unsurpassed printability. In addition to illustrating how print could be integrated with augmented reality technologies, the publication demonstrates some creative ways to make four-color offset-printed pieces more tactile, dimensional, and engaging.

As you flip through the pages, you will see creative uses of new printing and finishing techniques such as flocking, soft-touch coating, reticulated varnish, photochromic ink, raised UV coating, engraving, liquid foil, thermography, embossing, metallic inks, and unusual folds.

For example, on images of two gloved hands you can see (and feel) that it’s possible to add a rubbery texture to a printed picture of a surgeon’s glove, a leather-like feel to a printed photo of a driving glove, or a woolly texture to a photograph of a winter glove.

“Print &” was first distributed to graphic designers who attended the 2013 HOW Design Live Conference in San Francisco in June. Designers can request a copy of “Print &” from their local Sappi Fine Paper rep. To find a sales rep in your area, visit the “Print &” page on the Sappi Fine Paper North America website: http://www.na.sappi.com/education/probookshelf/print-and

GASC’s Positively Print Award

After you read through “Print &,” it will be clear why GASC chose Sappi for this year’s “Positively Print” award.

“The purpose of the Positively Print program is to share examples of creative and effective print advocacy campaigns with the entire graphic-communications industry,” explains GASC President Ralph Nappi, “We want to demonstrate to companies involved in print that advocating for print can be done and that it helps to carry a powerful message that will benefit the entire industry.”

Positively Print entries can be produced in any media, as long as the entry targets print buyers, print influencers, and the broader community. Nominees are evaluated on their originality and how effectively they deliver the message that printed communications are an integral component of modern marketing campaigns.

The Positively Print program was created and is administered as an extension of the Executive Outlook Conference by GASC co-owners, the National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL), NPES The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies, and the Printing Industries for America.

LINKS

Print & by Sappi Fine Paper North America

Sappi Fine Paper North America

Positively Print Award

 

 

Report Suggests Role for Printed Products in Digital World

imageDuring the PRINT 13 Conference this week, I will be gathering information about the future of printing. Creative professionals and entrepreneurs who write books, shoot photos, or design publications or marketing collateral need to understand what role printed products will continue to play as the world rushes to convert books, magazines, newspapers, signs, exhibits, and art into digital form.

In preparation for the conference, I have been reading some interesting reports by the JWT marketing intelligence group. Some of these reports are undoubtedly guiding some of the decisions of the companies who will be exhibiting at PRINT 13 this week.

For example, in a report entitled “Embracing Analog: Why Physical Is Hot” authors Frank Rose and Paul Woolmington contend that people are getting nostalgic about what’s getting lost in our rush to progress. They believe we’re still in the process of figuring out where “slow communications” (such as hand-written letters or glossy printed catalogs) and the tactile (books, albums, prints)fit into our new lifestyles.

They suggest that brand marketers (and creative entrepreneurs!) can use physical objects to increase the perceived value of their digital offerings. Without sounding anti-technology, it is possible to market products and services that are counterpoints to the proliferation of digital goods.

As an example, they cite a website through which friends and families and post thoughtful letters about a person being honored at a birthday or other special event. Users of the website can have the letters printed and bound in a book commemorating the occasion.

Frank Rose notes that people aren’t going to abandon digital. It’s just that people are realizing that digital isn’t everything. “If you keep in mind that digital is for efficiency and convenience, and physical is for feelings of permanence, substance, and roundedness — for feelings generally — you can’t go too far wrong.”

JWT trend reports examine macro-trends of interest to consumers and businesses alike. Other trend reports that might be of particular interest to print-service providers and creative pros include: The Future of Correspondence and Retail Rebooted.

LINKS

“Embracing Analog: Why Physical Is Hot”

About JWT Intelligence

Print Publication Enhanced with Augmented Reality

DESIGNERS. A previous post mentioned that one of the sessions at the PRINT13 conference Sept. 8-12 in Chicago will describe new ways to make print publications more interactive. Here’s a great example of a publisher who is already making it happen.

The 2013 PYM Annual Guide produced by the organization Plan Your Meetings (PYM) includes augmented reality (AR). Plan Your Meetings is a free educational and social resource for people who plan corporate meetings and events.

Editorial and advertising pages in the 2013 PYM Annual Guide are encoded with interactive experiences such as downloadable PDFs and videos, social media call-to-actions, and additional educational content. Readers can view the interactive content by scanning coded pages with the free PYM+ app can be downloaded to Apple or Android smartphones or tablets.

Here’s how it works: When readers of the PYM guide see an ad for a hotel that interests them, then can use the PYM+ app to download meeting room schematics, take a virtual tour of the facility, and book rooms. They don’t have to visit a website, or even turn the page.

Advertisers are intrigued by the ability to track how many people interact with their ads each month.

“They say print is dead, but that was before it could talk back and tell you who was reading it,” says PYM’s Vice President of Creative Kristi Casey Sanders. “Now advertisers can see how people engage with their print ads. By encoding SKUs in augmented content, they can identify how much traffic they’re receiving from print channels while interacting with our readers.”

Sanders will teach meeting and event organizers how to use augmented reality at the PlannerTech event Aug. 13 and the PYM LIVE event Aug. 22 in New York.

“Plan Your Meetings has a long history of developing innovative ways to connect people,” Sanders says. “Using augmented reality not only allows us to bring added value and ROI to our advertisers, it gives us the opportunity to provide additional educational content and educate planners using an emerging technology that has many exciting event applications.”

Both the print and digital editions of the annual guide include the augmented-reality content. In a blog post on the PYM website, Sanders notes that “Once an image is linked to augmented content, that content is activated whenever the image is scanned, no matter in which media it appears. So, the same image on a brochure, name tag, magazine, YouTube video, webpage, email, park bench, or billboard would trigger the same experience.”

LINKS

Plan Your Meetings

Issu: Digital Edition of Plan Your Meetings Annual Guide with Augmented Reality

Blog Post by Kristi Casey Sanders:  What is Augmented Reality? What does it mean for you?

Learn Design, Photo, and Prepress Skills for Cross-Media Marketing at PRINT 13

PRINT13_4colorDESIGNERS. For the past few years, companies that formerly specialized in printing documents, marketing collateral, and publications have revamped their businesses to include graphic communications and marketing support services. So the upcoming PRINT 13 Conference covers much more than printing (and the future of printing).  From September 8-12 at Chicago’s McCormick Place, the PRINT 13 conference will explore new and integrated solutions for print, online, and mobile communications.

Many PRINT 13 sessions can help marketing managers and designers better understand new tactics and tools for executing innovative, multi-channel marketing campaigns.

The Chicago chapter of the American Marketing Association is sponsoring a Marketing Pavilion at PRINT 13. In this “how-to” hub of marketing education, creative professionals can mingle with marketers and marketing-service providers, share ideas, listen to expert presentations, and see product demonstrations. The Marketing Theater, sponsored by Canvas magazine, will provide comprehensive resources, answers, and insights on such topics as integrated media services, digital marketing, direct mail, lead generation, analytics, list brokers, and online presentations.

“For marketing and creative professionals, PRINT 13 is a ‘must attend’ event,” said Ralph Nappi, president of the Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC) that organizes the conference.  Along with the Marketing Pavilion there will be presentations and demonstrations of the latest marketing, design, and prepress technologies.  In the prepress/software workflow and design area, you can see the latest in web-to-print technologies, web-design tools, stock photography, and software for design, illustration, scanning, color management, and proofing.

The seminar track for designers and creative professionals includes sessions such as:

  • Picture Perfect: Digital Photography and Photoshop for Print
  • Captivating Color Matching for Online and Offline Media
  • Secrets of Inspiring Images: Composition for Photography, Design, and Marketing
  • Responsive Design Revealed: Flexible Content Creation for Multi-Channel Publishing
  • Photoshop Wizardry for Prepress and Printing
  • VDP: Design Essentials
  • Designer Power: Your Role in a Color-Managed Workflow
  • Adobe Creative Cloud as the Hub for Workflow Automation

Learn how to:

  • Create colors that will look similar online, on mobile devices, and in print publications
  • Choose the right camera settings when shooting images for high-quality printing
  • Prepare images for output on offset presses, digital presses, and inkjet printers
  • Create responsive designs that will work for all publishing platforms and devices
  • Get started in digital publishing
  • Create high-quality grayscale images for print
  • Build and test apps for iOS and Android devices
  • Design variable-data documents for one-to-one marketing campaigns
  • Ensure that you get the best, most accurate color possible when designing for print
  • Design effective direct-mail campaigns
  • Create great output-ready files for output on digital presses
  • Use Creative Cloud to design elegant, engaging pages for print, tablets, and other screens

Co-located events specifically for marketing and creative pros will include the Chicago AMA Marketing Reception and Mogo Media epublishing Creative Conference.

If you are curious about what the future of printing will look like, visit the “Experiential Center” or attend a seminar on 3D printing, 21st Century print technologies, and print-integration technologies that go beyond QR codes.

Register for single sessions, three- or six-session “value-packs” or an all-access pass. Early registration discounts end August 9.

LINKS

PRINT 13

Seminar Schedule