Don’t Stop the Presses
As digital marketing takes over, these brands are using print to stand out
There’s no question that technology has changed the landscape of modern marketing. But while many advertisers are swapping traditional channels for digital ones, 2016 research from MarketingSherpa suggests that the more conventional marketing methods, like print, still elicit a high level of trust from consumers. According to the study, 82 percent of respondents said they trust newspapers and magazines the most when making a purchase decision, and 76 percent said they trust ads and catalogues received in the mail. By comparison, the highest-ranking online formats, search engine ads and digital video ads, were trusted by 61 percent and 47 percent of consumers, respectively.
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That’s good news for brands that lean on print to reach consumers, including tech giant Amazon, which recently took a more traditional step with its marketing. Last month, rumors circulated that Amazon would be publishing a holiday toy catalogue, not unlike the 100-page “Big Book” catalogue once mailed out by the now-defunct Toys “R” Us retailer. Amazon’s move suggests that print isn’t dead, but rather a crucial component of a brand’s journey to tell its story through strategic, innovative marketing.
For brands that have made a splash in print, the uniting theme is creating inventive ways to tell the brand story that align with their overall voice. Whether it’s leading customers outside with a mysterious call to action, getting GQ readers to play dress-up in a scented blazer, or recruiting C-level executives into a spy mission, here’s how three brands have captured the attention of their customers by taking an innovative approach to print marketing.
Breaking from the Conventional
These days, the onus is on marketers to create print advertising that not only stands out in a catalogue or mailbox, but can compete with digital, social, and mobile marketing for customers’ attention. The secret to breaking from the conventional is to use modern methods to bring print into the present, says Dan Bailin, director of client strategy at Portland, Maine-based The VIA Agency. “It needs to be thought of in a way that people consume media today,” he says. “The way to keep print alive and exciting and enticing as a medium is to think of it beyond the traditional way that people expect to see it.”
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