Nothing But The Truth - Print in the Digital Age

By : David Pilcher | Courtesy : Freeport Press  
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http://www.freeportpress.com/the-truth-about-print-in-the-digital-age/ 

Mr. Magazine calls them his 14 Efficacies of Enlightenment regarding print in the digital age. We call them a great summary of the things we’ve been seeing, and saying, about the print industry for the past several months, which we expect to become more evident this year.

As Husni states, “The 14 truths may be preaching to the choir for some, but hopefully they are still appreciated and valued as truisms that merit the time and consideration of our faithful congregation. And for those agnostics out there, maybe there will be a dawning of print spirituality they failed to consider until now.”

One of these truths is the adoption of print by brands born on digital, like allrecipes.com, style.com and others. As these digitally-sprouted companies grow toward maturity, they reach out to new markets, and new revenue, via the power of print.

Why do these and other digital publishers enthusiastically embrace print as a path to growth and success? For one, print has relevance.

“When you have a print product it can take you places – real places and give you customers – real customers – and form those all-important relationships within a community. An audience in China has absolutely no value to an advertiser in the United States. You have to target your community and form that real bond. And print can do that,” asserts Husni.

And that relevance means ad revenue. While digital ads are interruptive and annoying (how often have you hit the “skip to video” link?) those stunning ads in glossy print pull us in and engage us. And if by chance it doesn’t, there’s no searching for the escape key; one simply turns the page.

At the end of the digital day, that simple act of page turning is perhaps one of the most compelling truths about print. It just feels good to thumb through that magazine, and readers want that experience.

As Husni says, “After years of having a digital love affair, there is nothing wrong with coming home and apologizing and confessing your unfaithfulness to your lovely print spouse. After all, we’re all human and make mistakes.”

Print has a romance, a permanence and an intrinsic value that digital can’t match. And that’s why we agree with Mr. Magazine, and believe 2014 is going to be a very good year indeed for print.