fyi : reactor

Like the promise of a flying car and a cashless society, the invention of interactive technology (including the internet and all things digital) was supposed to eventually mark the end of print. All of these are dreams and haven't happened yet. The closest one to reality is the cashless society, but it'll probably never happen. I rarely carry cash anymore, but I still need it on occasion and it just doesn't seem feasible to create a money-charging technology for every single aspect of our lives. Tipping a bar tender or a coat check person at a party comes to mind. There is also a huge movement in the US to go back to cash-only budgeting as a way to limit over-spending. But I digress...

(Print, as I refer to it, is brochures, packaging, direct mail, even business cards. Basically, it's hand-held, physical printed pieces of marketing.)

Reason 1: Digital content is now striving to be more like print.
E-book readers are the prime example of this (Kindle, Nook, Sony eBook, etc). The technology of electronic ink is super cool and tries to mimic the printed experience. It's awesome technology and I can't wait to see where it goes, but this may just be the closest digital content will ever get to print.

Reason 2: Sustainability
The Print Council released a report recently, called Why Print is Green, that describes 10 specific ways in which print is green. "Our industry is a leader in recycling, sustainability and pollution control,” says Ben Cooper, Executive Director of The Print Council. “In fact we pioneered putting those concepts into widespread practice over the past three decades...Media buyers and marketers who believe that print is lagging as an environmentally friendly medium need to know these facts, which show that print is in fact leading in this critical area.”

A few facts from Why Print is Green:

• In 2008, more than 57 percent of paper consumed in the U.S. was recovered for recycling, more than any material
• Less than 10 percent of U.S. power comes from renewable sources, but in the pulp and paper industry, that figure is greater than 60 percent
• The average person’s paper use for a year — 440 pounds — is produced by 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity, the amount used to power one computer continuously for 5 months

Reason 3: The Experience
This is the most important reason: A well-crafted print piece will engage at least 4 of the five senses – sight, sound, smell and touch. Whereas a well-crafted interactive piece will only engage two senses – sight and sound. (I suppose you could argue touch if you count the keyboard, mouse or touchscreen, but there is not enough variation in feeling to make the case).

Humans crave a sensory experience and we rely on our abilities to see, hear, touch, taste and smell. The more of those senses that are engaged, the better. Therefore, I say, print can have a longer lasting impression than digital media.