Is Print Dead? Creative Recruitment Insight

Katy Nagy, Creative Recruitment Manager, gives you the inside scoop on how the creative advertising industry is reacting to the 'death' of print (and what that means for businesses!)

We all know it; we live in the Digital Age. Reams of information are at our fingertips. We can find out who created that TV ad, what was the number one song on the day we were born, and how many films Tom Hanks has starred in. The last one I actually did Google the other day – turns out it’s nearly 100. The more you know…

If you look at the Mad Man advertising era, everything was print. Up until the late 90s your first point of call as a creative agency was to do a TV commercial, billboard, and magazine centrefold. It didn’t even cross your mind to use the new-fangled ‘internet’.

It’s no secret that technology has truly changed the landscape of advertising. It’s the single biggest event in the past two, nearly three decades, that has revolutionised the ad viewing experience. In 2019, eMarketer reported that companies are investing on average 60.5% of their media spend on digital advertising. 

But is print really dead?

Short answer, no.

And here's why:

Digital Detox

1 in 5 people have admitted they need a digital detox, and about 70% of those surveyed said they are looking to reduce their overall time online. If the average consumer is getting fatigued from all this digital bombardment, should we really get rid of all print communications?

Making Memories

And let’s all think back to when we actually receive mail. Or the odd birthday card. How lovely did that feel? Print has that personal touch you can never get from a cold hard screen. 70% of people are more likely to remember a brand that they see in print vs online advertising.

Trust in Touch

Compared to email campaigns, consumers are 9x times more likely to respond to a direct mail that they can hold in their hands. There’s a feel of credibility and dedication to a print ad, and this world of #fakenews it’s important to have the trust of our customers in our brands.

How does this affect the creative advertising industry then?

Yes, invest in new talent. Have a diverse pool of knowledge and backgrounds, those with expertise in video, social media, websites, even NFTs if you want! But don’t ignore those who specialise in print. The key to a great campaign is integration and an idea that threads through different medium. Don’t just throw all your money at shiny new pixels – plan, strategise, create, and succeed.

Lucky for you, The Candidate works with creative across all disciplines. Artwork, Video, Graphic Design, UX, Developers, Events – the list really does go on. Have a chat with us to one of our Creative Recruitment experts to see how we can help.

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