A journey just begun – address the real challenges says Bernard Cassell

Every campaign has it critics and paper – part of everyday is no exception. While the industry-led paper and print information campaign continues to build on early momentum it drew criticism in the last issue of Print21. Here, Bernard Cassell, managing director, CPI Group and founder and driving spirit of the campaign (pictured below), hits back at what he sees as the failure to recognise the real issues.

The paper and printing industry suffers from a wide spread perception that it is environmentally unfriendly, and that using paper destroys forests and damages the environment. This misconception has been created and/or seized on by competitors of print. It is a misconception that has now become entrenched in many people’s thinking, making it so much easier for organisations to switch from print to electronic without needing to justify it or to own up to the fact that such a switch is usually based around cost rather than concern for the environment.

The reality as stated by Jonathan Porritt, the Head of the UK Sustainability Development Commission for nine years, is that, “There are very few industries that can claim to be truly sustainable. The pulp and paper industry however is one such industry, it is inherently sustainable.” This is a message that the paper - part of everyday campaign believes and promotes and it is heartening to observe the increasing level of support from the industry.

Following successful briefings completed in Melbourne and Sydney recently, attended in total by some 70 to 80 people, APIA received expressions of support and commitment and a number of new members from different sections of the Graphics Arts industry. No doubt they are all happy with the commitment from APIA that all subscription monies received will be spent on the campaign. APIA is particularly pleased to have received strong expressions of support for its activities from other industry associations including most notably the Printing Industries Association of Australia (Printing Industries). APIA recognises that industry associations operate on limited funding and that commitment to the campaign demonstrates real support for its aims and plans.

Not everyone gets the point

Unfortunately, one participant at the briefings missed the point and has been critical of the campaign. In the last edition of Print21, we were told by Paper Round that the environment is not why companies are switching from print. Yes, we know that. The campaign has never suggested that any decline in the use of print is solely due to environmental factors.

The campaign recognises – even if Paper Round does not - that the core aim of advertisers the world over is to achieve a belief within a population that their product is superior and, if possible, to have this belief so ingrained in the psyche that consumers cannot think of any alternative - for instance when Bic Biros became synonymous with ball point pens. Take for example the result of a recent UK survey of media buyers where 83% of media buyers disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement that using paper is more environmentally friendly than digital communications.

Our industry must address real challenges if it is to confront – and change - the public perception of paper and print. Listen to people talk about the damage that is done to the environment when they receive printed material and hear them saying that the industry destroys trees and chops down forests. Talk to your children when they come home from school after having been brain washed by a teacher who does not understand any of the facts and who, themselves, have merely been the subject of a prolonged campaign of misinformation.

We recognise that as long as this emphasis on unsubstantiated belief that our product is bad for the environment persists, then our competitors will find it so much easier to persuade their customer base to move away from paper. One wonders how the misrepresentation became so wide and how our industry could have been so quiet for so long. Particularly, one wonders why those who were meant to be promoting our industry would prefer us to say nothing and do nothing to meet these challenges.

Thankfully there are others in the industry, not only in Australia but worldwide, who are far more enlightened than Paper Round. They recognise these issues must be faced and confronted. If you have a problem you must own it and by doing so, own the solution.

As an industry, we have much to publicise. We are environmentally friendly and we are effective. We are an industry that has subjected itself to unparalleled voluntary supervision by signing up to a range of certification schemes. We need to let the public know that we are so confident about our environmental credentials that we happily and voluntarily submit ourselves to third party certifications.

Where we are headed

It is vital that the industry pulls together and APIA is committed to working with all industry associations to achieve this end. We have proposed a steering committee, which would consist of different members from different parts of the industry to determine the way forward.

The aims of the paper - part of everyday campaign are three-fold:
• Firstly, to remove the apparent legitimacy attached to the notion that by switching from print to electronic, corporations and government are acting in the best interests of the environment.
• Secondly, to ensure that the full environmental credentials of paper and print are understood by all stakeholders.
• Thirdly, to communicate to all media buyers the real and sustainable benefits of using printed material for advertising and communication.

There will be two thrusts to the campaign: to communicate, as widely as possible, the environmental benefits and credentials of paper based print and to make sure that the proven benefits of print as a communication medium are made widely known.

Delivering on this requires the campaign to produce the evidence and statistics to back up claims of the effectiveness of print in comparison with other media. This will assist the industry to convince media specifiers that print has a pre-eminent place in ensuring their messages reach their target audiences.

Similar campaigns are now underway both in America and in Europe. Everywhere our industry is waking up to the fact that it has been complacent about its position in the communication world and has failed to match its competitors for hype and self-promotion.

A great example is the recent television campaign featuring Gerry Harvey of Harvey Norman identifying the positives of television advertising. There are significant statistics identifying the positive outcomes in print based advertising – as an industry we need a co-ordinated campaign of endorsements to ensure our story is told.

Where are the famous endorsements for print and how should we emulate this publicity?

The planned ‘paper – part of every day’ campaign will redress our lack of concerted industry promotion and the malaise arising from a sense that the industry is unable to confront competitors.

To achieve this we must all work together. We urge all those in the industry who care about the industry and who believe that the industry has a place in the future, to get behind the campaign, to sign up to the campaign with APIA. We need your suggestions and assistance.