Successful print deserves promotion - magazine article

Print may be competing with an ever increasing range of marketing channels, but recent statistics show it still dominates advertising spending with 56 percent (or $1.1 billion) of the total spend in New Zealand during 2006 allocated to print. NZ Advertising Authority figures show total advertising revenue last year reached $2.22 billion, compared with $2.07 billion in 2004 - an increase of 7.2 percent.



Looking further at the breakdown of these statistics, the print industry's share has remained steady at 56 percent of the total spend since 2004. Going back further to 1997, the figure was 55 percent. Print is not suffering. Newspaper advertising has grown from $606 million in 2001 to $810 million in 2006, an increase of 33 percent. It is currently worth 36 percent of the total advertising spend. Magazine advertising revenue growth has been even higher with an increase from $166 million in 2001 to $251 million in 2006. Magazine advertising is now 11 percent of the total spend.



So are newer avenues of marketing impacting on sectors of the New Zealand print industry?



Statistics for addressed and non-addressed mail, available from 2003 onwards, show that this type of marketing is still in the early stages of establishing itself, worth only 4.5 percent of the total spend. Advertising revenue for addressed mail remained static between 2003 and 2006 at $35 million. Non-addressed mail advertising revenue increased from $56 million in 2003 to $64 million in 2006.



Likewise on-line advertising is a small percentage of the total but with dramatic increases from just $8 million (0.4 percent of the total spend) in 2003 moving to $65 million (2.9 percent) in 2006. Over this same period, television advertising's share of the total spend has fallen from 31.9 percent to 28.8 percent.



More goes into the mix


The options for promoting products and services have grown significantly in line with technology changes. In years gone by, the primary channels considered were an advertising slot on prime time TV and running a few newspaper ads. Not anymore.



These days companies have added email campaigns, text or SMS and sleek, interactive websites to their marketing mix. Mobile phone users are able to subscribe to receive advertisements in exchange for air-time credits, which appeals especially to a younger audience.



Cross-media options, such as a new service in New Zealand called Txt4Info, are taking advertising to another level. For instance, if consumers see advertising on TV, billboards, magazines or direct mail that features Txt4Info instructions, they can text to receive further information. This information can then be delivered by email, post or a follow-up phone call and may include brochures, vouchers, samples, pdf application forms or a whole range of other marketing material produced in the print industry.



One of the benefits of these new marketing methods is the direct feedback on the impact of the advertising spend.



Everybody should be promoted


While our focus is often on helping others to promote their business, we should also stand back and look at how we can promote our own businesses and the print industry as a whole. The public profile of our industry is low and, for those who are aware of the industry, their perceptions are often negative - those of a dirty, declining industry with little future. We need to turn this around.



So what can a print business do? The following are some suggestions that you may like to take action on:

Take advantage of every opportunity to speak about the industry at service clubs or other public functions.

Inform your customers about new products and services you can add to their marketing mix ie by holding 'customer evenings' to show off your print capabilities and expertise.

Take pride in the work you produce and enter Pride In Print in New Zealand or the Australian National Print Awards competitions. This is a great way to measure the quality of what you produce against others and, if you win, another way to market your business.

Become active in your Association and its projects and activities.

Form a relationship with a local high school or tertiary college. Offer to show students around your workplace or assist them with their printing needs. This is a great way to open the eyes of potential future staff to a career in print.



Associations such as PrintNZ and PIAA also play a role in changing the perception of the industry. The associations are the collective voice of the industry and are actively working with politicians, business leaders and the public to raise the industry's profile.



During 2007, PrintNZ and PrintNZ Training will be undertaking a number of activities to support this role, including:

Making submissions to government on legislative changes that impact on the industry.

Educating business leaders and those in government about the role print plays in the success of all New Zealand businesses.

Promoting the importance of keeping print in New Zealand.

Actively targeting school leavers with information on the industry through newspaper advertising, careers expo involvement, holding careers breakfasts for high school teachers and acting as a liaison between printers and schools that have students interested in gaining work experience in the print industry.



Everyone working in the print industry has a role to play when it comes to promoting print. So while we are busy printing the marketing material of others, let's not forget to market our industry every chance we get!



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