Why reports of print’s demise remain greatly exaggerated
Many agencies and advertisers have long written off print, but Involved Media Managing Director Sarah Keith looks at why the medium still has significant value for many brands.
A recent article in the Financial Review recently caught my eye: Nine and News Corp were poised to sign a new contract to print newspapers — and thus guarantee the printed newspaper — for at least another five years.
This is far from the only sign of the resilience of a medium which many had unfairly and prematurely written off.
Take a look at News Corp’s recent decision to launch The California Post (a California version of the New York Post). Who had the Murdochs launching a new newspaper on their 2025 bingo card? I confess, I didn’t.
All this made me review the half year SMI for Newspapers and Magazines and the numbers over the financial year. The combined revenue number decline has slowed to a decline of 2.5% and magazines are actually growing this calendar year (well done to the Are Media sales team).
So what’s behind this resilience of the medium? Obviously, newspapers are a clear societal good. We need the fourth estate and in particular these sorts of newsrooms that do deep dive long form journalism to fully understand the complexity of things these days.
But marketers should remember psychologically, print can feel more “real” or trustworthy. In a world where consumers trust less and less print is one of the few environments where trust is still high. They are also highly engaged when reading a newspaper in a way that they perhaps are not on other mediums, where they might also be second screening on their mobiles.
Print has evolved from being a traditional advertising channel into a strategic medium for many brands for example: think Brighter Magazine (Commbank), Qantas Magazine, Coles, Harris Farm. The list goes on but these are unique tactile channels for not just telling the brand story, but also enabling advertisers to tap into communities that might not normally top of mind in the media plan.
Sarah Keith
Also from a community / regional perspective we have seen something of a print revival. Print is still the lifeline to deep local community connection. Look at publications like Sydney’s Northern Beaches ‘Tawny Frog’ or regional centric Galah Magazine, and Pandaemonium all successful examples of print storytelling, amplifying rural and underrepresented perspectives.
What is fascinating here: is they are more often female-led and very connect deeply with readers through community / local narratives. It’s a locality and a sense of belonging that comes from a tactile product.
We should also acknowledge how the industry (read: the big newspaper publishers) have pivoted and evolved. The broadsheet physical newspaper is largely gone (with the exception of The Australian) but this is just one of a number of active steps publishers have taken to ensure the sustainability of the medium well beyond what many predicted.
Many publications have moved to print on recycled paper or run quarterly instead of weekly. News Corp and Nine have also epitomised the strategy of “compete on content but collaborate on everything else with the companies working together not only on physical distribution working with a newsagent industry that is also in transition.
Brighter magazine.
Other mediums (ahem, television) might want to take a page out of their book.
At the same time the publishers have also built out their digital subscriber revenue streams to the point where in a business like Nine delivered financial results where its publishing division has a higher EBIT than television. That’s not something that many of us would have predicted a decade ago.
The reality is print still has a substantial, if aging, audience. A quick look at Roy Morgan shows all the newspapers still have circulations in the hundreds of thousands and print readership in the millions. It’s a similar picture when you look at comparable markets like the US and UK.
There remain a number of brands particularly in travel, luxury and in the premium space where print makes a lot of sense. It’s also worth noting that the publishers are targeting brands who might have a product launch and often offering a combined newspaper and online takeover to drive that launch.
There is also the power of publishing for players who might need a niche and hard to get to audience eg. the Financial Review or Capital Brief (which I acknowledge isn’t print) in helping reaching investors or the finance industry.
Print’s inherent power remains a media buy based on objective and contextual relevance against a target audience that often isn’t easy to reach. While it might not get the budget of other mediums there is still a real place for its considered placement and usage.
So what happens next to the medium? Print will continue in the clear niche it has carved out more as a premium product, than a mass-market play. It will speak to particular audiences in a highly engaged way and the clear signs are it will continue to have value for many years to come.
Precisely how long it continues for will be determined by the publishers’ ability to build hybrid models, which I suspect will increasingly focus on digital subscriptions with a shift to more occasional print editions, assuming the economics of printing allow for this, so think big weekend editions over thinner daily papers.
Print still faces clear challenges. Foremost among them: the rising costs of paper and ink, logistics, labour, shrinking newsstands and the all important distribution networks.
The medium might no longer be the default that it was in a media buy 20 years ago but for those who value a premium and distinctive execution – often targeted at a specific audience – it remains a valuable weapon in the arsenal.
Personally, I know it doesn’t matter how many online Vanity Fair articles I read, nothing is going to stop me paying $25 for last month’s edition of the print copy at the airport.
I love the medium including not just the journalism but also the adverts, and of course the stunning photography that just looks better than anything digital can deliver. Long may it continue.
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