With our industry evolving more towards a digital market and away from print, it begs the question whether print will last. After all, digital is fantastic. It allows you to communicate on a whole new level through the use of the interactivity and playfulness on games and websites, to mass marketing opportunities created with emails, twitter and many more. Communication has never been so fast, and if executed intelligently with the right team, the cost outlays are vastly insignificant when you consider the audience that you can reach with your messaging.
The traditionally print based market looks to have been left too high and dry; however they too have embraced the digital move and now are able to offer traditional print based products on a digital platform, such as online magazines and downloadable audiobooks. These additions to the market don't necessarily mean that print is coming to an end though. It may be the case that the market is suffering, especially in the current economic climate, however I believe that it won't disappear altogether. Print is something that we have all grown up with and I believe there is quite a lot of nostalgia in all of us that wants to keep it going. There is something comforting about turning pages of a book while sat on the train, or opening your weekly addition of Marketing Week as apposed to reading the email alerts, or even purchasing another new glossy recipe book.
If anything, I think that print items will gain more respect from the consumer due to the movement of digital. The print quantities may not be as high, but more likely you will find that those who receive print items are likely to read them rather than drop them in the bin.
