Taking on digital to make a statement

In fact, while digital media is more flexible and mobile than it ever has been, there are still plenty of places it cannot reach, applications it cannot manage and innovations it cannot bend to. Also, when it comes to impact, some believe the confines of a digital screen are making digital media too familiar and easy to ignore. So marketers are increasingly looking to a medium some foolishly wrote off as being out of date: print. Far from just filling in where digital can’t go, though, print is carving out a place for itself as the medium to turn to even when in direct competition with its electronic cousin.

"There’s no getting away from the fact that digital marketing has opened up many opportunities for marketers, but print still has a major role to play," says Mark Ellis, director at design agency Creative Cherry. "With the digital work we do, the limitations come with screen size and resolution, as well as download times."

Steve Cox, marketing director at JCDecaux Airport, adds that there are also times when the real benefits of digital – moving pictures for one – are restricted not by technology but by other factors.

"On billboards next to the road, for example, you are not allowed, due to traffic regulations, to show moving images as it was thought they would be too distracting for drivers," says Cox. "So the application of digital in those locations is a bit restrictive and negates some of the advantages."

He explains that problems also occur with scale. He gives the example of a large-scale panel advertisement poster: although you could use an LED screen for a roadside poster where the viewers will be some distance away, it’s a less viable option when viewers are close up.

"When you get closer to the digital screens they do not look good. So in the airport situation, for example, a printed vinyl is the much better option," he says.

Simon McKenzie, sales director at wide-format printer Hollywood Monster, explains that scale also proves a problem in a more practical way for digital screens. Print rides to the rescue again here.

"We have just done a very large job at Westfield Stratford," he reveals. "The media partners of the centre were trying to use a large number of very big digital screens for advertising. Because the locations are so high up on the buildings, however, it was found that using a digital screen in those positions was just not possible. The space was 18m² and 45m up on the building side. They couldn’t get the fixings to support the weight of that screen or fix it any other way to the cladding of the building. So, with five days before the deadline, they got us involved to design, fabricate and install an alternative using print.

"It’s a great example of a situation where print was the only way a particular job could be achieved."

It’s not just in size or immediacy where print excels: it’s also in flexibility. Where digital screens struggle to step outside the confines of the boxes that surround them, and the relatively flat wall areas they have to be attached to, print has evolved to be able to fill any space of your choosing. The secret is the ever-growing world of wraps.

"We could pretty much wrap anything," reveals Hollywood Monster’s McKenzie. "We have done weird and wonderful things. We recently took a bus and wrapped the whole thing in green – everything including the door handles. This is where print can really push the boundaries."

Those boundaries have included wraps of boats, cars, corridors, lifts, buildings, carparks, laptop and mobile phone charging stations in airports, and even trees. The wrapping materials are evolving all the time to give even more wondrous features, such as a recent Hollywood Monster job where cars were wrapped in mirrored vinyl so they almost seemed to disappear. Of course, a comparable effect could be attained through digital means, but these are far inferior, argues McKenzie.

"Some people might argue that the effect of projections is similar, but it’s not true, as they’re less flexible and they don’t hold their colour as well, and can’t be seen as clearly in daylight," he says.

 Unusual and imaginative
Wraps have proved increasingly popular with companies large and small, with even Google recently adopting the strategy for a campaign. Service Graphics marketing manager Alex Wilson explains, however, that with the progress of print technology in the past few years, flexibility does not have to be confined to wrapping.

"There are always new directions to take things – the machinery now enables you to push the boundaries and really cater for the unusual and the imaginative requests we get. We printed on Astroturf recently, for example, and we are also doing some amazing things with floor graphics. So, print will keep up with what people want to do with it," he says.

McKenzie adds that he recently printed directly onto fence panels for a garden show and other companies have printed onto everything from glass to industrial steel – the only limit is the imagination.

But print’s worth is not just proved by its ability to do what digital cannot – it can also prove itself to be the most effective medium when in direct competition with its electronic counterpart. Jules Titheridge, senior customer communications manager at HSBC, says that it is short-sighted to assume that digital is all-powerful, as sometimes print can be a more appropriate communications channel.

"I find digital media is consumed quickly and suits short snippets of information," he explains. "So an email or web banner is suited to short bursts of information, but when a customer needs more information to be able to make an informed decision, then print is by far the best."

Greg Newman, managing director at design and marketing agency Higher Ground Creative, adds that print always has a place at the table because there are always elements of an audience which will not be reached by digital communications. He adds that many campaigns still use print where digital could be used – for example DM shots and billboards – while he has also had experience of something digital cannot do: people wearing t-shirts that bear the campaign message.

The above choices are no doubt down to impact, and many see print as being in its element when it comes to making a statement – especially on the large scale.

"With print, you can surprise someone with scale," says JCDecaux’s Cox. "The reason print is used in large-scale operations is admittedly partly down to cost, but the other reason is that print is just better suited to large-scale advertising in that environment. You can do really interesting and imaginative things that people have not seen before."

It’s not just impact through "surprise", though, according to Julian Long, senior account manager at Arjowiggins. He points to the number of things created digitally that then turn to print as evidence that the print medium seems to hold more weight with consumers as well.

 Digital-to-print
"You just have to look at the fact that digital always ends up going back to print, with photos especially. There are digital photo frames and computers, but people still print photos and want the physical thing. Likewise, you get these printed anthologies of blogs or other online-created material. People want the printed posters, the printed artwork, the printed versions!"

There is a misconception that these printed versions, or print in general, is the more expensive option when compared with digital. However, though the core costs can often be less with digital, the ROI tends to be better with print. Also, Cox explains that you have to consider the package as a whole. He says that digital screens are not cheap to buy, install and run, and that you also have to consider where they are positioned, as security from both vandalism and the weather are crucial if further costs are to be avoided. Unsurprisingly, he says, just 14% of outdoor posters in the UK are digital screens.

Elaine Pooke, production manager at English Heritage, adds that the costs incurred by print are also coming down as the technology improves.

"We are already seeing super presses offering the clients value for money together with time saving," she explains. "The efficiencies in producing these products are essential for the carbon footprint and also for maximising the marketing budgets of many organisations."

These technological improvements are also going to be crucial if print is to continue to take on digital at both what it can’t do and what it can. Fortunately, it has shown itself time and again to be up to the challenge. With every iteration of systems from the likes of Apple, print brings out its own innovations. Where each year the visual aspects of digital repeat a similar theme, print brings something entirely new to the table every single time.