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4DM chief warns of DM sector's need to adapt
4DM has warned that the direct mail sector needs to adapt to new technologies now or face becoming obsolete within a decade.
The Kettering-based printer's comments came in reaction to a prediction by Barclaycard chief executive Antony Jenkins, who claimed contactless payment technology would lead to the death of plastic within 10 years.
Lance Hill, managing director of print services at 4DM, agreed with Jenkins' assessment of the market and the anticipated rise in the use of smartphones, rather than credit or debit cards, to make payments.
He said: "Whether we like it or not, new technology is definitely going to have an impact on print.
"And there's obviously a tie-in from a marketing point of view because the data collected from [smartphone] payments can be used to send out marketing messages."
Hill added that the market for transactional print in the UK was bound to decline, as the next generation would not want paper statements.
"They'll have everything on their phone and the phone will become almost like a laptop," he said.
"Direct mail companies need to adapt and integrate some of this new technology. We as an industry need to wake up and make sure we're switched on to it."
Comments
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Jack Mehov - 04 December 2009
Hill added, "That the market for transactional print in the UK was bound to decline, as the next generation would not want paper statements".
So bearing this in mind it looks like the dash to invest in all that transpromotional kit is wasted as nobody will want to receive paper statements, surely the marketing medium's carrier will be defunct. I already receive bills / statements electronicaly for everything from investments to mobile phone. I think younger consumers than me who are more tech savvy will prefer to receive real time statements in future, \(look at the move on monthly billings by British Gas last week)!
Worried, again - 04 December 2009
We're not completely dead in the water.
People are living longer than they used to and a good many of them don't want to see information on their mobile phones. Then, there's the question of security - AND many prefer a paper statement they can read when it's convenient to them, rather than squinting at a 2½" screen to try and work out what they've spent!
In fairness, like death, it's going to happen, but we don't need to do that last wash-up and switch the lights off yet.
The Mighty Wind - 04 December 2009
it is very likely that the future will bring a central communications device with computing power and that will be an information point for transactions and statements and possibly for accessing other media. The level of interaction between business and the user will be interesting to see, I get the feeling that most marketing and communication currently on the Internet is unwelcome and viewed as intrusive, unless of course it is picked by the user. This is I think the central conundrum, the user now has the power and thus you have to arouse interest without them deleting you. Thus need a compelling reason for them to connect with you in first place
The Mighty Wind - 04 December 2009
Probably the most technically advanced society in terms of users, devices and interaction is Japan. You would think that there use of technology and its impact would be more widely published
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