As we move into June publishing has mixed news from the death knoll to new profits and opportunities — keeping print relevant, serif vs sans, comeback for magazines and more . . . here’s the latest publishing update:
* Why printers must ask themselves, ‘Is my business irreplaceable?’
* Smarter direct mail: Advances in print that can boost ROI
* How print stays relevant in a digital world
* Survey: Dramatic Q1 plunge in print profits
* The final battle between serif and sans
* Web sparks print comeback for magazines
* Print delivers your message
* Paper is eco-friendly
and more …
As we move into June, publishing has mixed news from the death knoll to new profits and opportunities — keeping print relevant, serif vs sans, comeback for magazines and more . . . here’s the latest publishing update:
* Why printers must ask themselves, ‘Is my business irreplaceable?’
* Smarter direct mail: Advances in print that can boost ROI
* How print stays relevant in a digital world
* Survey: Dramatic Q1 plunge in print profits
* The final battle between serif and sans
* Web sparks print comeback for magazines
* Print delivers your message
* Paper is eco-friendly
and more …
Paper is eco-friendly
It’s unfortunate that the paper industry gets the stigmata that it is bad for the environment. It is through misleading environmental claims like deforestation in North America, excessive energy consumption and crowded landfill sites that gives the paper industry bad publicity.
However, with a little more information, it soon becomes clear that the paper industry is not the demon that it is portrayed as. INFOGRAPHIC
Full story : The Print Blog
How print stays relevant in a digital world
We live in a digital world; always-on, always-connected and growing more so by the day. Information disseminates almost instantaneously, yet our thirst for more suggests we are trapped in a desert.
It’s come to the point where the hospitality sector has even dubbed a term, “digital-detox,” as a way to encourage guests to unplug and unwind. Yes, today’s digital world is having an impact on all industries; and the print, advertising and design communities are not immune. Full story : Xerox Blogs
Web sparks print comeback for magazines
Only newspapers have been given up for dead more often than magazines. But though their print cousins continue to lose advertising at a brisk clip, some magazine publishers are trumpeting a turnaround few could have foreseen in the dark days of 2008 and 2009, when nearly 1,000 titles shut down.
Ad pages grow, thanks to digital partnerships. “The fashion consumer wants to hold, feel, touch, turn the page,” one executive says. Full story : Crain’s New York Business
Smarter direct mail: Advances in print that can boost ROI
There are many sources of pressure to reduce or minimize the cost of postage in hard copy mailings with commensurate hurdles at every turn. Over the years, postage has been mitigated with workshare discounts that depend on mailing list density, file hygiene, currency of the mailing list and mail piece shape and design.
As the U.S. Postal Service attempts to remove unnecessary costs and employ automation to the max, mailing requirements increase — such as heavier more expensive paper, more tabs or glue and other creative and preparation demands that can increase costs. 
Careful, arrival ad locks you out of content, but look and click to skip ad Full story : Target Marketing Magazine
Survey: Dramatic Q1 plunge in print profits
U.S. printers had a sharp drop in first quarter profits despite a modest rise in sales revenues, the Semper International survey for Q1 2013 has found. The survey of about 300 printers of all sizes from across the U.S. found that the percentage of printers reporting a profit fell from nearly 79 percent in the previous quarter to only 50.8 percent for the first three months of 2013.
“The biggest concern from me is the drop in the number of companies reporting profits,” Semper CEO Dave Regan told PrintWeek as the new survey results were released. “I’ve never seen anything like it like that, it was a big jump. Even in ’07 and ’08 it wasn’t quite as bad.” Full story : PrintWeek
Why printers must ask themselves, ‘Is my business irreplaceable?’
Paul Reilly spends a lot of time thinking, speaking, and consulting about what he calls “megatrends”: shifts in reality that have overturned many long-standing assumptions about what it takes to survive and thrive as a printing business. The chart on this page displays the matrix of talking points that he uses to make these megatrends clear in presentations to clients and industry groups.
The profitability gap between the best-performing and the weakest printing firms is wider than ever. It reflects the difference between the “haves” — firms with effective strategies for competitive differentiation — and the “have nots,” which lack them. Full story : WhatTheyThink
Print delivers your message
In today’s world of digital marketing, print advertising is a tangible way to get your message through. Print advertising is effective, provides a high return on your investment and is the method that consumers actually prefer.
Printing is highly effective in getting your message through. In the digital world, emails can be blocked by spam filters or simply deleted without ever even being read. According to the USPS Household Diary Study of 2009, 79% of households read or scan the mail they receive. Printing literally puts your message right at their fingertips! Full story : Valley Business Journal
The final battle between serif and sans
What is the difference between serif and sans serif fonts in printing?
INFOGRAPHIC Full story : PrintMediaCentr
SEE previous PUBLISHING UPDATES
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