Download the findings from our study about the reading habits of millennials. Their behaviour and demands will shape the market for many years to come. Free pdf report (12 pages).
Paper in turqouise
5 sure signs that paper is still strong
For decades now, some people have said that the days of printed media are over, but paper is still competitive and interesting from the communication point of view. We can even say that for younger people paper is increasing in popularity. Find the report below.
5 signs
Here are five signs that paper is strong in a digital world:
1
Paper stands for quality and trust
Long-term brand building is a completely different thing from a counting clicks in a digital campaign. Studies show that printed communication is considered trustworthy and has proven to produce much more powerful and far-reaching effects than many other types of media. What’s more, the content of printed magazines is perceived to be of higher quality than equivalent online editions.
A well-made, printed customer magazine with relevant content can have customers leafing through it for hours – brand time worth its weight in gold. It's not as easy to measure as reach via digital channels but it might be marketing money considerably better spent. More and more actors are seeing major gains from printed marketing and going for a media mix in which print once more play a prominent role.
2
The digital generation likes print
Naturally it would be the kiss of death for printed media if the only people who wanted it were the generations that grew up reading the paper with their morning coffee. But the truth is that the young millennial generation is very positive about printed media in general. The people who ought to find paper products the most alien – those who grew up online – are actually the ones who seek out print more. The generation under the age of 35 reads more printed media than any other age group and they aren’t showing any signs of this changing.
A survey conducted by Holmen shows that an impressive 77 per cent of the target group read a printed magazine regularly and almost 50 per cent as often as once a week. This behaviour also looks set to stay as three out of four respondents answered that they are extremely certain that they will read as much – or more – printed media in the future. Exciting numbers from the group known as the digital generation.
For more information about the reading habits of the digital generation, or the so called millennials, download the report below.
3
Print makes an impression
Several studies show that printed texts are easier to understand than digital ones. We remember things we read on paper up to 70 (!) per cent better than things we read in other channels. Let that sink in for a moment. We would assume that it is important for your message to be received in the right way and for people to actually remember what you wrote. The advantage of printed texts is due to the fact that the human eye scans a sheet of paper differently from compared to a screen. We read more quickly (and pay less attention) on a screen and it is easier for us to gain a deeper understanding when documents stand out both visually and by touch.
4
Communication that speaks to the emotions
People are motivated by feelings, not necessarily by logical arguments and intellectual factors. Whether the aim is to advertise, sell something or inform, you will be most successful if you appeal directly to our emotions. Paper products will be anything but out of date in luxurious high-fashion magazines. Printed media is demonstrably superior in its ability to use the feeling of exclusivity to attract. A digital message is always closed off behind a screen and so never gets close enough to us. The emotions conveyed when we pass our fingers over the pages of a special interest magazine or drink in the smell of a book make us want to act on what we see. The haptic experience and the feeling of being able to bring all five of our senses into play make us emotionally engaged.
5
We are longing for a digital detox
It might be precisely because today we are in desperate need of physical, emotional sensations that more and more of us seem to appreciate taking a break from our screens. Amidst the constant noise from digital mass communication, the sound of the pages of a printed magazine gently turning brings us calm. The fact that this isn’t instantly available at the touch of a button is a point in its favour and we enjoy longing for the next edition to appear on the shelf. Where screens are seen as impersonal and static, successful printed materials are viewed as premium products worth spending time and energy on.