The Value of Print (A Letter to Marketing Managers)

Written by Dharminder Biharie,
Business Development Consultant, Xerox Netherlands

Dear Marketing Manager,
I am sending you this letter to make you aware of a technology that can expand your marketing opportunities while being more green than you could have ever imagined possible. It’s not a new technology, in fact, it has been around for more than 3,000 years. Have I spiked your curiosity? Are you getting exciting at the thought of sharing this news with your colleagues?
The technology is called paper.
It is readily available and very affordable. To prove it, I have enclosed a blank, unprinted sheet in this letter for you to see. Hold it in your hand and imagine that this sheet makes people move, makes people take action. Best of all, this sheet can easily be delivered to the front door of any of your customers and prospects.
And guess what? If your message is intriguing and the receiver is impressed, they will open the envelop! Your message cannot be swiped away with the flick of a finger, it does not run the risk of getting filtered into a spam folder before its even seen, and it is not competing with tiny pop-up advertisements that must be minimized with even tinier ‘close’ icons.
The worst case is your message ends up in the big round archive. This is not unlike most of the unappealing junk emails you receive which are trashed or flagged as spam.
Ah, but with mobile devices, your message is instantly delivered to the pocket of your recipient, you argue? While that may be true, I know for me it’s sometimes impossible to fully pay attention to all the notifications and new inbox messages that flash on my iPhone.
But print and paper will always be opened if designed to meet the requirements of the recipient. Why? The Internet is crowded. It is sometimes like a traffic jam. The traditional postbox has become empty. This has never been more true. Here in Holland I receive less than 7 pieces of mail per week. The good news is, if you send me something on paper that captures my attention, I will definitely open it. Do you  see a traffic jam in the mailbox? No. This means there is an opportunity. Think about this equation for a moment: paper + correct message + empty mailbox = BINGO.
And yes, you can add components like the Internet, Augmented  Reality and more to paper. The key message is: it is easier to drive customers from paper to the Internet rather than vice versa. Think again of that traffic jam…
What about sustainability. Is it green, you ask? Have you ever to tried to bury your smartphone or iPad? Of course not, because as you know that is not very green. Think about this: paper is the only medium with a one-time carbon footprint…all other media require energy every time they are viewed.  Paper mills have been recycling paper for many years. Ask a paper mill for a free tour and they would be happy to oblige. They are extremely proud to tell you how green their product is. Ask one of the biggest high-tech electronics manufacturers for a free tour of their factory and you might get a different response.
As I said at the onset, print and paper are readily available, very affordable and delivers proven results. Welcome to my green world!
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Dharminder Biharie is a Business Development Manager within Xerox Netherlands. To get in touch with Dharminder, feel free to contact him via email.