Brands looking to engage with their customers over the long term might not want to discount direct mail marketing and the power of landscape A4 brochures.
Rita Clifton, a keynote speaker at the most recent Independent Print Industries Association Everything’s Possible in Print event, explained that people these days are eager to spend time with companies that they trust and they’re typically more trusting of what they can connect with in the real world, not just the digital, PrintWeek reports.
Ms Clifton, an ad professional and one-time UK chairman of Interbrand, was quoted by the news source as saying: “Print can literally sometimes allow us and our brands to wrap ourselves round our customers, to impact them and to have a long-term engaging effect.”
One of the big themes at this particular event was direct mail and how consumers can interact with printed material using the latest technology, such as their smartphones. Conqueror Alive paper from Arjowiggins Creative Papers was cited as an option, allowing people to create connected print media like business cards that can then be linked up to online content for greater interactivity.
This is a kind of digital paper, specially developed for the printing of electronic circuitry. The surface is conventional and can be printed on and handled in the same way as normal paper, but circuits respond by being tapped by a near-field communication-capable smartphone.
For business cards, this could be used to really make yourself stand out and be memorable – vital in today’s incredibly competitive business field.