I’m an offline junkie.
There, I’ve said it. Do I feel better because I admitted it?
Sorta. Oh, I – and my colleagues – have all the requisite e-tools, from iPad, Nook, and smart phones galore to the latest in ergonomic desk-etry. And the curiosity to match, whether it’s technology or content that catches our eye.
Yet there’s something seductive about the package that print offers. No, we’ve not been pumped by the magazine industry’s ads in trade publications about the Power of Print. “The top 25 magazines reach a wider audience than the top 25 prime-time TV shows.” Or: “Readers spend an average of 43 minutes per issue.”
Facts, to be honest, don’t persuade. What does turn our heads – and fingers – are the touch and feel of a Print piece in hand, the tactile sensation of flipping pages, for real, not with a clicker.
That kind of connection matters inside companies. When a print piece is delivered straight into cubicles and mailboxes and desks of employees around the world, recipients take note. They pause. Curl up. Get comfortable and enjoy the read (unless it’s written in language so non-compelling and so peppered with isms from corporate/technical lands). And we’ve been witness to that wonderful event.
Now for the pushback.
- “Print costs too much.” How about trying downloadable pdfs and jpegs for employees to print on the local photocopier?
- “We’ve got to be green aware.” Let us ask this question: How many emails and attachments do you think employees print, despite the plea to conserve the environment?
The objections continue.
We will too: Ever met a re-engineered business process taught solely online, minus visual handouts? Or a new benefits program without charts and take-aways? How many times have you lost track of a Web site or video or ad you want to refer to?
There is a place for everything, and everything in its place. Every medium deserves our undivided attention, for all the right reasons.