When top industry figures start talking about print in these kinds of terms, you know the resurgence is real.
“In a busy, crowded world, [print] is a moment of silence, stillness and communion of ideas between viewer and artist.”
This is the opinion of Pablo Del Campo, worldwide creative director of Saatchi and Saatchi and arguably one of the more influential voices in the industry.
Del Campo spoke to Print Power, saying that print is the “toughest creative challenge in marketing,” according to Rob Fletcher writing in Print Monthly.
“There’s been a lot of talk in our industry about how new media has transformed everything, but print still represents the toughest creative challenge in the business,” Del Campo explains.
“If you can do great work in print you can do great work in any other media—that’s because print, the oldest form of advertising, is a creative exercise in simplicity and distillation,” Del Campo continues. “Being captivated by a print ad is similar to looking at a great painting or photograph in a museum.”
That captivation is key, and print has been scientifically proven to offer “the most intimate and engaged relationship with their audience,” according to FIPP Research. Print still matters, and maybe matters more than ever as readers seek that moment of silence Del Campo speaks of and embrace the art of lingering.
It is a challenge to get print right, and many are rising to the challenge. Catalogs are getting better and publishers that can tap a niche are finding an appreciative and profitable audience.
Doing great work in print is not easy…and the effort? So worth it.