Print is Dead 11/02/2008

Print is Dead.

A bold statement which guest speaker, David Parkin titled the discussion at the recent CIPR conference held at Leeds Metropolitan University. The former Business Editor of the Yorkshire Post made the claim that “We are under going a media revolution and the consumers will decide who are the winners and losers�. His point was of course that new media is changing the way we read, use and see newspapers. No longer are newspapers making the breaking headlines with 24 hour news channels such as Sky bringing the news to us when it happens and commonly where it happens. There’s also the new era of free news with the BBC online and the Metro, the free national morning newspaper, reaching 50% of all London underground passengers between 6:30 and 9:30. Even the established Manchester Evening News has been forced to give away free copies.

Doesn’t the task of reading a newspaper seem almost a chore? It certainly doesn’t look good to be seen browsing a newspaper at your desk instead of working. Yet how many workers are daily sitting at their laptops logged onto Facebook, whilst their bosses are none the wiser? Surely we are amongst an online generation who do the majority of their communication, information gathering and sharing on the web.

Following his 7 years of expertise from the Yorkshire Post, his many business contacts and his life of journalism, David Parkin decided to take a step forward in this new media marketplace and set up The Business Desk.com. Capturing a gap in the Market, this online news facility is the only website dedicated to providing regional Business Information for Yorkshire. Members of the site receive a morning email with the day’s headlines, providing a quick and easy source of gathering news. People are logging onto the site to read the news before even glancing at a newspaper, therefore beating rival newspapers to the punch line.

But, does it work and does this mean Print is Dead? David Parkin was pleased to announce the latest results, showing since its launch in November 2007, the BusinessDesk.com has 2855 registered users and 1500 readers per day, across 75 different countries. Apart from the UK, the US and India were the two most popular countries viewing the site and an impressive 61% of those who clicked onto the homepage went onto browse further pages.

Keen not to insult past colleagues and a profession that he has loved and respected for many years, David Parkin insisted he was not proclaiming print to be dead. However, he did point out the reconstruction needed for newspapers to survive. “Newspapers are the worst communicators in the world – they will give you the news how they perceive it�. With a growing interactive culture of bloggers and online networking, The BusinessDesk.com recognises the importance of feedback, where people can add their comments and contributions to a news article, perhaps finally building a mutual relationship between news providers and the public, where so far print media has perhaps failed.

This two-way dialogue is also what Danny Meadows-Klue, a leading figure in the UK internet industry and CEO of digital consulting company Digital Strategies, believes brands need to engage in, if they want to connect with today’s Facebook generation. The growth of the digital communications industry is apparent with more and more firms entering the market.

The LICK group are an example of one business expanding from Direct Mail and print to E-commerce and Digital print, due to the growing demand for these services. This was the hot topic of conversation discussed at the digital, data and CRM solutions conference and exhibition in February, where Meadows-Kule was a guest speaker.

The BusinessDesk.com is a prime example of a platform for companies to build these Business to Consumer relationships, as revenue is made through the sale of advertising space on the website. The Internet Advertising Revenue Report 2007 showed that Western European Online advertising was a €7.9 billion market, with the UK accounting for €3.1 billion of this. Jaguar and Lloyds TSB are some of the big name brands to have caught onto this and have already invested in advertising on The BusinessDesk.com.

Another key player to have caught onto the surge toward new media and independently achieved great success is ASOS, the UK’s largest online only fashion store, voted online retailer of the year in the Retail Awards 2007. Attracting 2.6 million shoppers every month and boasting 1.7 million registered users, one would think this brand was proof that new media is the thing of the future. However in truth ASOS have actually perfected a balance between their digital communication channels and printed marketing communications with the release of the Asos.com Magazine. Marketing Director, Hash Ladha, in a recent interview backed up the reason for branching out, claiming, “Asos.com readers spend 69% more than non-readers� and “the magazine builds the brand�.

This example can only suggest that print media is still very much alive and actively contributing to the brand proposition – but for how long we’ll have to wait and see.

Written by Lauren Burke.
(Leeds Metropolitan University, PR & Marketing BA (Hons) Student, currently on placement with Clearsilver)

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