Marketers have many options when it comes to finding the right channels for a campaign. In this blog we wanted to have a look at why print is an effective and sustainable form of communication, and the options we offer to brands, retailers and businesses.
So, why should you include print?
Print is sustainable
The WARC Marketers Toolkit 2020 showed that 84% of respondents said conscious consumerism and sustainability would have an impact on their marketing activity. With more and more consumers becoming aware of the impact of various channels, choosing the right channel and the right provider is becoming ever more important. Paper is based on wood – a natural and renewable material when sourced sustainably. You can read more about this in our blog here. Reach Plc are committed to transparency on our environmental impact. We are members of the Carbon Disclosure Project and publish an extensive breakdown – more detailed than any of our competitors – which includes our energy consumption and carbon emissions, as well as our paper usage, sourcing and travel. You can read further details in our annual report. Our sites purchase SSE Green Electricity, generated solely from renewable sources and 100% emission-free. We recycled 100% of non-hazardous paper waste in 2018 – and will continue to do so – and we also ensure that 100% of our electronic waste is reused or upcycled. We take our responsibilities seriously, and continuously monitor and aim to improve in any areas we can.
Print is effective, gets response and is remembered
The marketing world is full of questionable metrics, jargon and biases – perception and reality of each is hard to determine. We are not here to encourage marketers to disengage with or to downplay performance of any given channel; we are a multimedia company ourselves, and realise the importance of a multichannel approach. But print can’t be forgotten or downplayed either. There are many reports, statistics and surveys that point out the benefits of print, including Newsworks, TwoSides and Print Power, and print has a proven track record and long history of getting results, even in a digital age. In a report by Radiocentre and Ebiquity, entitled Re-evaluating Media, it showed that print performed significantly better than perceived by media agencies. It can also be suggested that marketers are somewhat ‘frightened’ of print, and no longer possess knowledge but, again, we feel this perception is far removed from reality. If you choose the right format and provider, it can be very simple.
What options are there?
The actual printing of a product is just one factor you need to consider when planning a campaign. The format, budget and delivery of the printed product need to be considered right from the outset, or there could be an impact on budget and effectiveness.
There are many suppliers all offering very different options. If you are looking for a high grammage, embossed, foiled and die-cut print product with all the frills, then we are not the provider you are looking for! But, if you want to produce a print product to reach consumers in a very short time, printed in the UK, with a provider you can trust and who will support you from prepress right through to the end delivery, then keep reading…
Formats
We offer a range of print formats, we may be best known for printing newspapers, but with the alternative paper stocks we offer, including woodfree or super improved, alongside our finishing options, we can produce 1000 to millions of copies very quickly. You can see more on our formats here. We don’t offer single sheet flyers/leaflets, but why not consider a 4-pager that offers more room for your content, offers, news and promotions – probably at a very similar price? We also offer glossy covers, scented ink, voucher ribbons, XXL posters and AR (augmented reality).
Speed
This is our biggest benefit to agencies, brands, businesses and retailers when choosing a supplier. We have six UK-based print sites that have received multimillion-pound investments, with 90 print units, 24 folders and 21 inserting lines across the group. We have unrivalled capacity and backup, and can produce millions of copies at speed and, as we are UK-based, both print and delivery can take hours instead of days or weeks.
Delivery
We have a network of internal and external providers, and can support you from the start right through to delivery with just one account manager. With our internal publications, we can offer the option to run insert advertising campaigns that can be printed and inserted at the same site. This not only reduces delivery costs, but also lead time for both national and regional campaigns. We have printed, inserted and delivered into the hands of the consumer millions of copies within 48-72 hours for our customers in the past. We also offer delivery from a single point to multiple stores, branches or locations and, with six UK sites and the potential to share vehicles, transport costs and speed could be reduced. We also offer brand-to-hand, door-to-door or free pick-up at rail stations, supermarkets, businesses and high footfall areas.
We are passionate about print, and are proud to have a long history in not just print but also in publishing and marketing too. Our teams are experts at what they do, and our sites, standards and credentials speak for themselves. In fact, we think you’ll be hard pushed to find this level of expertise and quality anywhere else. You can find out more here or get in touch if you want to discuss your options.
