Print’s Charming | Reach Printing Services

Welcome to our Inside the Industry section – where we don’t just tell you how working with RPS can benefit you, but we discuss print as a whole: its effectiveness; its sustainability and its environmental impact. This is where we share facts, research and case studies to remind you that Print is Charming. Print causes people to sit up, take notice and think, because it is alluring and difficult to forget. When you hold print in your hand, you’re holding something that is dependable, trusted and well loved. Research shows that the brain works differently when we engage with print. Whether used alone or as part of a multi-channel approach, you’ll find Print’s Charming.

There are more ways to advertise your business than ever before, but Don’t forget – print’s charming!

Print is…

When people view print, they may:

Save it for later
Tell other people
Pass it on
Visit a website
Read reviews
Make a purchase
Make a donation
Plan a large purchase
Use a voucher or a code
Visit a shop, attraction, place or restaurant
Order a catalogue or brochure

Why Print Is The Ultimate Modern Marketing Solution

Despite the dip in 2020, digital advertising spend is booming once more with projections total worldwide spend of up to half a billion dollars by 2024. However, businesses have also shown they’re not ready to relinquish print. So, what does the road ahead look like? We decided to take a closer look!

In 2022, the benefits of digital advertising are clear:

Digital ads allow market segmentation and demographic targeting with minute precision
With an effective strategy, advertisers can keep costs low and return on investment (ROI) high.
The ease of managing and adjusting campaigns means marketers can hone their messaging in near real-time
And we have more data analytics, measurements, and insights to be drawn than ever before.

However, if you look at the metrics it becomes clear that print ads are still holding their own in the contemporary market mix. In their Global Print2025 report, Quocirca surveyed hundreds of businesses across the US, France, Germany, The Netherlands and the UK, and found that 64% of businesses expect print will still be important for the foreseeable future, and with good reason:

Newsworks’ 2020 report demonstrates that advertising in print drives higher levels of brand recall vs digital – at 77% compared to 46%.
According to a 2017 Burstein report, 82% of consumers trust print ads the most when making a purchase decision
Print readers usually spend 20 minutes or more with their publication in hand
Nearly 80% of consumers act on direct printed mail advertisements
Print and direct mail marketing bring a 9% customer response rate.

It’s clear that digital marketing is here to stay but new mediums don’t always mean wholesale change. In 2020, there was a surge in the growth of print book sales and a decline in eBooks. Vinyl stores are on the rise, and direct mail is getting a new time to shine as a result of overflowing email inboxes!

So, what’s the right way to use print and digital together in 2022?
Can advertisers have their cake and eat it too?

The answer is an emphatic YES!

Print & Digital Join Forces: Welcome to the Omnichannel

The recent shift in the retail world demonstrates a solid blueprint for the future of digital and print advertising. Rather than viewing e-commerce and brick-and-mortar stores as siloed channels in a multi-channel strategy, businesses are favouring a seamless, convenient omnichannel approach with consumers at its heart.

Newsworks 2020 report noted the effectiveness of integrating print and digital:

Consumers who see print ads go on visit the advertiser’s website—up 27% in 2020 from 12% in 2009
Purchase intent of consumers who notice print ads increased to 22% in 2020 from 7% in 2009

So, what are the best practices and strategies for coherently combining print and digital advertising? Here are a few top tips:

One message, multiple touchpoints

A single video ad or flyer might pique your prospective customers’ interest but converting brand awareness into intent or action requires your message to be received multiple times. The contemporary customer journey is extremely complex and diverse, spanning offline and online phases, and in order to capture and hold attention, brands need to expand their tactics to hit as many touchpoints as possible.

An omnichannel print-digital campaign allows your campaign to be omnipresent! Through the use of multiple touchpoints across different mediums, your messaging can be regularly reinforced. Not only will this boost the effectiveness of your marketing campaign, taking a horizontal omnichannel approach is likely to reduce ad spend.

The key is to ensure that the primary message stays consistent through all channels employed. By using the same language and design elements across print and digital campaigns, advertisers can ensure they are recognisable and ever-present.

Work each medium to connect your campaigns

While campaigns should be designed to function in multiple channels, advertisers should keep the clear strengths of each medium in mind.

Print is better at holding attention, creating a lasting impression and giving credibility
Digital is instantaneous and interactive, combining audio and visual mediums and often allowing more detailed information to be shared

Thanks to the proliferation of smartphones and the surge in QR code use, linking print and digital campaigns has never been easier! A simple QR link on a print campaign can have multiple roles, including:

Scan-to-buy print ads for one-click convenience
Links to digital coupons to use in-store or online
Allowing your customers to download full catalogues of products from a single product flyer

Plus, QR codes that link to unique landing pages can be used to track the ROI of print marketing campaigns, allowing a clear view of just how well they’re performing.

So What Does “Good” Look Like

Here are just a few examples of creative print-digital campaigns that take the omnichannel approach to the next level!

Reporters Without Borders – QR Codes

Freedom of the press has never been more important, but there are plenty of places around the world where this right is not protected. Reporters Without Borders created this incredible interactive print ad to draw attention to the issue, focusing on controversial leaders.
By scanning a QR code at the bottom of the ad, readers were taken to a video to learn more about this pressing issue!
NIVEA – Phone Charging Print Ad

Aside from forgetting your swimsuit, getting sunburnt and running out of battery are the two biggest concerns of a day at a beach. Nivea had a spark of inspiration and solved both issues with their phone charging print ad! Featuring a solar panel right in the magazine, readers were able to plugin and stay charged!
Lexus – iPad activated ad

Lexus transmitted their strong brand identity as a technology innovator by using tablets to enhance their magazine ads. When an iPad was placed underneath the page, readers were treated to a moving light show that makes this print ad really jump off the page!

Feeling Inspired?

At Reach, the possibilities are endless! Get in touch with our team today to start exploring how you can use print to enhance your marketing materials with an omnichannel approach!

Famous Glasgow print site now synonymous with sustainability

“Picking up a newspaper in the newsagents is easy, but knowing how that paper is sourced and produced from tree to print is how we earn your trust” , says Reach Scotland Regionals Publishing Editor George Johnston.

“We are a trusted news brand and the trust of our audience is something we take very seriously in our business.”

At Reach we are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and climate impact, making practical changes to ensure that our activities do not damage the environment as well as encouraging readers and those in power to support climate-friendly initiatives through our editorial coverage.

Reach Scotland Regionals publishes 17 newspapers and these are printed at our Saltire print site in Glasgow. Opened in 1994, the purpose-built print centre was established on environmentally reclaimed land of a former landfill site. By the way, it was officially opened by none other than Tony Blair to mark the centenary celebrations of the Daily Record! Here we hold both the PEFC and FSC Chain of Custody certification and we continue to retain ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management certification.

But what do these mean?

The Programme of Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) is a global non-profit organisation committed to the certification of forests to credible, independently verified standards of responsible forest management, with a focus on conserving the natural habitats of plants and animals, and respecting the rights of forestry workers and local communities.

PEFC operates this robust chain of custody scheme to track wood and wood fibre through every step of the supply chain, from the forest to the end user.
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain of custody certification verifies that FSC-certified material has been identified and separated from non-certified and non-controlled material as it makes its way along the supply chain, from the forest to the market.
The ISO 14001:2015 is awarded to organisations who ‘manage their environmental responsibilities in a systematic manner that contributes to the environmental pillar of sustainability’.

At Reach Printing Services, our environmental policies cover:

Paper sourcing
Energy consumption
Volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions
Waste management and recycling
Distribution

It would be disingenuous of us at Reach to be reporting on topics such as global warming, carbon footprint, recycling, plastics, pollution and waste without answering the case as to how we, as a business, are demonstrably eco-friendly.

We feel strongly that we have an editorial responsibility too – hundreds of thousands of people across the regions of Scotland still rely on their local paper for news and information – and we are absolutely going to use that to tell the truth about the environmental issues affecting our future.

There is so much coverage, data and stats on climate change being reported but also so much misinformation and many myths. We can assure you being a reader of a Reach newspaper does not in any way contribute to deforestation.

New study on consumer perceptions towards paper and print

Two Sides’ latest 2021 study ‘Paper’s Place in a Post-Pandemic World’ showed that, whilst paper retains its place as a vital communication and packaging materials, there remain misconceptions about the environmental impact of the paper industry.

The global study of 8,800 consumers found that consumers still believe forests are decreasing in size, with 59% of UK consumers believing that European forests are shrinking.

In reality, between 2005 and 2020, European forests grew by an impressive 58,390km² – an area equivalent to 1,500 football pitches of forest growth every day!

Statistics like this one should reassure readers of printed products.

“We know the environment is very much front of mind these days — from schools to businesses – everyone accepts how important an issue it is. To be able to offer our readers industry-leading environmental stamps is just another fantastic acknowledgment that shows our newspaper titles do care about the issues that are important.”
Reach Scotland Regionals Publishing Editor George Johnston.

Our Reach printing site in Glasgow is here:

110 Fifty Pitches Place, Cardonald Park, Glasgow, G51 4EA

General Enquiries: 0141 309 3733

Sales: 0345 307 3276

Please find all our contact details here

Change-Makers: Meet RPS’ New Environmental & Sustainability Committee

As trestle tables and chairs were being packed away in Glasgow, and as the COP26 global delegates made their way back to their home countries, a new committee was being formed at Reach Printing Services!

In the spirit of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal #17 – “Partnership”, December 2021 saw the inaugural meeting of the brand new multi-site RPS Environmental & Sustainability Committee. The new committee brings together representatives from every department in every site of RPS as well as our contract partners, Menzies, on this ambitious project which is a first for us all in terms of scale and scope.

“This is a big opportunity to make a real difference both with RPS and the wider community and it’s really exciting to see what we can achieve in 2022.“

Why We’ve Chosen A Multi-Site Approach

At RPS, we pride ourselves on being environmentally aware. Over the years, our local, single-site committees have done a fantastic job of monitoring, targeting and acting upon environmental projects. In fact, for over 10 years all of our sites have been accredited to ISO14001, thus certified as operating with an effective environmental management system.

We’ve constantly sought to assess, streamline and make our services more efficient, including the rationalisation of our print operations into four sites – Watford, Oldham, Teesside and Cardonald – in 2020. Thanks to the reduction in sites and the ease at which we can now all meet virtually, a collaborative approach seemed like a no brainer! Happily, we weren’t the only ones who thought so, as our contract partners Menzies have jumped on board too.

The first meeting of the Environmental & Sustainability Committee was a highly engaging discussion. There is already amazing work underway to plan and execute areas of focus and objectives for the year ahead!

Our Focus For 2022

A primary focus for 2022 is to better understand our data. We have a broad amount of information available or obtainable across our sites, the challenge is firstly auditing and understanding the data collected and transforming it into insight that can drive policy and initiatives. The committee highlighted several key areas for this year, including how we can affect our waste, our energy usage and our carbon footprint.

Employee engagement is a massively important goal for RPS. Teamwork, collaboration and mutual respect are fundamental to our company ethos, and we view our community as a great fountain of knowledge that can be used to drive our ESG goals forward. This year, our aim is to approach, engage and inspire our employees to join us to reach shared goals, allowing us to make a huge difference both within RPS and throughout our local and wider communities.

Our Progress So Far

Reach Printing Services have a number of policies in place that set out our commitments in several key areas, including health, safety, paper sourcing, energy consumption, waste management and recycling, and the level of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from printing. We’ve even won awards for some of our policies and commitments.

Here are a few of our proudest environmental and sustainability initiatives and achievements over the past year:

Green Energy Is Go: all of the electricity that we use at each site is now from renewable sources, yes, that’s 100%!
Knowledge Is Power: in 2021, employee representatives from every site visited our waste contractor to do a duty of care visit and find out exactly what happens to our waste. These findings were then shared with their wider departments.
The Circular Economy: last year, only 2% of the waste sent to our environmental waste services partner J&G went to landfills. In total, 945,754kg was recycled, reused, treated or incinerated to create energy.

These superb results confirm that we are on the right track. We can’t wait to see the new initiatives of the Environmental & Sustainability Committee take shape, and look forward to sharing the developments with the wider community.