James Wildman: Pendulum Will Swing Back Because of Print’s Huge Influence 

There is bias in media agencies against print but the pendulum will inevitably swing back in its favour because of the huge influence of print, writes chief revenue officer at Trinity Mirror Solutions James Wildman  in a piece for Mediatel this week.

Mr Wildman writes: “While us newsbrands are rightly focused on building a new digital audience in the age of Google and Facebook, it’s imperative that those of us who retain a strong print profile stand up proudly for a channel that has perhaps become perceived as the runt of the media planning litter.

“We’ve proven ourselves with digital scale that can’t be argued with – currently 28 million UK uniques per month where Trinity Mirror is concerned – but our print titles remain hugely influential to consumers, influencers, and to society as a whole.

“As the brilliant Sue Unerman of MediaCom said during the event: “Newspapers are still making TV shows successful; they’re driving the agenda of Downing Street and Westminster. The strength of journalism is as great as it ever was and that generates a level of influence for advertising in newspapers.”

In the article, Mr Wildman picks up on three themes revealed by the audience and panel – measurability, pressure from clients, margins – which he believes are the key drivers of bias against print within media agencies.

Mr Wildman concludes: “Printism is a phenomenon that’s been around for a while but it’s especially surprising to me having now settled in at Trinity Mirror; at Yahoo I’d have given my right arm for a physical product to sit alongside our digital offering.

“I believe the pendulum will inevitably swing back towards print – just like it has for physical book sales, etc – but as an industry we need to remind ourselves of our strengths by tackling the causes of printism head-on. At Trinity Mirror Solutions, we’re committed to doing exactly that.”