Campaign: ‘Pendulum Has Swung Too Far Away From Print’

There is evidence to suggest that national advertisers have gone too far in “throwing the newspaper out with the bathwater” and that the pendulum has swung too far away from print, according to an article in Campaign.

Quoting senior media agency figures, Newsworks’ recent effectiveness research, and media analyst Lorna Tilbian’s piece on news media for the News Media Association, the article concludes: “Leaving nostalgia aside, there is evidence to suggest that brands have gone too far in throwing the newspaper out with the bathwater.” 

Headlined ‘Do advertisers need to fall in love with print again?’ the piece also quotes James Murphy, Adam&Eve co-founder, who recently wrote an article for Local Media Works on the power of local news media to bring national advertisers closer to communities.

James, the judge of the creative category in in this year’s Local Media Works Awards, told Campaign: “Newspapers still have a powerful role to play in a mixed media campaign. But there’s too much lazy thinking around and perhaps a reflex view among planners that press is old-fashioned.”

Chris Locke, Publicis Media Exchange managing director, said of the newspaper sector: “It delivers on trust and time spent, provides great content for the reader, who in turn values the product by paying good money for it. Added to that, there are the opportunities within sections, ever-more creative partnerships and collective scale across all touchpoints.”

The piece, which cites the launch of The New European as an example of recent success in newspaper publishing, begins with a quote from Lorna Tilbian’s article:  “In terms of the most effective media mix, the pendulum has swung too far away from print.”

“That is the view of Lorna Tilbian, executive director and head of media at Numis Securities, who wrote passionately about how including print on media schedules can boost brands’ return on investment. Tilbian is clear that advertisers must “learn to fall in love with [newspapers] once more”.

“According to Andy Hargreaves, head of display at OMD UK, newspapers have suffered from “printism” from younger marketers who have over-reacted to declining circulations.

“Hargreaves’ comments followed a study by Newsworks last month that used 500 econometric models to demonstrate how advertising with newspapers increases overall revenue return on investment by a factor of three.

“The study, by effectiveness consultancy Benchmarketing, found that newspaper advertising doubles the effectiveness of TV campaigns, while online display becomes four times more effective.”