Why is Beyond Print actually called Beyond Print? Why is the paper crisis, of all things, giving mass customization a boost, and why is ‘digital only’ a dead end? In an interview with ipaper.io, Bernd Zipper not only provides answers to these questions, but also explains why it is so important for advertisers to develop a comprehensive concept in which printed and digital forms of advertising are intertwined. Curious?
“There are people for whom only digital is right. And there are others for whom only print is the right way. But there is more, more than just digital, more than just print. That’s what ‘beyond print’ means: to use both worlds where it makes sense, and ideally to combine the two,” explains the zipcon founder in an interview with ipaper.
Digital channels have created so many new opportunities – and at the same time brought numerous new challenges. And even if it’s tempting: this industry expert is certain that the “digital-only path” leads to a dead end. In the interview with Matt Whibly of ipaper.io, he then goes on to give examples of the potential that exists in combining print and digital and why, even in light of the current paper crisis, it is too short-sighted to simply eliminate the printed product from the marketing mix. “Stopping print means losing sales.”
Retailers in particular should feel called upon, because thanks to mass customization and demand-driven printing, they can both reduce the print run of their printed brochures – and thus counter the current paper crisis – and increase their ROI. “With CRM and mass customization, retailers can print 1000 individualized copies of their brochures, and send them to the right customers at the right time, with the right images. This medium is a highly effective channel for sales,” says Bernd Zipper. Especially if it is done cleverly and print and digital support each other.
“I am convinced that we – and above all retailers – need a comprehensive concept in which we combine the Internet, brochures, social media and other print products and enable them each to play to their strengths,” is the expert’s credo. In other words, Beyond Print.
If you would like to know what else Matt and Bernd talked about, you should definitely watch the entire conversation here.
Who is ipaper?
The Danish software house ipaper has made it its business to create interactive catalogs from simple PDF files and to enhance them with additional information/animations or other gadgets. From the catalogs, the purchase process can also be triggered directly.
