Happy International Print Day

A map is tactile. Many people find that  there’s just something enjoyable about holding a printed map in their hands.

Print is Gloriously Tactile

NO WONDER IT DELIVERS RESULTS
Humans were designed to touch and feel. Print—an extremely tactile media —caters to this need.

While much of the marketing world’s attention seems to be turned to the digital arena, print continues to be an extremely effective part of the marketing mix. When you think about the emotional impact that print’s physicality has, it’s easy to see why print works.

Perhaps it’s because it exists in the physical world that print is so capable of grabbing our attention. From the map of your favorite event, or magazines sitting in the doctor’s waiting room, to the newspapers in the rack at your favorite coffee place and the letters and fliers that arrive in your mail, print has a way of calling out to be picked up and read.

Many people find that there’s just something enjoyable about holding a printed piece in their hands. Print stimulates the senses. You can feel the texture of the paper, turn the pages, see the colors as they were meant to be seen. Print can be shared, thumbed through and dog-eared. Coupons and articles can be cut or torn out and set aside. Plus, of course, print is always available, no connectivity required.

Print not only provides a warm and friendly experience that no other medium offers, it also offers a sense of permanence that simply feels more trustworthy. In fact, recent studies show that consumers find print ads quite a bit more trustworthy than those they see online. While 60% of consumers trust newspaper and magazine ads, just 48% trust search advertising or online video ads, and only 42% find online banner ads worthy of their trust. (1)

The tactile nature of print undoubtedly contributes to the effectiveness of newspaper and magazine ads. One recent study shows that newspaper ads rank noticeably higher than ads on radio, TV or online-only sites when it comes to measures of advertising effectiveness such as “usually notice ads” and “likely to purchase.” (2)  Another recent study shows that magazines outperform TV and online for critical purchase drivers such as brand awareness, brand favorability and brand purchase intent. (3)  In contrast, social media—the darling of the marketing world—may not be that darling after all. In a recent survey of more than 1,700 social media marketers, less than 8% were actually happy with their efforts and 21% were so dissatisfied that they’re ready to replace their social spend with more traditional buys. (4)

Print is gloriously tactile, which makes it capable engaging audiences in a way that other media simply cannot.

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1 Nielsen, Global Trust in Advertising and Brand Messages, September 2013
2 Nielsen, 2013 National Cross-Media Engagement Study
3 MPA, Magazine Media Fact Book, 2013-2014
4 iMedia Connection, The Declining Value of Social Marketing, Jan. 15, 2014

Here Be Cats

My cat, Sneazer Agustus, is enjoying perusing the 2006 Antique Style World Map. The map was published by American Map Corporation, printed by Williams & Heintz on 80 lb. Aged Parchtone.

In early cartography, map makers used mythical beasts and said, “Here be Dragons,” when they came to a part of the world that was a mystery. They filled the page with fantastic beasts. Maybe even cats? Here be Cats!

Sneazer Agustus Cat on the map

Another reason why map makers may leave information off maps is because they  do not wish to make a political statement with their cartography. They may go out of their way to make the map so that the name or boundary is not included, or is not legible, to stay out of the conflict. “What’s in a name? that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.”

This beautiful map, on parchment like paper, is out of print but a quick google search of “2006 antique style world map” will take you to several sources to purchase. Go ahead, we’ll print more! 😉

Here be Cats!

The Map Experience

What if you had never seen a printed map? What if all you only knew about was electronic devices? This tongue in cheek video is an introduction to “a new bio-optical knowledge recording and dissemination system, responding to the trade name: Map.”

Created by The Regional Centre for Geographic Information Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (CRIGE  PACA).   It was shown during  meeting, a conference called SIG La Lettre.

Watch the video which helps you to understand “the use of maps.” It is full of great information about map features like:

“Here’s how it works:  Map  consists of a large window,  integrated in a flexible cellulose pad, and compressed hundreds of times, thanks to the FUF technology:  folding/unfolding.

“Map” is able of storing millions of information bits, which are then optically scanned, and thus directly transmitted to the brain.

Thanks to a particularly ergonomic navigation interface, based on an intuitive forearm supination and pronation mechanism, pans, zooms and rotations are performed without image degradation, smoothly, with a refresh rate of a few picoseconds.

It has a 100% toutchpad allowing simultaneous use of 10 fingers.

Color stability is perfect, whatever the light conditions.”

In Today’s world of security worries, the Map video playfully reminds us, without a direct comparison to our digital devices, that that people are not likely to steal your map on the subway and:

“Map” respects users’ privacy:  impossible to hack, and without any antivirus or firewall, annotations are locally stored and never sent to any server.

And “Map” is unbreakable!

Finally, the video reminds us that a print map is great for decorating, and is a recyclable, sustainable,  product.

Happy watching!  (Link here)

‘Map is an unprecedented technological revolution: Without cables, without electronics, without connection, compact, convertible and portable.
“Map” can be used everywhere: at home, at the office, in the car, by bicycle, horseback riding, even in extreme cold!
“Map” is available at any time… without battery, nor socket.
“Map” does not crash ever.
“Map” does not need to be reset nor updated.
“Map” can also prevent an unwanted encounter.’