How Taylor Printing Group Stays Relevant in a Digital World
FREDERICTON–In an increasingly digital world, we’re constantly encouraged to abandon paper once and for all.
Email signatures plead with us not to print online correspondence, phone companies tell us to switch to paperless billing, e-book retailers try to convince us that it’s the same as reading a printed book.
Most of the time, these pleas are made by appealing to the audience’s environmentally conscious side, saying that opting to go digital on all fronts is saving the environment one tree at a time.
Scott Williams, the CEO of Taylor Printing Group, says there’s another side to this story. Williams explains that many of these claims by companies are more about saving the company money than saving the environment. He says that a number of companies have had to adjust their statements concerning paperless billing to remove unsubstantiated claims of lessened environmental impact.
The Federal Trade Commission in the U.S. has guidelines which state that marketers should not make broad, unqualified general environmental benefit claims. Williams believes that a push to enforce these guidelines and eliminate unsupported environmental claims concerning paper use will help dispel myths surrounding the renewable nature of paper.
As a Forest Stewardship Council certified business, Taylor Printing Group must meet certification guidelines, including using paper from sustainably managed forests, and remain environmentally responsible.
Williams says that along with their efforts to remain environmentally responsible, the company’s willingness to adapt to the changing market has allowed them to stay relevant and successful.
“Even though we’re in Atlantic Canada, we’re not immune to the global economy. If you try to stay where you’re at, you’ll probably do alright for a little while but eventually you’re going to die,” he says. “Print isn’t going anywhere. It’s just going to look different … Even though it’s ink on paper, it’s going to drive people to the internet … It’s a multi-faceted approach to either customer retention or customer acquisition.”
Taylor Printing is embracing the targeted approach of reaching out to potential customers by using information gathered by technology to get printed pieces to individuals with a higher likelihood of being interested. From printed pieces, interested customers can obtain more information online, allowing more data about their interests to be gathered.
The company is seeing fewer clients making use of large batches of printed materials in hopes of reaching a target audience through sheer volume. They’re now seeing shorter runs increase as the push for targeted advertising continues.
Williams says that print still works because we’re still a tactile society. We often need to be able to touch paper to retain information and stay engaged with what’s printed.
“As people we’re very tactile. We like to hold things … we love to see our name on things,” he says. “When something shows up and it has your name and it’s personalized … it touches all the senses. You can feel it, see it. I’ve heard people say there’s even a smell to the paper. You appeal to everything.”
Taylor Printing is operating on the concept that people will remember and value more highly material that is printed. At the same time, they’re working toward becoming more of a visual communication company and less of an exclusively print company by getting their clients the best bang for their buck through coordinating both print and digital forms of information.
“That’s what we want to work on with our clients and we have a pretty robust plan in place to deliver (the) message and get it out there for our clients,” Williams says. “We’re more than just ink on paper. We’re a solution.”