Sappi North America’s multi-media campaign promoting print to creative designers, printers, advertisers, and corporate communicators is the 2015 winner of the annual Positively Print award. The two-part Communicator’s Guide used printed brochures, neuroscience video shorts, a microsite, and live events with noted neurologist Dr. David Eagleman to showcase both advanced research on media and perception, and case studies from Apple, BMW, and the World Wildlife Fund on their use of print in integrated communications.
The impetus for the Sappi campaign came from a 2009 study which established that print leaves a “deeper footprint” in the brain than do electronic communications. Meanwhile, research by Dr. Eagleman found results consistent with earlier studies: people learn and remember best what they read on paper. His research also broke new ground, finding that paper quality significantly affects those responses. Highlights of the research findings include: brains are built to respond to touch; what we touch shapes what we feel; and tactile communications like paper cause people to exhibit a sense of ownership of the objects they read about, influencing buying decisions.
Jennifer Miller, EVP, of Coated Business and Chief Sustainability Officer, Sappi Fine Paper North America, commented earlier on the significance of the study: “Paper matters for brands that matter. The collective power of this research, along with Dr. Eagleman’s expert insights, show why marketing professionals and the publishers of high-end magazines and books continue to rely on paper as a key ingredient of the brand experience. They recognize, as we do, that consumers are wired to interact with paper like no other medium.”
“Sappi’s campaign not only provides graphic communicators with the science behind the effectiveness of print, but also showcases real world success stories from major international companies that have effectively integrated print into their communications,” said Ralph Nappi, President of the Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC), who co-presented the award immediately prior to the opening of the GRAPH EXPO 15 mega-event in Chicago’s McCormick Place.
This is the sixth year for the Positively Print award which recognizes an organization that promotes the power, sustainability, and effectiveness of print. “We want to showcase companies that effectively advocate for print,” said award co-presenter Phil Reibel, President of Two Sides North America. “Sappi’s Communicator’s Guide campaign is an outstanding example of such advocacy.”
