NEW DELHI: The print industry, which already had been dealing with a tumultuous time given the influx of digital, has found itself in deeper troubling waters with the ongoing COVID-19 scare. And if the industry insiders are to be believed, the medium will take another two quarters to get back on its feet even after the situation commences to normal.
During a virtual roundtable hosted by Indiantelevision.com recently, Future Retail CMO-FBB Prachi Mohapatra stated: “I see a temporary disruption in print being a (media) investment. When I say temporary, I don’t mean a month or two. It is the case that the pie for print will shrink for eight to nine months.”
But she remained hopeful that once the whole economy picks up momentum, the medium will emerge stronger. However, other panellists felt that it might be a lost territory for print even in the coming future if it does not reinvent itself now.
Dentsu One India president Harjot Singh Narang explained, “You will have to look at it from the perspective of the role that print plays and will that role stay relevant. Print used to be, and for a lot of clients continue to be, a favourite of the trade more than a favourite of the consumers. You will see OOH and digital nibbling away that role at this stage and it is just one of the many roles its plays. The nimbleness required for the print to survive is going to be a problem from the marketing point of view.”
Timex Group India head marketing Ajay Dhyani noted that for the past few years, the print was playing a role to communicate with dealers or to make big announcements but digital is eating away that role. “Secondly, the newspaper space is so cluttered that there is no space for smaller brands,” he quipped.
Dhyani further noted, “Over the past few months, we are seeing a shift happening in the minds of our retailers and trade partners where social media and influencer marketing are playing an important role. If you take an influencer or celebrity on board and make them talk about your product, then reaching out to trade partners makes them feel more connected to the brand.”
Duroflex Mattresses India VP-marketing Smita Murarka added, “I think over the period of last two to three years, brands that are consumer-first are understanding where the consumption is happening and they have already reduced the role of print. For us, the print was anyway not a big part of our marketing strategy, irrespective of COVID-19 and now it has reduced much more. I guess that the case would be the same for many other categories.”
She added, “But there would be opportunities for print to reinvent and that’s for them to think whether they are really (just) a news medium or some source of knowledge or maybe a book. It’s really their survival instinct that should come into play now.”
