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A Lesson Learned From Greeting Cards: When Electronic Relationships Don’t Cut It
Judy Franks
Monday, July 11, 2011
Each quarter when I enter the classrooms at Northwestern University to teach another installment of IMC 304: “Media and Message Delivery” I am completely inspired by the potential that sits before me in the classroom. These very capable students will soon leave the hallowed halls of the University to embark on careers in Journalism, Marketing and/or Integrated Marketing Communications.
I can see the future. And, on the surface, that future doesn’t bode well for print. These students enter the classroom with multiple screens in tow: the laptop, the tablet and the smartphone. Not one of the above, but all of the above!
Where are their backpacks? A backpack assumes that you carry text books to/from class. Hard cover text books have given way to electronic ‘course packets’ that can be downloaded/read on any screen platform. In place of backpacks, I see an array of screen cases: the laptop case, the tablet cover, and fashion accessories that double as cases for their smartphones.
Many pundits call this generation the ‘digital’ generation, or the ‘Internet’ generation. I call them a ‘screen’ generation. They love their screens and will interface with any screen imaginable: television (sometimes), computer (mainly), tablet (emerging) and smartphone (24/7). To this generation, the world of media is served on, and across screens.
As I develop curriculum for a course in “Media and Message Delivery,” it leads me to question whether any medium that doesn’t exist as some form of a screen interface can possibly be relevant to this future generation of content producers and integrated marketers. What role does print play in this world? How can I make this cohort understand the still incredible power of the print medium?
This challenge led me to design a simple experiment. Each quarter, at the appropriate point in the course curriculum, I ask the students a simple question:
“It’s your birthday. Think of the most important person in your life (boyfriend/girlfriend, partner, best friend, parent, etc…). You can choose between two forms of a birthday greeting from your most significant ‘other’: an electronic greeting (take your pick: e-card, FB wall post, email, text) or a paper greeting card. Which form of birthday wish do you prefer?”
Without fail, nearly every student passionately opts for the paper greeting card!
This outcome then leads to a great conversation regarding the incredible power of print among a screen generation. When you ask these students "why" the paper greeting card still holds so much meaning, you get a wealth of adjectives that are a marketer’s dream. You will hear such things as Important, Permanent, Special, Memorable, Physical….
What if we applied this thinking more broadly to the print media experience? All of a sudden, print becomes elevated in importance. It becomes the medium of choice for content that is important and meaningful, and truly worth saving/savoring over time. Our industry has used metaphors such as “Surfing” versus “Swimming” to describe the experience. But I believe this comparison doesn’t go far enough. It may speak to engagement in the moment, but it doesn’t necessarily capture the true importance and residual effect of the medium.
The next time you find yourself in a situation where you have to explain (or defend) the power of print, use the “Greeting Card” experiment and see what happens for yourself! I am certain that this seemingly small experiment will open the eyes of your audience in the same way that it causes the students to take pause and reconsider the power of a medium that doesn’t come with a screen.
minsider Judy Franks is the founder and president of The Marketing Democracy, a consultancy that helps world-class marketers bridge the creative and media divide that exists in today’s unbundled marketing services industry.
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