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Graying of Google and Printers As Outsiders
July 5, 2007
It may seem strange thing, but the perception of printing among certain social groups is shifting, from the position of conservative traditionalist cultural icon, to the tool of counter-culturalists–an “unmedium.”
We watched TV ads, and we liked it!
In the olden days, like, oh, three years ago, a company launched a new toothpaste, food offering or automobile model, and it ran mass-market television, newspaper and magazine ads to introduce it to the public. Not anymore. Products are increasingly supported by artificially generated word of mouth–viral marketing by models offering taste tests in stores and taverns, for example.
Some people actually use Internet marketing 
Bloggists are also joining the party (um, present company excepted), posting supposedly honest and heartfelt opinions about products that they simply must let the world know about.
Is printing weird?
Now new cars or consumer products are likely to be targeted to market subsets. Print is increasingly incorporated into the highly specific campaign either as the main driver, or as a response to consumers that have been initially connected with by some other medium. So the choice of print advertising is no longer an automatic one in a media or marketing plan.
It’s getting marginalized
So the decision to add print to a project means the creatives on the account are thinking a little “differently.” outside the box. And so, in the view of some, are the folks who choose to make their living providing print to businesses. It’s not the first choice for careers, or investment planning.
But I’d restrict that assessment statement to two groups: investment analysts, and the so-called “web-natives” who were born and bred in the age of the Internet. (As your humble print bloggist I am a naturalized citizen of the Web, having emigrated from the old world of print.)
It’s changing once more
Now, however, we see inklings of change. For example, the graying of Google–with reports surfacing that it is unable to hold young talent indefinitely, as many career thrill-seekers bounce from its now-bloated ranks to whatever they can identify as the “next big thing.”
New dress for an old girl
Perhaps if we position print properly, what’s old will become new again. I have been approached by four of my younger relatives–the next next-generation, the really fresh faces, all under 22–about careers in graphic communications: design, writing, publishing. Only these young tigers see no distinction between the Web and anything else colorful, moving, and exciting–like electronic games, comic books, magazines, manga, or Web magazines.
So if my Webmaster is able to read all the way to the bottom of this posting, let’s see what he thinks of the above. After all, he’s pretty ancient 31.
Posted by on July 5, 2007 | Comments (5)
