Nope. We might as well cut to the chase. With this particular subject, the answer’s not the important bit. The important bit is the why, which conversely boils down to digital.
In 2010, anything destined for print in internal communications was doomed. Business leaders were being told by industry experts that digital was the only way forwards, and that was that. I remember working on a calendar in a historic version of Quark Xpress which ended up moving to an intranet instead.
The uproar was palpable, and resulted in swift digital rescindence. In an increasingly digital era, people look towards print for the things that matter. There’s something resolute in the printed form, especially when it means something. Those calendars were the bridge between people’s professional and personal lives. The interface of dates, appointments and commitments in the work life balance continuum.
Printed communications therefore still have a place, but only when it matters. Printing content frivolously will and should be called out by employees as being wasteful (even despite the minimal cost of print, it’s more the image that matters). But when it does matter, people hold onto physical content for years. Sat where I am now, I can see printed versions of a company strategy that people keep on their screens – the unfettered realisation of a common goal.
