What High-End Brands Truly Understand about the Print Experience

This year we continue to see print’s value to high-end brands. Media Update’s Aisling McCarthy recently dug into the topic, finding supporting evidence from creative agency heads and brands alike on the role of print and where it excels over digital advertising.

Print, according to Scott Manson, Director of OgilvyOne, “offers a more personal feel, which is one of the main qualities that clients look for.”

This personal engagement is important for any brand but is especially critical to the high-end consumer. And print immediately imparts a more upscale feel that digital can never provide.

“When you print something, it looks like you have gone to a lot of trouble to make it. There’s a feeling when you pick up a really well-produced print product that love and craftsmanship have gone into, and you can see and feel the production values,” Manson explains.

Not only does quality print provide a rich reading experience, it also shows the reader that the brand really understands their reader.

“Alexandros Kitsandonis, head of visual merchandising at the Suree Group (Burberry, Versace, Hugo Boss, Armani Jeans, and Levisons) tells media update that using the print medium shows that a brand really knows who their target market is,” McCarthy notes.

Think about it…with the ease of entry and cheap prices, digital truly is accessible to everyone, as McCarthy and others note. Print, on the other hand, requires more time, more resources, and more thought about the ultimate experience for the luxury buyer.

This kind of attention to detail often mirrors the process that luxury brands put into their own products, giving even more relevance to the experience. At the end of the day, digital is still valuable for discovery and reach, of course. But more and more we are hearing high-end brands talking about print’s luxurious future and the role of print ads for upscale brands.

It comes back to what we always say about adopting an audience-first approach. What mediums will really resonate with your intended audience, and deliver the kind of brand experience that gives them a true sense of your high-end brand? Increasingly, digital is looking less and less like a luxury contender.