“Digital reading and digital platforms are growing faster than anyone can keep track of. Digital will soon be totally ubiquitous and provide data that is perhaps more useful than print because of its ability probe deep into the depths of any conversation. But print is a buffer from the world around us, and that has a certain charm all its own. Many have postulated that it is that very lack of ability to “connect” that is the charisma of the printed product. But I wouldn’t want to back a business plan on that concept as we move forward. Our children do not require nor covet a disconnection.”

Bo Sacks, is a veteran of the printing/publishing industry since 1970

It was thought that TV would kill radio, that VHS would kill theaters, and that computers would kill office paper. None of these things happened. That’s because each new innovation did not fill the same need as the thing it was supposed to replace.

The automobile replaced the horse and buggy because the auto provided the same form of transportation, but better. Digital media do not provide the “exact” same communication experience as direct mail. It can deliver the same information, but not the same tactile and personal feel of mail. It is not an evolution of the same medium, but a different medium altogether.

It is also worth pointing out that whenever there is less competition in a medium, response increases and advertisers take advantage of that opportunity.

My prediction is that mail volume will decrease due to the ease and cost-effectiveness of digital media, but as advertisers see mail response increasing, they will increase usage, which will reduce response … creating a cycle of more then less then more usage of mail as a medium.

What will change, I think, is the means of physical delivery. Perhaps in-home printing devices or some other innovation. People driving around in trucks hand delivering “mail” might fade away, but physical, printed advertising will be with us for a long time. Maybe forever.