Reading between the lines

Cartwright is also responsible for two editions of a publication entitled, the Magazine Publishers Environmental Handbook.

One of the other most pressing causes for concern for print, to have emerged from the WPC8, is the rising tide of people who, for various reasons, do not choose to get their information from printed matter. They¹re known as 'aliterate', and may be as serious a problem to publishers as the better-known illiteracy. The all pervasive presence of electronic media means a growing audience is getting their info the lazy way, from electronic media - from TV to instant text. From a print perspective, perhaps what is required urgently are more relevant messages, bolder and more arresting graphic images and more carefully chosen words. What this all boils down to, may yet be the single most powerful case for an empowered creative department.

Speaking on the first day of the World Print Congress in Cape Town, Dennis E. Mason, President of Mason Consultancy Inc, www.masonconsulting.com, billed as an 'astute observer of the graphic arts industry' told us that literacy is defined, as "people 15 years and older who can read". Globally the stats are encouraging: 77% of males and 71% of females worldwide can read words. Trouble is many of them just don't wanna. A functionally aliterate person is one, who although being able to read, is not interested in reading or literature. This, said Mason, "is beyond our power to correct" as cultural bias against print grows and alternative media gain strength.

By the way, in the closing session Tuesday, we saw the first ebook from Sony - actually it's an "electronic paper display device" called LIBRRie, Which has an interface that is easy to read, light, provides optimal conditions for reading and uses very low power consumption. It's in-a-word 'gorgeous', in the way that only a state-of-the-art Japanese electronic device can be. Now all we have to decide is, if reading, albeit off a computer screen, constitutes aliteracy. The presentation was by a very young man called Yoshinubo Noma, who controls a global publishing empire called the Kodansha Co. Ltd. If you think this sounds like hype - amongst the other amazing things the company does - it is also responsible for the production and distribution of the Manga comics! You know, those starry-eyed, little Japanese cartoon characters, both printed and animated, that are probably more familiar to global youth than Disney. Bet you didn't know they've been around since 1959! They currently distribute 4.8 million issues of the comic books weekly in 60 countries! Media and marketing people, these are not circulation figures to be sneezed at. Proof that a desirable product knows no boundaries.

Speaking on the first day was Jo¹burg based consultant, Elliot Schwartz, whose pet topic is also aliteracy. He has chilling stats - like 55% of Americans read half an hour or less a day. In South Africa 25% of white SA matriculants - in business, and 40% of black matriculants - in business, do no reading beyond what's required of them. Says Elliot, the case for reading is not about transfer of information or entertainment, it is about a chance for a greater success in life. We have placed so much importance on physical health and body image, yet there has never been a campaign to get a healthy brain, capable of going the distance or making mental leaps required to succeed in business.

The facts are plain. Unless we get our houses in order, what we in advertising call a 'target audience', may not even be an audience at all. As marketers and publishers, we will have to be more innovative to ensure that we do not fill up the world with more dross, mor dreary un-environmentally sustainable printed matter that nobody reads anyway. For the future health of our brands we need to be creating stuff that is intensely desirable, impactful and revolutionary. Maybe there would be more incentive to read a newspaper with oversized, tightly cropped pics and extra bold headlines or magazines full of poetry and illustration.

There are opportunities for improvement and joy everywhere if we only allow our eyes to see them.