Home

Reports of print death greatly exaggerated - RR Donnelley Profit/*sales* up

OK

My mailbox has returned to preweb stuffed status, more junk than ever.

Will print really die? Is this an indication of advertisers re-allocating their budgets to adjust for crappy PPC ROI? Hard to believe but if you follow the money it looks like advertisers aren't as enamored of PPC/web advertising as they are widely thought to be. Will money flow out of PPC back to print?

Quote:
Sales grew 6 percent to $2.31 billion from $2.18 billion last year, driven by new customers and increased volume with existing customers, favorable foreign exchange comparisons and acquisitions, which were offset in part by continued price pressure.

RR Donnelley 3Q Profit Up 61 Percent

- Y! MyWeb

Print is dead

Quote:
The company's shares fell 71 cents, or 2 percent, to $35.07 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The worst part about their 'revenue growth' is that a huge part of it was from a purchase. It's like my firm buying another SEO firm.. and then 6 days later counting revenue from both firms on the balance sheet to look like 'I grew' when in fact all I did was buy revenue.

Trust me... ink, cutting trees, and paperboys are all history.

By The Founder at Nov 7 2006 - 15:31

http://www.mediainfocenter.org/compare/adrevenue/

offline revenue doesn't appear to be declining.

In the UK while

Quote:
The Report reveals striking evidence that a new ‘networked generation’ is turning away from television, radio and newspapers in favour of online services , including downloadable content – used on multiple devices such as iPods and mobile phones – and participation in online communities.

and

Quote:
Total online advertising revenues have increased almost eight-fold in real terms between 2001 and 2005 (from £0.17 billion to £1.3 billion per year). Online advertising revenue is now almost three times greater than radio advertising revenue (at around £0.5 billion, unchanged since 2001 in real terms) and over one-third that of television advertising revenue (£3.8 billion in 2005, up from £3.5 billion in 2001).

but that means that TV currently outperforming online advertising by 2.3 billion - on the existing growth curve internet will overtake TV in about 2015. You can make arguments for it happening cooner, later or not at all but thats all guesswork as to where the boundaries are going to lay.
(http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2006/08/nr_20060810)

I don't have Newspaper stats with breakdowns but in general newspaper advertising is slightly lower cost but higher volume than TV figures - more people to move but an easier transfer to Web. Paperboys aren't doomed just yet

By Gurtie at Nov 7 2006 - 16:02

Gee Founder

Gee Founder

It pretty clearly states that the rev increase was driven by new customers and increased volume with existing customers

The purchase of Banta did not play into their earnings at all.

Anywhoo, thought it might be a signal worth noting, no need to run it over with BS.

By hardball at Nov 7 2006 - 16:02

what??

***Is this an indication of advertisers re-allocating their budgets to adjust for crappy PPC ROI?

how can you begin to infer this from that article??

By catchafire at Nov 7 2006 - 17:05

RR Donnelley isnt Gannett

It isnt all print that is fading. There is a big difference between Donnelley's YP/magazines/catalogues and newspapers.

YP still attract those who seek local advertising. Donnelley's direct mail catalogues are very effective with consumers like my wife who will either go online to the corresponding website or just pick up the phone. The other day she had the catalogue open while online with a rep on the phone.

YP work because its still tough to find a plumber with a search engine.

Magazine ads will never go away.

By Kirby at Nov 7 2006 - 17:16

Hardball

Quote:
driven by new customers and increased volume with existing customers, favorable foreign exchange comparisons and acquisitions, which were offset in part by continued price pressure.

The problem I have with print.. is that the asset allocation is very high in order to meet distribution needs.

A server cluster for a few thousand a month could handle all their readers online.

Give it time.. it's not 'dead' as I noted earlier.. it's 'dying'.

By The Founder at Nov 7 2006 - 18:28

Print is just a tool. I'm

Print is just a tool. I'm not married to any particular belief system when it comes to sales.

I remember when DTP was going to put printing to death, still waiting ;)

Quote:
The other day she had the catalogue open while online with a rep on the phone.

Thats maximizing the toolset.

By hardball at Nov 7 2006 - 20:33