Print is ALIVE

Print is not dead; it is very much ALIVE. I’ll say it again - Print is ALIVE. Anyone who works in marketing knows that you can’t have an effective marketing campaign if you rely on just one marketing medium. Why? Because we need to do what our targeted audiences want. And in healthcare, the demographics of our consumers are so wide reaching and diverse, that not just one medium is going to work. We know that the younger generations prefer to get their news and information on Twitter sites, RSS feeds, Facebook and the like. And there are others, like me (young 40's by the way), who still prefer good old fashioned print. Nothing compares to holding a book, an actual book in my hands, and cozying in on a warm winter night and reading. Maybe it’s nostalgia, bringing me back to my early childhood days of Judy Blume, Nancy Drew and Laura Ingalls Wilder. Whatever it is, it makes a connection, a lasting impression. Don’t get me wrong, I know that the digital world keeps creeping in. I live with a teenager who gets all of her news from her iPhone. My husband reads his books on his Droid and Kindle. That’s the point, it works for them and that is how they prefer to get their information. We should be asking patients their preferred communication medium. There's plenty of space, and still a need, for both print and digital communications.