Bright Rays of Hope Amid Negative News --Michelson

• In a must-read Q&A article, K/P Corp. CEO Susan Kelly (who will also be one of the keynote industry speakers at next month’s Offset and Beyond conference in Las Vegas) reveals why she remains bullish that the printing industry will transform and grow. Kelly points out that, as advertisers reduce budgets, they’ll shift dollars to comparatively “cheap media” like print, online and direct marketing. And, as consumers shun high-profile companies getting federal bailout money (AIG, anyone?), or those that publicly announce massive layoffs and closures, the trend for marketers will be to lower their public profiles and rely on direct marketing campaigns to connect with clients and prospects. As poignant examples, she contends: How can bailout recipient Citibank spend hundreds of millions for the new Mets stadium naming rights? Or how can Caterpillar, while laying off thousands of employees, sponsor a NASCAR racing team, when many of those now-jobless workers are NASCAR fans themselves?