The Print Council Issues ‘Call to Action’ on Behalf of Printing Industry

WASHINGTON, DC—September 17, 2009—As The Print Council announces its latest initiatives – Print Delivers and Why Print is Green – its members are “lining up” with financial and in-kind support for these projects, as well as for the Print in the Mix (PIM) research clearinghouse.

Because of the importance of these projects, the Executive Committee has initiated a call to action for others in the industry to support The Print Council and its initiatives that will benefit individual companies and the industry.

Print Delivers Agency Presentations
The Print Council, with the cooperation of its partner companies, has embarked on a series of national agency presentations – Print Delivers. This summer, The Print Council has made presentations to Starcom Media Group and Campbell Ewald. Participants in these sessions included NewPage, Xerox, Kodak, Heidelberg USA, IWCO Direct, Sandy Alexander, Sappi, and the US Postal Service.

Rick Willett, President and CEO of NewPage, said, “The Print Council has the right message and the right strategy to get this message to the market. The Print Delivers campaign is designed to take the message of the value of print directly to national, regional and local media specifiers – to those people who make media buy decisions. That is why NewPage has committed resources to the Print Delivers campaign and we hope other companies in the industry will also provide the resources necessary to make this program a success.”

Why Print is Green
The Print Council released its Why Print is Green brochure on September 15th at PRINT 09. This new report describes 10 specific ways in which print is green – from the responsible products used, renewable energy sourced, increased recycling rates, improved design and delivery methods. The report is intended for use by printers and designers to demonstrate to their customers why print media is the environmentally sound choice for communicating with the audiences they want to reach.

This brochure was created, reviewed, and produced with the help of multiple members or The Print Council – including Sappi, NewPage, International Paper, IWCO Direct, The John Roberts Company, and NAK Marketing.

Print in the Mix Grant Renewed for Two Years
In addition, The Print Council announced that it has renewed the grant for Print in the Mix, the clearinghouse of print market research, for an additional two years. “It’s gratifying to know that PIM has become a truly useful portal into the world of print for all those who study, design, create, evaluate and use the medium for commercial or educational purposes,” says Patricia Sorce, administrative chair of Rochester Institute of Technology’s (RIT) School of Print Media, and co-director of its Printing Industry Center.

According to Ben Cooper, Executive Director of The Print Council, “It takes all of our members – print providers, equipment manufacturers, paper companies, and marketing firms – working together to collectively get the message out that print is effective, sustainable, and measurable, and should be integrated in marketing campaigns. The cooperation of our members is remarkable because they understand the importance of the message for the industry.”

About The Print Council
Through education, awareness, market development, advocacy and research, The Print Council serves the industry to develop, maintain and increase the market for printed materials. The Print Council can be contacted through Ben Cooper, Executive Director, at 202-973-5977, by e-mail at bycooper@wms-jen.com, or on the Web at www.ThePrintCouncil.org.