The internet giant is one of the members of a coalition that has the stated aim of ‘removing the need for "paper" from paperwork’ – in essence to encourage the transition to the mythical paperless office.
Understandably, this has ruffled a few feathers at Two Sides HQ and more power to them if missives like this convince consumers that paper is produced from a crop and is by its very nature a renewable resource.
But my concern is it that it won’t. All it does is muddy the waters into a ‘he says, she says’ argument about which is greener (we’re right, by the way).
However, going toe-to-toe isn’t going to change anyone’s perception. Google will just throw in some stats on how green its server farms are, or how much its spent on renewable energy. The consumers and marketers will then draw their own conclusions and probably will continue to believe that print is the bogeyman.
We should focus on the effectiveness of print – especially when combined with e-comms – and single our industry out as constantly evolving and innovating to be, pound-for-pound and for each kilo of CO2, the most effective form of communication.
And if someone’s still not convinced, just remind them that even Google regularly employs the power of print. How did it target 5m B2B customers in 42 countries? Yep – with a printed direct mail campaign.
