The Facts & Figures
Jun 1, 2007 12:00 PM
- Read all about it
More than 439 million people buy a daily newspaper. The total number of newspaper readers is estimated at more than one billion per day. Although newspaper circulation numbers in Japan, the United States and Germany have declined in recent years, these countries are among the five largest newspaper markets in the world. Here are the top five: China (96.6 million copies sold daily); India (78.7 million); Japan (69.7 million); United States (53.3 million); and Germany (21.5 million).
Source: PreMedia Newsletter GmbH (www.premedianewsletter.de) - Recover, recycle & reuse
In 2006, a record 53.4 percent of the paper consumed in the United States (53.5 million tons) was recovered for recycling. Paper recovery now averages nearly 360 pounds for each man, woman and child in the United States. Recovered paper accounted for 36.6 percent of the U.S. paper industry's fiber needs in 2005. However, U.S. mills still do not have enough recycled content to meet current demands.
Source: American Forest & Paper Assn. (www.afandpa.org) - ‘I did it in Adobe’
Design Edge Canada magazine recently surveyed more than 2,100 designers across Canada about their software and hardware preferences:
>97% indicated they use Adobe Photoshop
94% said they use Illustrator.In the page layout software category:
57% use Adobe InDesign CS2
39% use QuarkXPress 6.Out of the 3,042 computers used by survey respondents:
75% were Macs
25% were PCs.Editor's note: P&MB is designed on a Mac using Adobe products.
- Will there be less mail in your mail box?
Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization (PRIMIR) (Reston, VA) recently completed a study called “Effect of Postal Reform on the Demand for Print.” According to PRIMIR, between 2007 and 2008, postal reform & rate increases will, along with up to 350 million periodicals and three billion pieces of direct mail advertising:
remove between 800 million & 900 million catalogs from the mail stream
See www.primir.org.
- Photobooks surging in popularity
A recent Photo Marketing Assn. (PMA) (Jackson, MI) Marketing Research report found that 21.4 percent of households that made no prints from their digital cameras in 2006 purchased some other photo-related product or service such as a photobook or a personalized calendar. The association further noted that this figure practically doubled from 2005 when only 12.3 percent of the members of this group made photo-related purchases. According to PMA, “In terms of absolute numbers, the size of this group went from about seven million households in 2005 to almost 15 million households in 2006.” See www.pmai.org.
- Address for success
Did you move recently? You're not alone. Over 41 million changes of addresses are filed each year with the United States Postal Service (USPS). And if your mail carrier seems a little tired, consider that the USPS services 147 million delivery points, with two million new delivery points added each year.
Postage automation discounts require complete and accurate addresses. Now is the time to clean up your list — tougher postal regulations are in the works as the USPS seeks to halve “Undeliverable As Addressed” mail by 2010.
Source: Business Objects (www.businessobjects.com)
- A GREENER COFFEE CUP?
In November 2004, Starbucks announced the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) granted the first-ever approval to use recycled content in food packaging for Starbucks hot-beverage cups. Made with 10 percent post-consumer fiber content, the cups are a result of a three-year collaboration with suppliers Mississippi River Corp., MeadWestvaco and Solo Cup Co. In 2004, Starbucks purchased 27,400 tons of 100 percent virgin bleached cup stock. Based on that volume, the company projects the new post-consumer fiber content cups will reduce landfill content by:
2,740 tons
(about 5.5 million pounds)Source: Starbucks (www.starbucks.com)
- This time, it's personal
Mintel Compremedia (Chicago) research indicates that two-thirds of U.S. direct mail volume shows evidence of at least basic personalization. On the e-mail side, the move to expand the depth of targeting is similar. According to Responsys (Redwood City, CA), 89 percent of marketers plan to enhance their personalization and targeting efforts in the next year. And some 44 percent of e-mail marketers say their personalized campaigns perform better than control efforts.
Source: Winterberry Group (www.winterberrygroup.com)
- Pushing the back of the envelope
The book Million Dollar Mailings features 71 of the most successful direct mail packages of all time. Almost without exception, they each have a strong message on the outer envelope.
Source: “101 Ways to Improve Your Response,” (www.alanrosenspan.com)
- Do you see what I see?
Anyone responsible for approving color should be screened for colorblindness. As many as one in 12 men has some degree of this condition, as compared to about one in every 250 women. Besides difficulty with red-green perception, some people have other color vision problems, such an inability to distinguish yellows from blues. In very rare cases, a person may be truly colorblind and see only shades of black and white.
Source: WebMD.com
- And you thought your Walkman rocked
In April 2007, Apple announced it had sold the 100 millionth iPod. The first iPod was sold in November 2001 and since then Apple has introduced more than 10 new iPods. Various vendors offer more than 4,000 iPod accessories, ranging from cases to speaker systems. The iTunes store reportedly has the world's largest catalog with more than five million songs, 350 television shows and 400 movies. See www.apple.com.
- A booming print market in India
India has the fastest growing print industry after China, recording a growth rate of 15 percent in 2005. The Indian newspaper industry is the fastest growing newspaper economy in the Asia Pacific region, comprising 5,600 dailies, 15,000 weeklies, and 20,000 periodicals in 21 languages.
Source: NPES News (www.npes.org)
