UPM and Sappi confirm Joint Venture with secured financing arrangements
Following the announcement that Sappi and UPM would join forces in December 2025, the two companies have signed a definitive agreement regarding its graphic paper venture
Many organisations have highlighted the increased strength of print
Organisations and businesses have recently showcased the increasing profitability and impact of printed campaigns and materials.
Advocates for print advertising, Print Power, recently highlighted analysis from Thinkbox in the UK that showed that print delivers the highest profit ROI.
The study undertook an extensive analysis of £1.8bn in media spending across 141 brands and 14 categories in the UK.
Statistics also show that on average, a pound invested in advertising returns over £4 in profit. This figure is an average across a wide range of media types, while print specifically yields £6.36 in profit for every pound spent, outperforming the likes of TV and audio.
Print Power has also recently highlighted the presence of print at the recent Cannes International Festival of Creativity which demonstrated the strength of print by big brands like Coca-Cola, IKEA, Stella Artois, and Dove, all of which won awards at the festival.
An area that has performed well within the print industry in recent years is the publishing of books as book readers continue to grow thanks to online trends reflected in places such as WH Smith’s ‘Tik Tok Made Me Read It’ section.
Recently Two Sides, a not-for-profit initiative to promote print and paper, has demonstrated the strength of books with its National Book Tokens competition.
National Book Tokens, a retailer of book gift cards, has partnered with Two Sides’ Love Paper campaign to inform consumers of the sustainable facts about paper, books, and wider paper products.
Since 2018, the standard National Book Tokens gift card has been printed on FSC-certified board rather than plastic and are printed in the UK.
Love Paper adverts can be found in newspapers and magazines featuring QR codes linked to the Love Paper competition page which encourages users to answer three questions about forestry, recycling, and biodiversity.
The competition is giving away £10,000 to spend on books via National Book Tokens worth £50.
Recently there has also been positive news regarding the response to mail as read rates and purchase conversions have increased.
A provider of mail metrics and media campaigns, JICMAIL, has recently reported a strong Q1 in 2024 as 6% of mail prompted a purchase compared to 4.2% in 2023. Purchases were made in an omni-channel capacity as 46% of purchases were fulfilled online and 32% in-store.
Mail has also generated more ad impressions in Q1 2024 compared to a year ago as direct mail, door drops, and partially addressed mail (PAM) has all increased interaction.
JICMAIL has also reported strong numbers for attention times for mail especially compared to digital alternatives. Pieces of direct mail have generated an average attention time of 134 seconds while 75.9% of all mail is being read, looked, or glanced at. Statistics also show 20.2% of mail is being filed away, showing a willingness from consumers to hold onto physical marketing.
Ian Gibbs, director of Data Leadership and Learning at JICMAIL, says: “Mail has continued to prove its impact at the sharp end of the consumer purchase funnel in Q1.
“Despite Google once again delaying the death of third-party cookies, savvy marketers will be adapting their measurement efforts to reduce reliance on last-click-attribution models and instead move towards full-effect measurement techniques. The JICMAIL panel now reports on a range of omni-channel purchase actions, painting a fuller, more accurate picture of mail effectiveness.”
While much of the public continues to seek both digital and physical alternatives for news, shopping, and everyday essentials, it’s clear from recent trends and events that print continues to prove its relevance in 2024.
