Pulling out of the depression

The German Federation of the Printing Industry (BVDM) is publishing a monthly overview of the current state and business outlook of the printing industry. November 2022 survey data has just been published and it shows that the printing industry seems to be finally pulling out of the depression that started in early 2022.

The survey data covers the current situation, a short term and a long term outlook. Especially the long term outlook for the next six months (Geschäftserwartungen – grey line) showed a strong recovery. Also, the short term outlook (Geschäftsklima – red line) had a 6% upswing, indicating that conditions already start to improve. On the current business situation (Geschäftslage – blue line) remains almost unchanged. All indicators remain in the negative, however.

chart of German print industry outlook nov 2022
Business Situation and Outlook print Industry Germany
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2. December 2022 Blog No Comments on Pulling out of the depression

European print production 2021 – Chart of the week

Starting into the new year is a good time to have a look at the European print production developments in 2021. For the full revenue data to trickle in we have to wait several months – even for the first countries to report. The full data on Eurostat might be even two years out as Eurostat just about managed to publish 2019 revenues now.

The next best thing is to look at the monthly production index data published by Eurostat. Data is now available until October 2021. The best fitting category in the database is “print and reproduction of media” – with print production making up the lions share in that category. The data is based on the average 2015 volumes as being 100 index points. Starting values in the 90s for 2019 shows that print production volumes already declined before the pandemic hit in early 2020.

Print production index data

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7. January 2022 Blog No Comments on European print production 2021 – Chart of the week

Newsbrands more memorable than Facebook – chart of the week

Some Facebook posts might stay in your mind but how about the ads found next to them? Are newsbrands more memorable than Facebook or vice versa?

Australian ThinkNewsBrands wanted to find out and commissioned the audience research lab MediaScience to get details on how recall, brand recognition and brand image compare in newspaper versus electronic media. The study included more than 5,350 participants and ran across 42 print runs and 252 websites which together created 6,037 unique brand exposures.

According to the findings, ads in printed newspapers outperform Facebook ads of all types by up to four times. When looking at printed ads, including quarter, half and full-page ads, compared with display, 6, or 15-second Facebook ads, news offers a superior level of unprompted recall.

Recall newsbrand ad vs Facebook
Recall newsbrand ad vs Facebook
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12. November 2021 Blog No Comments on Newsbrands more memorable than Facebook – chart of the week

Reading printed books is good for you – and your grades – Chart of the week

In the light of distance learning during the pandemic and the move towards digital media in schools there is probably not enough of a discussion on how reading printed books is impacting learning, the joy of reading and consequently the grades. The OECD in sifting through the 2018 PISA study results on school performance published their “21st-Century Readers” report this year, with some interesting findings.

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26. October 2021 Blog No Comments on Reading printed books is good for you – and your grades – Chart of the week

Recovered paper prices – chart of the week

If something is illustrating the current shortage in paper it is the rising costs of recovered paper. The chart shows German recovered paper prices – indexed for 2015 as 100%. China, once the main destination of recovered paper closed their borders for most waste materials in 2018 – which includes most recovered paper. This sent recovered paper prices into a tailspin. The bottom was reached during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, when everything came to a standstill, at about 20% of the 2015 prices.

Recovered paper prices – chart of the week
Recovered paper prices Germany 2018 – 2021
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16. September 2021 Blog No Comments on Recovered paper prices – chart of the week