Episode 1 - IPIA: Building Brands Beyond Short-Term Marketing

Host Mark Stephenson of the IPIA is joined by Dr Chris Jones of Ravensbourne University and Elena Knight of FuturePrint for a wide-ranging discussion on where print fits into modern marketing. The panel debated whether marketing has become too fast-paced and too focused on instant results, and what print can still offer that digital struggles to match.

Chris opens with research on dwell time, arguing that a piece of mail holds attention far longer than most digital content does, and that print and digital work best as partners rather than rivals. The panel then covered the McNamara fallacy, the tendency in marketing to measure whatever is easiest to track rather than what actually proves a campaign is working. They also discussed why something arriving through your letterbox with your name on it tends to get opened, and what that says about trust. Elena spoke about how QR codes and smart packaging are bringing the two worlds closer together, blending digital's reach with print's credibility. Towards the end, the conversation turned to AI, and whether its habit of getting things wrong could make printed communication more valuable rather than less.

There are a couple of memorable asides along the way, including a government minister's prediction that didn't hold up, and a recollection of being told the book was dead back in the early days of CD-ROM.

PodFEST is a series of panel conversations recorded live over two days in London, made to give FuturePrint's channels a steady flow of thought leadership content through the autumn. A new episode goes up each weekday.

Watch the full series: https://www.futureprint.tech/podfest-videos
Find out more about PodFEST: https://www.futureprint.tech/podfest-2026-1

Follow FuturePrint:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/futureprint-tech/
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/futureprint-podcast/id1567194406