A group of nearly 50 printers and suppliers gathered at Angelo’s on the Bay in Cabarita, Sydney, on Wednesday for the lunch event.

Allely used his guest speech to give his views on the competitive dynamic between print and new media.

He conceded that “online and social media is winning a share of the advertising dollar that was previously held by print”, but said print had a strong future ahead.

Allely drew comparisons tobetween the threat to print and the advent of television.

“Now newspapers carry TV guides and morning television talks about the day’s papers. Print and electronic will develop a similar accord.”

He said that printed marketing had certain qualities that could not be replaced by new media alternatives, even for generations to come.

“Gen Y knows better than any previous generation when they are being marketed to,” he said, adding that research showed 87% of that age group prefered businesses to communicate with them by mail.

Allely said: “If there is one challenge I would like to leave everyone here with, it is the challenge to deliver relevance.”

Pictured: Lindsay Yates Group managing director Paul Richardson, Richard Allely and Printing Industries chief executive Philip Andersen.

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