Who is RetailMeNot? According to their website, the company is the "largest digital coupon site in the United States." The company claims that its North American and European websites facilitated $3.5 billion in retail sales in 2013. The company funded a study by market research firm Kelton, which works with 100+ of the Fortune 500 brands (according to a press release; the company is not well-known in our industry but is in the top 50 research firms as identified by the American Marketing Association).

The report and the infographic are essential reading for print business owners because they offer a media executive's perspective on the nature of print. The executives perceptions of digital media are quite clear: "Seventy-five percent believe that digital consistently delivers better ROI – or "promotional performance" – at a lower cost than non-digital." Then the Kelton states: "So the question becomes, how do retail marketers "stop doing something old"? The white paper is a free download as is the summary infographic.

Yes, "print" is "something old." Don't blame the researchers or the report writers: it's what they were told by the participants. As a frequent visitor to events with marketing executives, the data ring true to the expressed opinions of the people I see. And as regular readers know, I have met a printing executive only one time at an American Marketing Association event in Raleigh, NC in the last 18 months. Is print old? Not to some of the companies I've been talking to lately. They've been immersed in the decisions of their clients and are finding ways to make the digital activities of their clients more effective. Read the reports and get motivated, not defeated. Only "old printers" do something "old."