Two Sides gets $3m of ad space for campaign

Two Sides Australia has praised a $3 million European advertising blitz and said it would use it as inspiration for the local campaign.

The European operation of the sustainability group, which seeks to dispel myths about the green credentials of print and paper, has launched the UK leg of its pan-European campaign, 'No Wonder You Love Paper'.

It has secured the backing of a host of UK newspapers and magazines.

The year-long campaign has been allocated about £2 million ($3.1 million) worth of advertising space across UK newspapers and magazines and expects to gain more than 50 million page views.

Kellie Northwood, general manager of Two Sides Australia, told ProPrint this "wonderful initiative" would "provide great exposure for the [print sustainability] campaign".

"Two Sides Australia will leverage from this opportunity in our public campaigns and open discussions with our local publishers."

'No Wonder You Love Paper' is the biggest print sustainability campaign ever put forward by the graphic communications value chain, said Two Sides UK director Martyn Eustace.

"The graphic communication industry has a terrific environmental record but we feel that consumer concerns are misplaced," he said.

That was the message the industry delivered in its successful challenge to Toshiba's National No Print Day, which Northwood said was based on "misleading claims".

'No Wonder You Love Paper' is being supported by publishing houses IPC Media, Future, The Telegraph Group, The Mirror Group and The Newspaper Society as well as the Professional Publishers Association (PPA) and Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA).

PPA chief executive Barry McIlheney said: "We want to make sure that, in choosing a printed magazine, readers fully understand that print media also offers a natural reading experience and can be a sustainable way to read."

The campaign aims to change consumer attitudes towards the sustainability of print media based on research conducted by Two Sides and IPSOS. In September 2011, 5,000 consumer interviews found that 80% of media users preferred reading from paper than a screen.

Eustace said: "There has been a mass switch to digital media over the past few years but we need to strike a balance. We want consumers to be able to read for as long as they want and realise that printed media is a sustainable way to receive and communicate information."

This article originally appeared at printweek.com