Smartphones, cloud computing, social media, podcasts, video-streaming…the whole world is switched on and tuned-in to the digital revolution.

There’s little question that the tables have turned on ‘old media’ with a shift towards, well, new media. But speculation abounds as to whether traditional media will evolve or whether it will go the way of the gramophone and Morse Code.

A quick look around us and it’s abundantly clear that ‘old’ media is still alive and kicking…for now, at least.

TV & cinema: seeing is believing…

Cinema attendances were marginally down in eleven EU countries in 2010, but the other twelve EU countries saw a rise last year. Italy’s cinema attendances grew by 11% in 2010, reaching its highest level since 1987, and France rose by 2.7% on 2009, hitting its highest level since the hippie sixties. Almost a billion cinema tickets were sold across the EU in 2010.

US cinema attendance in 2010 was down 5% on the previous year, but almost 1.5 billion tickets were still sold, yielding $10.6bn in revenue.

So cinema may be suffering slightly, but it’s hardly at death’s door. And TV figures are as strong as ever, in the UK at least, where 2010 viewing figures were up on the year before. This is a sign, perhaps, that people are opting to stay at home rather than facing the hefty prices of eating and drinking out.

It’s safe to say that TV is evolving rather nicely alongside digital media. With the proliferation of web-enabled devices, viewing habits are changing, for sure, but people will always want to be entertained by TV programmes.

Advertisers, take note.

Radio is all the rage…

Digital media, it would seem, is failing to kill the radio star. Radio is positively thriving, with almost 90% of the UK regularly listening to the original ‘wireless’. Sure, people may be tuning in through computers and smartphones more, but people still love their radio. Like TV, it’s evolving with new media and is now part of the digital fabric.

Advertisers, again, take note.

Newspapers: reading between the lines…

Print media’s position, however, is perhaps a little more precarious. Amazon’s digital books are outselling hardcover books at a rate of 18 to 10, and predictions suggest that less than a quarter of all books will be ‘print’ within a decade.

Newspapers are experiencing mixed fortunes. In the UK, some newspapers’ sales remained static from the previous year, but the general trend, particularly among the ‘quality’ newspapers, was very much a downwards spiral. The Independent, for example, dropped a fifth of its readership last year.

The way forward for newspapers is simple. There’s still a demand for quality reportage, so paid subscriptions to online versions of newspapers is clearly the future, just as The Times in the UK is demonstrating.

Where we’re at with print advertising

So whilst it’s clear that many traditional media platforms are evolving as the digital revolution progresses, it’s worth looking at how print advertising will evolve.

Print media may be in decline, but it’s far from dead. Print is a highly effective advertising medium, it has impact and longevity. It can sit on people’s desks for days, and it can enter spaces currently impervious to web-advertising…such as Underground stations.

In 2009, three quarters of all advertising was ‘offline’ in the UK. Official figures for 2010 aren’t available yet, but it’s likely there will have been an increase for the online spend figure.

But can online advertising compete with offline advertising yet? Not quite. Tracking online activity is getting better, and with social networking growing at breakneck speed, tailored advertising will become more and more sophisticated.

For now, with inboxes overflowing and spam causing endless frustration, direct mail still has an important role to play. But you still need to do your homework – qualify your prospects and send them a personalised letter and/or a flyer. You may actually find you get more of their attention than an email in their inbox that doesn’t display properly or simply gets caught in a spam filter.

Merging media

But print advertising, like other traditional media platforms, is proving it’s just as capable of moving with the times. In fact, we’re seeing some fantastically creative print advertising methods that bring together ‘new’ and ‘old’ media.

This AXA ad, for example, requires the user to place their iPhone on the print advert, which brings the otherwise one-dimensional image to life on the page. See for yourself:

And with QR Code advertising, we have a genuine contender for the ‘print advertising saviour’ tag. Calvin Klein recently demonstrated what can be done with a QR code billboard advert and a smartphone. Users take a picture of the QR code and are whisked off to a racy lingerie video on their phone.

Calvin Klein: ‘Get it Uncensored’

Traditional media – and, more specifically, print media – is proving that it’s far from dead. A glossy A4 flyer in a letterbox is as effective as ever, and merging ‘new’ and ‘traditional’ forms of media will ensure there’s plenty of life left in print advertising.