Why I am Optimistic About Paper and Packaging in 2025
Happy New Year! Are we too far into January to say that? I hope not because I am enthused about what’s ahead for paper, packaging—and our consumer marketing campaign—in 2025.
Some exciting bellwethers include:
Increased Book Sales that Continue to Beat the Odds
The “revenge of analog” continues—with the return of the tangible and the tactile proving that the digitalization of everything is neither inevitable nor desirable for many. According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP), book revenues through the first ten months of 2024 were up 6.9 percent, to $7.9 billion. Hardback revenues were up 7.5 percent and paperbacks 3.8 percent. That growth was more robust than ebook revenues, which were up only 2.9 percent compared to the same period of 2023.
Strong Consumer E-Commerce Sales that Drive Demand for Corrugated and Paper Pouches
Online shopping continues to climb, with the latest U.S. Department of Commerce data showing online sales growing at a faster rate than offline. And corrugated and paper pouches continue to be the backbone of e-commerce fulfillment. According to E-Marketer, e-commerce sales continue to increase year over year though not at the rate we saw during the pandemic. In 2020, ecommerce sales grew 42% from 2019 to just over $800B and 17% from 2020 to 2021 topping out $950B. Ecommerce sales hit the $1 trillion dollar mark in 2022 and have continued to grow about 8% annually since then, with 2025 e-commerce sales projected to be close to $1.3 trillion! Surprisingly, e-commerce sales were 16% of total retail sales in 2024 and projected to increase to 17% this year with more room to grow.
Banning the Use of Phones in School
While there is a wide range of how schools are tackling cell phones' distractions, teachers and many parents for that matter want to bring focus back to the classroom and that means no cell phones. What about computers which are still going to be in the mix? It is safe to say that teachers are not looking to remove all technology from the classroom. But chances are good that pen and paper are going to increasingly be back in the mix for test taking, doing research and taking notes.
Global Treaty to Reduce or Eliminate Certain Plastics is Spawning New Paper Solutions
The conversation around plastic pollution isn’t going away—in fact, it’s intensifying. Around the world governments and organizations are implementing or considering stricter regulations limiting the plastics produced and opening the door for paper-based alternatives. For example, the creative Italian-owned Uashmama brand produces shopping bags, placemats and beverage coolers using paper fiber, a renewable resource. We are barely scratching the surface in terms of seeing what paper can do.
Tightening Our Belt and Prioritizing Consumer Mass Media, the #1 Most Desired P+PB Campaign Benefit
Our campaign media and website content is about sustainable resource stewardship, and that’s how we run our organization. We’re optimizing every dollar—from media buys to social campaigns—to reach the right consumers cost-effectively. We’ve trimmed overhead and vendor costs across the board, ensuring that we are putting the same or more resources into media even as we take in less assessments. We’re also shifting into new media areas, like streaming, that will help stretch our dollars further, maximizing our members’ ROI and responding to market conditions.
We’ve got a lot of wind in our sails heading into 2025, and big plans that we can’t wait to unveil. Stay tuned!
