The Five Stages of Grief: Print Edition

If you have never taken any psych 101 courses, or seen the movie “All That Jazz,” you might not be aware that there are five stages of grief proposed by Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in her 1969 book “On Death and Dying.” The hypothesis states that when a person is faced with the reality of impending death, or some other extreme and terrible fate, they will experience a series of emotional stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

The diagnosis that Print is dying, or in some cases dead, has permeated the marketing world. Without getting into the validity of that diagnosis (hasn’t it be done to “death” already?), let’s examine how some are moving through Dr. Kubler-Ross’ five stages within the current landscape of change our industry is undergoing.

DENIAL: This whole cross media thing is just a fad. I don’t need to make any adjustments to the way we do things around here. My customers are loyal to me.

ANGER: WTF is a Marketing Service Provider??!! It’s completely ridiculous to expect me to spend time educating myself, implementing or helping my customers navigate new marketing technologies.

BARGAINING: If I focus on selling print to anyone with a pulse, lowering my prices and working twice as hard, I can ride out this fad and stay afloat. 

DEPRESSION: I should have listened three years ago and geared up for the changes taking place in printing and marketing today, but now it’s too late. I have no idea what will happen to my business in the next three years, or if I will even have one. 

ACCEPTANCE: Now that I’ve done a little more research, I’ve realized this is an amazing time to be in the communications business! I can affect change within my organization, help my customers/advertisers by becoming a real partner in their process, and be involved in a global evolution/revolution from the inside.

Make note that these five stages are more fluid than solid, and that at any given time you may find yourself moving through them, or in more than one simultaneously. The ultimate outcome, unless you really sabotage yourself, will be acceptance. How long it takes to get there is up to you.

It is also important to mention there is one other stage to this process that is never mentioned on the list – HOPE. I believe it’s because hope is underlying in all five stages, and without it there really is no reason to carry on. While I have met some very angry people, and read some pretty depressing blogs, I’m happy to say I’ve never come across anyone who has legitimately just given up on Print (or their customers/advertisers!).

Wherever you are on this journey, take some comfort that you are not alone in it. There is plenty of help available, and plenty of opportunities to help others by sharing your knowledge and experience. If you have reached acceptance – welcome to the new age of Print and Marketing! Instead of reiterating a recent article I wrote for The Canvas Magazine, here’s a link to “So, now you’re an MSP? – What to expect in the new communications revolution.” 

And speaking of REVOLUTIONS! – I’d like to invite you all to participate in one of the biggest ones coming up… International Print Day 2014. Save the date for a 24-hour GLOBAL VIRTUAL CONFERNCE on October 8, 2014. We have secured the platform with ON24, and are working out final details before we release the prospectus. There will be opportunities for conference sponsorships, LIVE presentations, virtual booths, and of course participation in pre and post conference activities.  It’s truly an opportunity for the GLOBAL print industry to share ONE SPACE at ONE TIME for ONE EVENT – from a computer or mobile device – intertwined with social media – allowing us to connect personally as well as professionally – and share our stories.

Call me a dreamer, but I skipped right to acceptance on this one. I admit, there may be times ahead when I drift in and out of the four stages that precede it, but I will always have hope that the love I have for print and marketing is shared by more than I could ever imagine!