As the world slowly turns paperless, do radio, magazines, and newspapers still matter? (Short answer: Yes!)
Decades ago, marketing and entertainment consisted of door-to-door salesmen and charming people in the middle of a bustling market demonstrating products. Further back, our noble Katipuneros would hand out flyers person-to-person, especially if they felt extra passionate about changing the nation.
The point is, words and books spread fast, with people on the higher end of society preferring to sit down in a quiet coffee shop and read what writers have to say. Today’s technology has made it so that content is more visual and accessible (even with attention spans getting shorter). There’s even technology doing the reading for you!
So… does paper still have a place in media? And should you still invest in traditional media for your business?
Absolutely.
Traditional media is not dead. It’s just evolving. And in our Philippine landscape, it continues to be a critical piece of communication for brands, communities, and everyday Filipinos.
The Resilience of Traditional Media in a Digital Philippines
Let’s set the stage. According to DataReportal’s Digital 2025 Report, the Philippines ranks third among the highest globally in daily screen time, with an average of 8 hours and 52 minutes spent online. With mobile screen time, Filipinos rank number one, with 5 hours and 20 minutes.
Yet, print media is still here: 22% of Filipinos still get their news from newspapers. Reuters also found that Filipino media outlet GMANetwork’s TV and radio reach 51% of Filipino households weekly.
Moreover, the Philippines ranks one of the lowest in trusting mainstream news; with print and traditional media considered as the most credible sources of news in the country.
Why is this so?
Because credibility, tangibility, and trust still matter. In a news release last March, tackling misinformation, Philippine Senator Grace Poe considered printed media key sources of accountable journalism. To her, “Print remains essential in media today because it is seen as a bastion of accountability and responsibility. Print media is trusted and can confidently brand itself as a guardian of truth.”
In a landscape where misinformation spreads quickly on social platforms, Filipinos still continue to turn to established newspapers like the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila Bulletin, and BusinessWorld for fact-checked information.
Magazines like Preview, Tatler, or even YES! Magazine continue to command readership because they provide curated, credible, and high-quality content not easily replicated by quick-hit social videos.
Why Traditional Media Still Matters
1. Trust and Credibility
Traditional media outlets have spent decades (or even centuries) building a reputation for factual reporting and editorial integrity. For instance, GMA Network’s 24 Oras remains one of the most trusted news sources among Filipinos, according to Reuters 2025.
This trust is critical for brands. A product getting featured in Philippine Star’s Lifestyle section carries a certain weight—a legitimacy that influencers or viral TikToks sometimes lack.
2. Wider and Multi-Demographic Reach
Let’s not forget, the Philippines is a country of over 7,000 islands–and internet access isn’t always stable or reliable across all these islands. In many provinces, radio and community newspapers are still primary sources of information–especially south of the Philippines.
The government, for example, has just delivered 1000 meters of broadband wires in Mindanao. In PhilStar’s news release about the initiative, it was acknowledged that Mindanao is usually the last to connect to the rest of the nation…and has been for years.
We also cannot forget the demographic that prefers to be offline. While I don’t drink in Starbucks anymore, I still find one or two older gentlemen beyond their glass cafe windows reading newspapers. They don’t flash anything, but their presence is unmistakable.
For luxury brands, these gentlemen represent markets of quieter luxury: understated, indescribable by stat numbers…yet very much tappable.
These types of markets don’t like online noise.
For a business looking to tap into markets outside urban centers like Metro Manila or Cebu, traditional media ensures no one is left behind. For businesses looking into more sophisticated markets, traditional media ensures branding far different from online presence.
3. Longevity of Content
Here’s the online truth: a viral TikTok video has the shelf life of a banana. Or a fruit fly.
A newspaper clipping, however, can live on a bulletin board for weeks. A magazine feature might be displayed in salons or waiting areas for months. Print offers a longer shelf life, which means longer brand visibility.
Should You Even Have to Choose, Though? Why Not Have Both?
Yes, we’re all glued to our phones. Well, most of us, anyway. But there’s a reason why billboards along EDSA still command top rates.
Traditional media anchors brand identity. It offers a physical, tactile experience in an increasingly digital world. But honestly? It was never an us-versus-them game. Virtually all news outlets have websites now. Media is only a matter of adapting to and accommodating a wide variety of needs.
When combined with digital channels, it becomes part of a more strategic, holistic marketing effort.
Offline Integration with Online Campaigns
The smartest brands today are integrating both traditional and digital executions. A successful integrated marketing communications (IMC) strategy leverages the trust and impact of traditional media with the reach of digital.
Think of Jollibee’s funny campaign with Grab: for a day, the Jollibee mascot replaced Grab drivers and delivered food to people. It was a commercial, but it’s still traditional marketing because Jolibee’s brand (the iconic bee) went around giving food to people. It’s heartwarming, but Jollibee was also like a salesman and walking ad all at once.
It got featured online and in physical newspapers, too. This simple multi-platform strategy absolutely works!
Related: Combining Traditional and Digital Marketing Efforts for Maximum Impact
The Role of PR and IMC Agencies in Bridging Traditional and Digital
Navigating the balance between traditional and digital media requires expertise, strategy, and adaptability. This is where Public Relations (PR) agencies come in.
A skilled PR agency understands how to:
- Exhaust all their connections to local press outlets
- Craft compelling press releases that land in reputable newspapers
- Negotiate prime-time radio and TV slots, and
- Integrate those efforts with digital campaigns
In the Filipino market, where the culture prioritizes offline relationships and online screen time, this kind of strategy thrives!
It’s Traditional and Digital This Time!
The question isn’t whether traditional media still works—it’s how you’re leveraging it in 2025 and beyond.
Books, magazines, newspapers, radio ads, billboards…they all matter. They provide depth, credibility, and reach that newer platforms can’t always replicate. When you combine their strengths with the speed and scale of digital platforms, you get a truly effective marketing strategy.
Ready to craft a strategy that bridges both worlds? Partner with NGP IMC! We have decades of experience adapting to media changes, while sticking with the traditional forms that work.
Kriztin Cruz is a recruitment and digital marketing professional, freelance writer, hobbyist painter, and frustrated sociologist–with too many things to want and too little time to spare. She graduated with a Psychology degree in 2019 at De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde Antipolo. When she’s not drafting a corporate letter or working on anything digital marketing, you can find her doing the following, but not in this order: reading a good book, scavenging for a good book, sketching, painting, journaling, junk journaling, obsessing over an obscure Czechoslovakian surrealist film (or anything by Miyazaki or Del Toro), cooking, finding a cafe to relax in, and creating new things while a nice documentary plays in the background.