The Challenge of Change in New Era of Print

Hundreds of attendees came to McCormick Place a day early for Saturday’s Executive Outlook, GRAPH EXPO’s annual pre-show technology trends conference. During the course of a full day, they heard advice on how to prosper in the new era of print. The formal conference culminated with the ever-popular Must See ’em selections (at right) presented by Bill Lamparter of PrintCom Consulting.

Leading off, NAPL chief economist Andy Paparozzi urged listeners to “create our own recovery. That means not waiting for the elections, the Christmas season, the economy or anything else.” Recovery has been – and will continue to be – slow going, he projects, pointing out that commercial printing industry sales from January to July were down nearly 16% in 2009 but only slightly above -2 % for this year. But key indicators such as GDP, consumer spending, industrial production and private employment all are up over a year ago.

Because progress has been painfully slow and unsteady, confidence is slipping. The feeble recovery will continue for several more months, Paparozzi said, noting, there are no quick fixes because of the deep hole of debt the U.S. has dug.

NAPL expects total commercial printing industry sales to grow between 1% and 3% in 2011 – but that’s still $13.4 billion (15%) below 2007 levels. Paparozzi’s advice to the nation’s printers: “Don’t wait for clarity; create clarity,” the economist says. “Don’t make the same mistakes that the fallen leaders of print have made. Embrace the structural changes taking place in our industry. Think market redistribution. Establish yourselves as experts who know your customers’ businesses intimately and can make them more successful.”

“What industry are we in?”

Next to the podium was Steven Schnoll, managing director of Schnoll Media Consulting, New Providence, NJ, who discussed what printers need to do to participate in an e-centric environment. Schnoll, a 40-plus year industry veteran with a reputation for thinking outside the box, contends that GRAPH EXPO attendees are members of the content and communications industry – not the printing industry, per se. He has concentrated much of his energy over the past few years on converging technologies where print providers can extend their expertise to new profit centers. “Printers can migrate their business model from traditional, mass-produced paper-based products to an integrated multimedia series of enhanced communications with the most effective technology mix,” the media consultant stressed.

Schnoll focused on vertical markets primarily served by media integrated providers that can offer the range of services required to capture the largest, most profitable clients for their customers. “Today’s integrated plans are a combination of offset printing, data analytics, targeted HTML email messages, digital personalized print and mobile/e-readers, with content as the common denominator. “The key to cross-media success is helping transform the way your customers handle their content,” he noted. “How indispensable are you to your customers?” he asked, adding that analytical direct marketing makes customers stick because printers are viewed as a partner versus a supplier.

Digital, offset and IT

InfoTrends group director Jim Hamilton covered products and trends in digital technologies--both toner and inkjet--that continue to expand their share of the print market with higher image quality and faster speeds. “Digital is mainstream,” Hamilton showed, emphasizing inkjet’s growth. Inkjet’s largest barrier right now, he added, is its inability to print on economical coated papers.

There’s also a fair amount of experimentation with larger formats, including the B2 format for digital, and a lot of new cutsheet toner products. Hamilton addressed market changes in high-speed continuous feed digital color. “Content still is king,” he proclaimed, “but delivery is multi-channel.”