Industry Insights: Heading South of the Border

The Latin American printing industry is in a very interesting place at the moment; printers seem buoyant and look forward to a very positive future.

FESPA has been involved in this market for five years and we are enjoying the planning stages in the run up to our two Latin American shows, FESPA Mexico 2012 in Mexico City (September 20-22, 2012) and FESPA Brazil 2013 in Sao Paolo (March 13-16, 2013).

Aiming to gain further understanding of the Latin American market and identify emerging trends, we recently carried out a survey of Latin American printers within our FESPA community. The results were encouraging.

Over 44 percent of printers surveyed said they were “very optimistic” about the future of their company, with 83 percent planning to diversify and move into new markets. The model for their business growth over the next 18 months seems to be a move to digital printing to give them faster production of materials and more personalization opening up the opportunity for new revenue streams and greater profit opportunities.

Undoubtedly, these are the same reasons that printers in other geographies have adopted digital print technology. However, the growth had been somewhat slower in Latin America due to political uncertainty and economic instability in some countries. Furthermore, some major digital technology suppliers have focused on the larger and more economically sound markets, primarily Europe and North America.

However, the global credit crisis has left Latin American comparatively unscathed. The countries had learned from previous debt and credit crises from over a decade ago, so they were in a much better position to weather the economic storm. This has resulted in more wealth in the regional economy, opening Latin America up as an emerging and optimistic market.

Major brands are using Brazil as a launch pad into Latin America. The increasing wealth in these economies now means they are becoming avid consumers and the region is experiencing an increase in disposable income.

Also contributing to this trend in Latin America is that the increased disposable income is coming from the younger population, concentrated in the 12 to 35 age range who have a taste for discretionary, luxury, and personalized goods. That’s a strong incentive for printers in Latin America to gain a better understanding of current generation equipment that can provide the capabilities to deliver the marketing campaigns expected by these consumers.

FESPA Mexico 2012 sales figures reveal that over twice the amount of space has been contracted for the show, compared with 2011.

The campaign visual for FESPA Mexico 2012 is a ‘trompo’ (spin-top) which is synonymous in Mexico with dynamism, movement, and competition. The message is for printers to ‘keep your business moving’ to reflect the need for PSPs to constantly evolve their print services. Increasing profit margins and expanding value-add services is the main aim of the show.

In the run up to the national elections in July this year, political parties throughout Mexico ran their campaigns using print and outdoor advertising, and as a result demand for print and new machinery was high. FESPA Mexico aims to showcase applications to further encourage printers during this post election period, so that they continue to develop their service offering.

Today’s Latin American printers are also keen to learn about efficiency and becoming more environmentally aware in their business practices, so visitors to the show will have access to educational content that will enable them to explore Planet Friendly Printing in more detail.

At FESPA Mexico 2012 and FESPA Brazil 2013, print business experts will be delivering insight and value added content during the daily Conference Program with sessions tackling diverse subjects including Planet Friendly Printing, market trends, technology and business building. All seminars are created to help print businesses find ways to secure new business, improve performance and increase their bottom line.