Printing Industry Commentary & Analysis

That Was the Expo That Was: SGIA Recap

Richard Romano gives a walk through of SGIA Expo-held October 18-20 in Las Vegas- where every conceivable surface and object was printed on for his enjoyment.

Time for an Updated Worldwide Printing Forecast

NPES has commissioned The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) to produce an updated worldwide print forecast. WhatTheyThink's Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke with Ken Lane, Business Development Manager, Americas, Economist Intelligence Unit, an Economist Group Business, along with representatives from NPES, to learn more about what to expect from the forecast.

TransPromo: Are the Stars Finally Aligned?

While the concept of TransPromo remains intriguing, many enterprises have found that it is not as simple as it seems in practice. This article discusses the evolution of transpromotional communications, citing a recent article by Matt Swain and Cary Sherburne entitled TransPromo Today: An Industry Perspective.

3-Year drupa Cycle Starting in 2015?

Messe Düsseldorf created a bit of a stir when it announced it was considering moving to a 3-year show cycle starting in 2015. WhatTheyThink's Senior Editor Cary Sherburne reached out to a few drupa stakeholders to get their opinions.

Next Up: Ipex

With drupa and Graph Expo under our respective belts, Ipex is looming on the horizon scheduled for London, March 26th through April 2nd. WhatTheyThink Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke with Trevor Crawford, Director of the Print + Media Group for Informa Exhibitions during his recent visit to Chicago.

All the News from Lake Ontario: Kodak and Xerox Offer Updates on Their Strategic Plans at Graph Expo

At Graph Expo, both presented status reports: Kodak, on continuing to manage its emergence from bankruptcy; Xerox, on maintaining its commitment to graphics as the company shifts increasingly towards services.

How Valuation and Post-Transaction Intent Mold the Shape of M&As To Come

For printers seeking to acquire another company or to be acquired by one, the options are straightforward. Where does your business fit in the M&A planning matrix?

Next Wave: Get Ready

You know you should worry when Dr. Joe uses phrases like "simultaneous critical mass." Then we find out that he thinks that data talks to him. His frugal ways are evident as he delights in the prospect of free broadband. Then there are boats and planes, too. It might be worth reading to make sure the next wave of innovation to hit the market is not one that means "goodbye" for your business.

Latest on Landa Nanographic Printing...and more

During Graph Expo, I had the pleasure of meeting with Benny Landa to learn more about the progress of Landa Nanographic Printing since it took many of the headlines at drupa 2012. We also discussed other initiatives Mr. Landa has underway in Landa Labs, which has the tagline "Big Things from Small Particles."

Measuring Activity Instead of Results

Being busy does not equate to delivering results. We are so caught up in the culture of busy we forget to reflect on why we're doing what we do and how it contributes to the results we seek.

Insight Selling – The New Game in Town (Part 2)

According to research conducted by the Corporate Executive Board (CEB) Sales Executive Council (SEC), the Internet has changed the way that customers buy. Customers no longer want suppliers-they want business partners that can show real value by providing business problems.

Viva Las Vegas: Getting the Most Out of the SGIA Expo

This week, today, to be precise, the annual SGIA Expo kicks off at the Las Vegas Convention Center and runs October 18–20. There is a tendency in pre- and post-trade show coverage to recite a litany of vendors, products, and specifications, but one of the important things to understand about the wide-format market is that it is all about applications.

Graph Expo 2012: A Horse of a Different Color

Graph Expo 2012 was quite a different show than previous years, for a lot of reasons that our Senior Editor, Cary Sherburne, discusses in this article.

Media and Elections

Dr. Joe is focused on denial but not in a myopic way. That may make sense once you dig into the column. Or like a lot of his columns, it may drive you to muttering all day. CNN claims that the USPS is being bailed out by election spending. That is, if you believe a decrease is an increase. And much more…

WhatTheyThink.com Speaker Series Livecast from Graph Expo

At Graph Expo 2012, WhatTheyThink livecast a speakers series live from the show floor. The WhatTheyThink.com Speaker Series, designed as a "show within a show," featured engaging discussions with industry experts, end-users and seasoned professionals moderated by the editors of WhatTheyThink.com.

Insight Selling – The New Game in Town

In the July/August Edition of the Harvard Business Review, Matthew Dixon published an article entitled The End of Solution Sales. Customers no longer need suppliers because they can find out a great deal of information on their own. This article discusses the concept of "insight selling," which involves bringing value to customers that can't be found on the Internet.

The "Great Communicator" Wows 'em in the Windy City with Something Very Tiny-and Potentially Very Huge

Nobody else could have made as persuasive a case for an as-yet unproven technology as Benny Landa did at Graph Expo when he captivated a crowd with his vision of nanographic printing.

Silence, or Something Pleasantly Close to It, Is Golden at Graph Expo

If you listen closely, you can hear the new, quieter sound of Graph Expo. It's easier on the ears, and it makes for a much improved trade show experience.

The All Important Interview

The interview component of the hiring process is often the weakest link in winning the talent war. Too frequently the interviewee is better prepared for the interview than the interviewer. One of the greatest challenges that senior executives face is to build a team of talented employees; and getting the interview component of this process right is critical.

Web-to-Print Acquisition Analysis: EFI Buys OPS

The web-to-print market is fragmented and hard to determine clear leadership or market share. EFI's acquisition of OPS consolidates the market (slightly). EFI's market share will grow, their product offering will be more comprehensive, and OPS will benefit from EFI's well developed channel partnerships.

Mobile Marketing and the Silent Salesperson

Marketers across a variety of business segments are beginning to look at QR codes as a "silent salesperson" that can bring a competitive edge. This article provides examples of this trend within the automotive, retail, and real estate markets.

Following the Money in Wide-Format Digital

Scanning through industry publications that cover wide-format digital markets can be a daunting task for any company just approaching this area. The purpose of this article is to focus in on the center of the wide-format digital bulls-eye, and find out the markets and products that make up a majority of the money made using this technology.

Drupa 2012, the Inkjet Drupa…again? Cut Sheet: Breaking the rules or being creative?

With this sixteenth article of the series, David begins to look at companies and their 'future' production inkjet offerings and applications. In this article he looks at companies that were offset or electrophotography (EP), but are integrating inkjet into their product lines.

Setting Yourself Apart Through Technology Part 2

The Fuji J Press 720 was the only inkjet press to win an InterTech award for 2012. As with any piece of equipment the market and needs of the customer should dictate the piece of equipment. This press allows for an easy integration into the offset environment due to its hybrid nature and use of existing bindery equipment.

Display Graphics on Display at Upcoming Graph Expo

The month of October brings a brace of major trade shows for the printing industry; October 7–10 brings Graph Expo, as it always does, to McCormick Place in Chicago, while October 18–20 brings the annual SGIA Expo to the Las Vegas Convention Center. WhatTheyThink will be on the prowl at both shows with video, actual written reports, and more.

SG360°: Taking Care of Business

Repositioning a printing company involves making hard decisions about how the printing market is shifting to new and different media, developing the right product and services, and effectively communicating this transformation to customers and prospects. This article describes how Illinois-based Segerdahl group repositioned itself as SG360° to evolve with the market.

Looking Back – Looking Forward

After 50+ years in the printing industry, and over a thousand articles, Andy's final article looks back to where it all began and looks forward to what the future may hold.

Heidelberg Hosts Customer Educational Event in Atlanta Technology Center

Heidelberg recently hosted a customer event at its North American Print & Packaging Technology Center in Atlanta for nearly 100 printing professionals and WhatTheyThink's Senior Editor Cary Sherburne was there. We spent an extra day with Heidelberg executives and product managers to gain more insight into what we saw at the event and at drupa as well as to discuss future strategies for Heidelberg in North America. Read more.

Would You Like To Win The Talent War?

The process of assessing people for specific jobs is one of the most important tasks within an organization. Winning the talent war can impact all aspects of your business from sales, management effectiveness, client retention as well as product/service innovation.

Proforma's New Business Model for Printers: Sell More, Print Less!

In 1978, Gregory Muzzillo and a college friend founded Proforma because they saw an opportunity to start a business with no capital investment. Print distributors are independent agents that sell the services of printing firms. This article discusses how Proforma expanded its business and those of its customers by moving to a visionary franchise model.

A Print Industry "Oligopoly" is on the Way: Are You In, or Are You Out?

Given present trends, the industry could be dominated by a relative handful of firms in a few years. Some companies can grow profitably into this new landscape. Others can make a safe exit before it fully unfolds. Each outcome demands a strategy-now.

The Price of Inkjet Ink

Will inkjet ink prices come down? Sean Smyth of Digital Demand World, the publication for the digital print industry, looks at the current trends

Fear and the Fed?

The Fed took a look at the economy last week and panicked. In printing industry terms, they increased their run lengths and their page counts, and there's more money printing on the way. It's not much, just $1.4 trillion. What's a few billion dollars amongst friends?

Expand Our Thinking About Web-to-Print

Web-to-print has to become the set of tools that enable printers to be competitive on the web. This is a whole lot more than a B2B business card site. It requires us to rethink the way we shop for solutions and partners.

From Bindery to Digital Books… Printing is Good Business for Bridgeport National Bindery

For the majority of its 65-year history, Bridgeport National Bindery (Agawam, MA) established its name by providing bookbinding. In 2003, Bridgeport began printing to satisfy the demand for single-run production. This article outlines how BNB has evolved its services to meet customers' changing needs.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Wide-Format Printer: Learn to Think Creatively

In last week's feature, guest writer Dan Marx outlined five "essential truths" about wide-format printing, and in his introduction he mentioned that he's witnessed "a full-blown revolution: a complete movement away from old-school analog technology." Over the past several months, as I have spoken to equipment manufacturers and suppliers for these weekly features, as well as other analysts, one thing that always comes up is the fact that more and more traditional printing companies are expanding into wide-format printing

Survival of the Small to Mid-sized Printing Company in Today's Chaotic Environment

This white paper deals with some of the most immediately beneficial strategies that leaders can pursue in increasing their opportunities to survive and thrive. We show how to make an immediate impact and how to improve your long-term business fundamentals.

More Economic Sameness

Dr. Joe explains last Friday's employment report, takes a look at employment in our industry, and explains why ad agency revenues are going up when everything else seems to be going down. Speaking of down, sit down before you read his comments about the latest recovery indicators. Yes, Dr. Doom seems to have infiltrated this column, again.

Don't Hire People Just Like You!

Optimizing the performance of your sales organization can be accomplished by great strategy and superior execution but if you don't begin with the best talent available, successfully executing your strategy will be comprised. And you won't be able to identify, recruit and select the best talent if you don't have a structured, effective set of processes in place.

Pel Hughes Rebuilds Itself as a Marketing Services Business

Like many other local companies, Pel Hughes was affected by Hurricane Katrina. In the aftermath of the hurricane, the company transformed itself from a traditional commercial printer into a marketing service provider. This article outlines the services that Pel Hughes offers its customers and also explores its success with "Drip Marketing" campaigns.

Five Essential Truths About Wide-Format Inkjet

Dan Marx, Vice President Markets & Technologies, SGIA, draws out some "essential truths"-real kernels of wisdom-that can benefit any company looking to enter wide-format or grow their existing efforts in this area.

Setting Yourself Apart Through Technology

Food packaging safety is become a more prominent area in the United States. Insuring that chemicals and odors do not penetrate the package is of great importance to the end customer. Sun Chemical has designed a system of products and procedures to do this.

Insights for Selling to the Financial Industry

Caslon, the management company of PODi, the digital printing initiative, recently analyzed PODi case studies in the financial services industry to determine if there are common challenges and interesting solutions for those challenges.

X-Rite Pantone: An Inside View

Senior Editor Cary Sherburne recently had the opportunity to visit two X-Rite and PANTONE locations, in Grand Rapids MI and Tewksbury MA, respectively, including hands-on with X-Rite instrumentation, a tour of the manufacturing floor, discussions with software engineers, and time with the company’s CEO Tom Vacchiano.

Ricoh: Serious about Marketing Services

Ricoh recently made a significant investment in PTI Marketing Technologies. Barb Pellow interviewed two company executives to garner a better understanding of the implications of this transaction.

Beyond Paper: New Wide-Format Substrate Options

In last week’s feature, we spoke about flatbed wide-format printers, and remarked that one of their big selling points was that they could print on a bewildering variety of materials—increasing the number of applications that creative shops could develop, the more niches shops could carve out for themselves, and the better they could serve their clients.

Identifying and Selecting the Right Sales People – Objectively!

The effectiveness of your recruiting, hiring and promoting strategies has a definitive impact on revenue and profit streams. In a time of industry transformation, when high performing employees are required, it is even more critical that you examine and re-engineer the processes you use to hire talented sales professionals.

Impressive progress in printed electronics signals new market opportunities for printers

With price pressure and volume reductions being forecast for print, the industry it is on the lookout for new opportunities. Adding electronic capability has been on the horizon for many years. After a hiatus instigated by the global slowdown, there are encouraging examples of how print might evolve to create new high-value print products.

Visit to HP “Experience Center” Finds the Graphic Solutions Business Unit in “Business as Usual” Mode

Recent news from HP has been turbulent, raising questions about the status of the company’s graphics business. Some light was shed last week at a customer event at HP’s Graphic Arts Experience Center.

The Outsourcing Equation for Software Integration

In approaching integration, businesses must consider scope and scale, choose between internal versus external execution, and address the associated technical issues to ensure an effective end-result. Given the complexity of the systems integration process and the systems that need to work together, printers may need to seek systems partners rather than walking away from opportunities. This article covers strategies for success when utilizing external systems integration resources.

Wide-Format Flatbed Printers Are On a Roll

Since the advent of the wide-format printing market in the late 1980s/early 1990s, the vast majority of the output devices on the market have been rollfed devices, printing on flexible substrates like paper or canvas that unfurled into the device, rather like a web press. The finished graphic was then often mounted onto a rigid material for display, installation, or other end use.

Heidelberg and Trade Shows

Andy gives his take on why he thinks Heidelberg has made the decision to withdrawl from Ipex 2014

Risk and “Uncertainty” are Not the Same

Don't be uncertain about the risks of reading Dr. Joe's column about risk and uncertainty. It's not often he gets to use the word “actuarial” in a column about printing. Everyone thinks they know what ROI means, but just one little letter makes a big difference.

Drupa 2012, the Inkjet Drupa…again? A closer look at Komori

With this fifteenth article of the series, David begins to look at companies and their ‘future’ production inkjet offerings and applications. In this article he looks at Komori, its products and apparently new role in the sheetfed inkjet space.

Innovation: Easy to Talk About, Hard to Do

Who do we respect most in business? The individuals or companies who talk the best game or the individuals or companies who execute?

Critical Insight for QR Code Success

Although awareness and adoption of QR Codes and other mobile response technologies is growing, there are a number of challenges associated with driving audience interaction and adoption. Best practices are coming to light as companies continue to utilize QR Codes more effectively, leaving little room for excuses when delivering a poor experience to the target audience. Conducting rigorous testing before launching a campaign will help create a great experience that generates results.

Dark Clouds and Silver Linings: The Latest Economic Data May Be Gloomy...But Data are Not Destiny

This week, we’re going to take a step back from our look at the nuts and bolts of wide-format printing technology and look at the industry and the economy from “20,000 feet”—and hopefully not have a William Shatner-esque experience.

Pouring Another Cup O’ Joe: Points for Sellers to Ponder as the M&A Climate Improves

A pent-up eagerness for deals makes it all the more important for those venturing back into the M&A marketplace as sellers to be clear about why they should sell—and why buyers should want to acquire them.

Interpreting Media Use Headlines

Dr. Joe's glad he didn't buy Facebook stock, and explains why the company's stock price matters little to media decision-makers. And then there's the magazine circulation thing. Why is everyone so surprised that it's down? Yet again he rails about inflation, but at least he has some fresh new inflation multipliers to annoy company controllers and CFOs

Become Extraordinary by Building a Loyal Customer Base!

Savvy businesses know that they can build a loyal customer base by providing extraordinary value-added customer service. This article references recent industry research to describe how print service providers can improve loyalty by becoming strategically important to their customers.

Navigating the RIP Tide: Print Workflow Software Comes in All Shapes, Sizes, and Capabilities

Richard provides some features and issues to keep a special eye out for when looking at RIP's for wide-format printing.

What Can We Expect in 2014

Andy gives a followup on some of the responses he received to a recent article where he commented on HP’s decision not to exhibit at the IPEX trade show in 2014.

Are Your Sales People an Asset or Liability?

The role of the sales person has dramatically changed and companies are struggling with how they recruit, hire, compensate, train and manage these essential employees. In order to address this challenge a systematic approach should be designed and implemented. In this series of articles we will address this challenge.

Is the Time Right for Digital Postal Mail?

Digital postal mail system provider Zumbox recently announced that it had secured $10 million in Series C capital, bringing total capital raised to $28 million. What’s driving the interest on the part of investors? Senior Editor Cary Sherburne speaks with Zumbox to learn more.

Pitney Bowes and ORION Printing: Optimizing the Marketing Supply Chain for IPG

ORION Holdings and Pitney Bowes have launched a strategic partnership enabling ORION Holdings to create a new unit, ORION Printing. Through its partnership with Pitney Bowes, ORION Printing will focus on supplying print management solutions to IPG companies globally. This article discusses the actions that marketers can take to increase the efficiency of their processes for ordering, storing, and delivering marketing materials.

When we say ‘Become a Solutions Provider,’ this is what we mean

Selling print is a commodity business. In search of higher margins, the mantra is to become a Solutions Provider, aka Marketing Services Provider. Unfortunately the terminology seems to take on many meanings and the message gets diluted.

End Game: In Wide-Format Printing, Finishing is Where the Real Work Begins

Those new to wide-format printing—and even some veterans—often give short shrift to what happens to a print once it comes off press. In wide-format printing, however, the real added value is often in the finishing.

Hierarchy of Needs: Print Customers

Much like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs for humans, printers need to elevate their offerings above quality, service, and price in order to stay competitive.

Fail To Plan, Plan To Fail: the Necessity of Strategizing Acquisitions

It may be possible to run a printing company without a formal plan, but buying or selling a printing company will be very difficult to bring off successfully without the help of a written roadmap. An acquisition plan is a vital navigation aid that guides the process and certifies the desirability of the deal.

Drupa 2012, the Inkjet Drupa…again? A closer look at Founder Electronics

In this fourteenth article of the series, David looks at Founder, its production inkjet offerings and applications.

Requiem for a Heavyweight: The On Demand Printing & Publishing Exposition & Conference

Charlie Corr of mimeo.com looks at some of the history surrounding the On Demand Show

Marketing Automation: Learning How to Pull the Trigger

Using advanced data management and cloud-based marketing tools, marketers can send trigger-based communications and create individual campaigns specifically designed to be sent to members of a defined target audience at precisely the right time. This article provides an overview of trigger-based marketing techniques and describes how small and medium-sized businesses are leveraging trigger-based marketing to improve their bottom lines.

European demographics and advertising trends – how they will affect print

With the Olympics starting in London, let’s turn our attention to Europe and specifically the future of print and paper in Europe.

Beyond the Pale: White Inks Offer Unique Wide-Format Challenges and Applications

Those of us used to traditional offset and digital printing rarely give the concept of white ink a second thought. After all, “white” is typically synonymous with the color of paper, so when we want something to be white, we design it with the absence of any color. (Tellingly, in Adobe InDesign, we select the color swatch labeled “Paper.”) There are situations, however, when—oxymoronic as it may seem—we need to specify the color white.

Heidelberg, A New Vision for the Future?

Last week the following significant announcement was made about the future of Heidelberg. Bernhard Schreier, CEO of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg), will not be extending his management contract when it expires midyear 2013 and will be leaving the company at the end of 2012.

Powerful Lessons in Personal Change

Steven Covey died recently. He helped people be more effective by helping them develop a set of Habits based on principles. Start with an end in mind and then create personal and interpersonal habits to help you get what you want effectively.

Printing in Brazil: Rodrigo Abreu Talks About AlphaGraphics

Senior Editor Cary Sherburne was recently the keynote speaker at ABIGRAF’s GEDIGI digital printing conference in São Paulo, Brazil, and spent time with Rodrigo Abreu, the holder of the International Master License for AlphaGraphics in Brazil. Read what Rodrigo has to say about printing in Brazil and some of the innovative actions he is taking to grow the business.

A Refresher Course: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Author and businessman Stephen R. Covey recently passed away at the age of 79. This article highlights the key points from Covey’s 1989 bestseller entitled The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and explains how these concepts remain relevant for today’s businesses.

Wide-Format Printing Presents Unique Sustainability Challenges, Opportunities

The past five years have seen an increased discussion of, and emphasis on, the idea of “sustainability.” Sustainability can refer to many things, but one of the oft-discussed components of it is environmental sustainability. That is, what is the impact of a product or process on the environment, and what are the ways of reducing that impact?

Relevance and Industry Capacity

Here Dr. Joe goes again, on another capacity rant. It's about two years since his last one, so we guess we should cut him some slack. This time he takes a slightly different look, or at least he says he did. You decide.

Canon’s Dennis Amorosano Talks about Cloud, Mobility and More

WhatTheyThink Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke with Dennis Amorosano, Sr. Director, Solutions Marketing & Business Support at Canon USA, to learn what Canon is doing in the Cloud/Mobility space in a wide-ranging discussion from the office and production into the Cloud.

High Speed Inkjet: Part of the Integrated Customer Experience at First Data

Ricoh Production Print Solutions LLC recently completed a large-scale implementation at First Data (Atlanta, GA). This article covers Barb Pellow’s interview with First Data executives as they discuss how the company is using print technology in a cross-media world.

Who’s Going to IPEX?

A major piece of news in recently has been the decision of HP not to exhibit at IPEX. Andy gives his opinion on why he thinks this decision was made.

Recovery Indicators Take an Interesting Wrong Turn

The recovery continues to limp along, and then the Commerce Department says that May printing shipments were just incredibly good. Sure, they tease us a few weeks ago by yanking $600 million in shipments from the first quarter in their annual revision, and now it looks like someone may have snuck them back into May when they thought no one was looking. Dr. Joe explains it all, including a great way to get back to sleep when insomnia hits.

Outlook for Digital Printing for Packaging

Digital Printing for Packaging is growing quickly; by 2016 it will be worth nearly $12.2 billion, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.6% during 2011–16. This equates to 37 billion A4 prints in 2011 and 75.9 billion in 2016. The growth is driven by the changing demands of packaging buyers – more varieties and pack sizes is fragmenting the market, leading to shorter runs that digital technology can produce economically

Clean and Simple: FlexoConcepts Offers Uncomplicated Solution for Better Washups

With its microprocessors, relays, sensors, and software, a modern printing press is a marvel at squeezing time and cost out of production runs. But, one maker of press cleaning accessories contends that these complex systems can still get a big helping hand in a key press function from a simple but strategically placed strip of durable plastic.

Drupa 2012, the Inkjet Drupa…again? A closer look at IMPIKA

In this thirteenth article of the series, David looks at IMPIKA, its production inkjet offerings and applications.

A Tour of Canon’s Suzhou facility

WhatTheyThink recently joined other editors and analysts on a media tour of Canon’s production facility in Suzhou, China. The visit was part of a second leg of a trip that included a visit to the company’s Tokyo headquarters. The plant tour in Suzhou was an opportunity to see the Canon production system up close.

New President of Sharp Imaging and Information shares vision of future for Sharp

Doug Albregts has been President of Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (SIICA) since November 2012. He talks with Senior Editor Cary Sherburne about why he chose Sharp and the company’s prospects.

CEO Fujio Mitarai and Canon Host US Media Tour

WhatTheyThink recently joined other editors and analysts on a media tour to Canon’s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. There, we were given a unique opportunity to hear from Canon Chairman & CEO Fujio Mitarai on his “5 Year Plan” strategy that focuses on reforming production and a profitable position in the markets they serve.

Symcor: Being Strategic in Re-tooling Workflow

Erika Andersen’s book entitled Being Strategic: Plan for Success, Out-think Your Competitors, Stay Ahead of Change explains how to approach business in a strategic manner. This article highlights tips from the book and provides a real-world example of how Symcor is re-tooling its business to become more strategic.

HP and IPEX 2014: The Full Story

HP surprised the printing industry when the news came out last week that the company had decided not to exhibit at Ipex 2014, which is moving from its long-time location in Birmingham to new digs in London. Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke with HP’s Sumeer Chandra to get a better understanding of what was behind this decision, and also includes an official statement from IPEX.

Look Before You Leap

Developing a business plan focused on the needs of your market is more critical now than ever to help you stay in business. Rapid advances in technology give you more options on how to grow and take your business forward. Equipment and service decisions need to be driven by your market needs – not your competition.

Think Patented Buys Big at drupa

We’ve heard the vendor reports about drupa successes and seen the press releases rolling out. But there is nothing better than speaking directly to buyers. Think Patented bought big at drupa and Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke with Chairman and Managing Partner Niels Winther and CEO and Managing Partner, Ken McNerney to find out more.

Xerox CMO Christa Carone Discusses How to Engage Marketing Executives

Barb Pellow recently had the opportunity to interview Christa Carone, Chief Marketing Officer at Xerox. This article offers highlights from the interview, including key challenges that service providers face and how to address these challenges head-on.

Packaging at drupa 2012: Some Out-of-the-Box ideas!

While drupa isn’t technically a packaging show, there were many packaging solutions on display and a great deal of interest in the segment on the part of visitors. Senior Editor Cary Sherburne reviews a few of the new development she came across as she traversed the many halls in Messe Dusseldorf during her 12 days of drupa …

Embrace Software (Just Like You Did with Manufacturing)

Software is the tool to remain relevant and integrated with the new communication methods. The print industry’s future will depend on embracing software like we did manufacturing – creating new reasons to print and optimizing and integrating existing applications.

Toshiba's No-Print Day is Awkward and Scandalous, But Don’t Let It Divert You from Bigger Trends

The industry's hackles have been raised by Toshiba's No-Print Day, and it's ironic that the company picks a date with some historical importance for print to hold the event. Toshiba's thinking needs to be confronted, but engagement with their audiences is a more important action for our associations and our businesses.

Postal Vision 2020 v2.0; USPS Strategy Opportunity as a “Platform”

The second Postal Vision conference drew 150 attendees to Washington DC’s L’Enfant Plaza Hotel. This was two Metro stops from the real decision makers, i.e., Congress and the United States Postal Service. No one from Congress could squeeze it in but USPS’ new Digital Solutions President and Strategic Planning Manager were in attendance as well as representatives of the two primary Postal Unions for the two-day duration.

Toshiba – Greenwashing Company of the Year

We often get some rather stupid approaches by companies trying to put out marketing messages to enhance their position in the eyes of potential consumers. Sometimes these approaches show just how stupid marketing people can be and in fact show just how little they know of the real situation in the market.

Commentary & Analysis

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