Darwinism and Print

When Darwin published his ‘On the Origin of Species’ in 1859, the establishment were apoplectic. God created the world in 4004 BC, according to the authoritative figure of Bishop Samuel Wilberforce in 1860.

The Vatican was not pleased with Darwin – it fundamentally challenged some of the pillars of Christianity itself. Who knows, in another 100 years we may find a different body of evidence that changes our established beliefs again and we find that Darwin was totally wrong? But for now, the perceived wisdom is that he’s right. On the 11^th of February 2009, the Vatican finally accepted he may be right after all!

Contrary to the naysayers, print is not on the 'endangered species' list and is not going to go away anytime soon. It is, however, changing at an ever increasing pace. When we consider how much ‘unused’ (irrelevant, unread, out of date or just too many printed in the first place) print has been thrown away over the years (some estimates put the figure at 60%) the size of the ‘printing industry’ (by volume of paper converted) has always been artificially large by any metric based on marketing effectiveness or efficiency.

Environmental concerns, the impact of alternative communication channels and the global economic tsunami have forced those that commission print to reassess its value in the marketing mix. We should get used to fact that our ‘industry’ will never be the same again. By the time we get through this recession, the old lithographic printing business model will be but a distant memory for all but the ultra lean and mean super sites soaking up the last of the volume market before the more agile performers eat their lunch with next generation high speed, high quality variable content inkjet machines. Those ‘agile performers’ will have evolved rapidly into data centric, service oriented multi-channel providers of marketing solutions.

There is a window of opportunity between now and then to lay down your marker and join the elite band of visionaries who will shape the future of (arguably) the most important development in the history of Humankind – PRINT!

Planning to be Successful with W2P

Whilst many Printers now accept that high-end digital printing technology can and will become the master of litho, the concept of selling print online has not achieved the same front of mind status. There are still a majority of Print businesses out there that have not yet embraced W2P, and many of those that have tried have failed to implement successfully for a variety of reasons, the main ones usually being a flawed strategy and a lack of effective implementation planning.

There are many lessons to be learned about how the use of media is changing in diverse socio-demographic groups as a direct consequence of the rapid change in communications technology. Print is not immune from these same forces (print is, after all, just another communication medium) and we ignore the lessons of the last five years of media convergence at our peril! The pace of change is also quickening and we have some tantalising glimpses of what the near future might look like, but what impact will these changes have on Print? If only we could accurately predict five years out we’d all be multi-millionaires – but one thing is for sure; if it doesn’t need to be printed, it won’t be! Faced with an avalanche of alternative channels such as TwitFaceBlogLinkWave, we need to change the conversations we have with the Marketers so that they truly understand the relevance, effectiveness and efficiencies of an e-enabled print solution as part of the marketing mix. There is much talk about Printers becoming ‘Marketing Services Provider’ instead of ‘Print Services Provider’, offering purls, e-mails et al to the CMO. Most Print businesses, with 2-3 years of lease payments still to go, should be focussed on generating cash and that means filling those presses, both litho and digital. If you’ve never sold print online successfully, what credibility will you have to take on a marketer’s online digital marketing? W2P should be the first logical step on the ladder to becoming that elusive MSP.

You can plan for online success by creating a winning Strategy, an efficient Implementation and an effective Marketing plan that is realistic, achievable and sustainable. If you don't plan, you won't succeed.

Now is the time to take your business online.

http://www.w2p.co.uk

Magazines are fighting back

The Wall Street Journal reports that some magazine publishers in the US are forming a Joint Venture to take their content online:

LEADING PUBLISHERS FORM VENTURE TO OFFER CONSUMERS NEW DIGITAL STOREFRONT AND PORTABLE READING EXPERIENCE

Initiative Will also Offer Marketers Rich Array of Innovative Advertising Opportunities

New York, NY, December 8, 2009 – Condé Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corporation and Time Inc. today jointly announced that they have entered into an independent venture to develop open standards for a new digital storefront and related technology that will allow consumers to enjoy their favorite media content on portable digital devices.

The goal of this digital initiative is fourfold, to create: a highly featured common reading application capable of rendering the distinctive look and feel of each publication; a robust publishing platform optimized for multiple devices, operating systems and screen sizes; a consumer storefront offering an extensive selection of reading options; and a rich array of innovative advertising opportunities.

I particularly like the last comment: 'a rich array of innovative advertising opportunities', which to me could potentially mean all sorts of spin offs for what I call 'TCP' or 'Targeted Content Printing'. Being able to target digital ads to known subscribers could also spawn a new genre in highly relevant printed pieces, as a part of a multi-touch campaign.

Print is not dead; it's just evolving in more ways, and more quickly, than we anticipated.

www.w2p.co.uk

Wi-Fi Direct

The Wi-Fi Alliance announced today that it is preparing a new standard for what it calls 'Wi-Fi Direct' which will be implemented in 2010.

'Wi-Fi devices will soon be able to connect in a new way that makes it more simple and convenient than ever to do things like print, share and display. The Wi-Fi Alliance is nearing completion of a new specification to enable Wi-Fi devices to connect to one another without joining a traditional home, office, or hotspot network. The Wi-Fi Alliance expects to begin certification for this new specification in mid-2010, and products which achieve the certification will be designated Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Wi-Fi Direct.

The specification, previously code-named "Wi-Fi peer-to-peer," can be implemented in any Wi-Fi device, from mobile phones, cameras, printers, and notebook computers, to human interface devices such as keyboards and headphones. Significantly, devices that have been certified to the new specification will also be able to create connections with hundreds of millions of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED legacy devices already in use. Devices will be able to make a one-to-one connection, or a group of several devices can connect simultaneously.

"Wi-Fi Direct represents a leap forward for our industry. Wi-Fi users worldwide will benefit from a single-technology solution to transfer content and share applications quickly and easily among devices, even when a Wi-Fi access point isn't available," said Wi-Fi Alliance executive director Edgar Figueroa. "The impact is that Wi-Fi will become even more pervasive and useful for consumers and across the enterprise."

So, photos and documents will be easier to access across multiple devices and locations than ever before. Needless to say this will create opportunities for some in the Printing industry, but problems for others. One thing's for sure, now is the time to take your Printing business online!

www.w2p.co.uk

W2P at Print 09

It never ceases to amaze me how few Europeans visit the US trade shows like Print 09, despite the fact that, particularly for residents of the UK, the cost of travel and accommodation is relatively low. Having said that, there weren't that many American visitors in evidence either, although I suspect that was more because companies only sent one representative instead of the usual 2, 3 or 4 people. I was there on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, the latter being the busiest day.

What made the trip extremely worthwhile from my perspective was the opportunity to spend time with the movers and shakers of the Web-to-Print world. These are the people who are helping to shape the future of the Printing Industry as it moves inexorably into the brave new world of multi-channel communications. There are some Printing businesses out there that are doing great things with W2P and making very good money but they are not telling the rest of the Printing Industry what they are doing. Why should they? If you hit on a rich seam of profitability would you tell everybody where it was? Of course not! The W2P vendors know who's doing what with their applications and whilst they're probably not allowed to say exactly, they have amassed a huge knowledge base of how and why certain markets, applications and methodologies work better than others. This isn't stuff you can put in a brochure or a webinar, this is deep stuff that requires detailed discussion and analysis; the sort you can only do face to face. When this kind of intimate knowledge is available in one place, from all the key vendors and in an environment which lends itself so well to this sort of research, the Printing Industry has no excuse if it misses this particular boat.

The next big global exhibition is Ipex in May 2010 in Birmingham, UK. Hopefully, by then, any green shoots of recovery will have taken proper root and Printers with a realistic business plan will be able to raise money once again. I, for one, do not believe that any business plan would be complete without some form of online strategy. I know that this view is also shared by many of the lenders. It isn't rocket science to realise that the world of communication media is changing rapidly and that that change is taking place online. Print has its place in the mix but unless you can demonstrate where that place is now, and how it might change over time, it's unlikely anyone is going to invest in your operation. Recognising that long-run general commercial litho is in trouble (I heard a marketer say 'brochures often don't work any more') I have a phrase I use to describe the current state of play:

'Print is not dead, nor is it dying; it's use, however, is evolving in more ways, and more quickly, than the Printing Industry anticipated'

It's such a shame that when events like Print 09 offer such a great opportunity to learn, those that need it most stay away in their droves.

Now is the time to take your business online.

www.w2p.co.uk

Video-in-Print - Remember 8 track tape anyone?

I was intrigued to learn of the 'Video-in-Print' tie-up between CBS and Entertainment Weekly Magazine, supported by advertising from PepsiCo. This 'new technology' puts a small mobile phone sized thin film LCD display which is 2.7mm thick into a printed carrier that can play 40 minutes of video at 320 x 240 resolution (CBS TV previews and Pepsi adverts). The battery lasts for 70 minutes but can be recharged via a mini-USB and new content downloaded the same way. Take a look at this YouTube clip of the product in action.

Now, I'm normally the one who waxes lyrical at anything new that helps Print to reposition itself in this multi-channel communication world we live in but I just can't get excited about this development. In fact, I think it might do the image of print some harm. Firstly, however, let me congratulate the parties concerned for some innovative thinking and some brave execution. Presumably, because of production and distribution costs, only those living in Los Angeles and New York will get their copy of Entertainment Weekly with this 'state-of-the-art' Video-in-Print technology bound into the magazine on the 18th September (just after Print 09 finishes). Americhip, the creator, has trademarked the term 'Multisensorizing'; they are responsible for such things as singing greetings cards and other inserts that talk, sing, pop-up, smell, spin, twist and light-up. They do this for some serious global players and have been doing so for some time.

I hate to admit it but I remember 8 track tape in the late 60s and early 70s (my Dad had a system in the car - it was the iPod of it's day). However, unlike the iPod, it was a large, cumbersome device. There was very little choice of music recorded on this format. The tapes were hard to get hold of and took up too much space. Even then, it was pretty obvious that there would be other technologies that would replace it fairly soon. There is a lively trade for 8 track now as a retro novelty item!

Notwithstanding the first mover advantage and the PR generated because of the novelty factor (73,000 YouTube hits together with numerous tweets, blogs and forums), I do think this will go the same way as 8 Track. When we consider how many cell phones have both cameras and internet access now, and how many there will be in a few short years (according to the latest industry stats, by 2012, one third of the world's population will have a camera phone), the simple addition of a printed 2d barcode from one of the many vendors will render the 'Video-in-Print' approach obsolete. For those of you not familiar with this current technology (used extensively in Japan), your cell phone camera 'scans' a special barcode on the printed piece (or billboard or TV screen). The code sends your cell phone online to whatever video, website, rich text file or personalised landing page that was held within the code. This destination and content can be changed at will by the publisher and can also recognise in real-time (through GPS on the phone) where the consumer is and what information he or she is looking at. Assuming permission is granted, content and location-specific advertising can then be pushed, again in real-time, directly to the cell phone.
An alternative to 2d barcodes would be printed RFID tags which could interact with other wireless devices in what is known as the 'Internet of Things', coming soon to household appliances, cars, clothing, food and goodness knows what else!

There are other reasons I think 'Video-in-Print' will be short-lived:

• Cost of production and distribution
• Static content unless user 'pulls' new content
• Batteries will discharge over a short time-frame
• Nightmare to recycle
• Poor carbon footprint
• Limited image quality compared to HD coming on iPhone
• Limited versioning and no personalisation capability
• Unlikely you'd take it to the pub with you to show your mates
• It's too big and it's not even interactive
• Harry Potter's 'Daily Prophet' is more likely to happen on an e-reader

The danger to Print is that this will be perceived as yet another reason why Print is not eco-friendly. Some commentators, I'm sure, especially in online marketing companies competing for budget, will point to this as another reason to say that the printed page is losing the plot. I don't think this is the kind of exposure Print needs right now.

So I think Americhip will make some money on it in the short term, and I certainly want to get my hands on a magazine with this technology inserted. I'll keep it in pristine condition and advertise it on ebay in around 2013

Now is the time to take your printing business online.

www.w2p.co.uk

Web-to-Print is #1 at Print 09

It shouldn't come as a much of a surprise to anyone that Web-to-Print (W2P) has been voted as a #1 application that must be seen at the forthcoming Print 09 show in Chicago in September.

Together with IT and MIS, W2P was rated joint top of a list of core essentials for the profitable survival of Printing businesses in what the organisers of the show, GASC (Graphic Arts Show Company), call the 'Must See'Ems'. A panel of 21 international analysts, consultants, educators and editors voted for the ten most important elements that would help Printers to come through the recession. This is the full list:

1. IT
1. W2P
1. MIS
4. Variable Digital Printing
5. Workflow
6. Colour Management
6. Cross Media Production
8. Automated Equipment
9. Customer Relationship Management
10. PreFlighting

The group of judges stated that Printing has become 'Computer-Centric', meaning that Print buyers are increasingly purchasing online, any communication with a Printer is increasingly happening online and that content management is increasingly taking place online. They went on to say that the computer skills of most Printers, however, are limited to estimating and pre-press. There is a distinct lack of skill when it comes to IT and e-commerce.

Print 09 is being billed as a 'Software Show'. There will, of course, be plenty of interesting bits of shiny metal on show that could help your business but these days, if you don't have an effective and efficient online customer interface, there's not going to be much point in being 'Lean and Mean'.
I know it's going to be hard for many to find the time to visit Print 09 in the current climate but, it would be very beneficial for most to talk to all the W2P vendors. Some of these companies are introducing programs to help Printers understand the complexities of trading online. These courses will fill up very quickly.

Now is the time to take your business online.

www.w2p.co.uk