The keynote theatres were packed; standing room only and Health and Safety officers refusing entry to hundreds who could not get in as they were not in the queue at least 15 minutes before the presentation. 400-500 attendees at each session were not disappointed as speaker after speaker showed how digital marketing techniques, when correctly applied, can give results that are nothing short of 'spectacular', 'game-changing' and 'unprecedented'. Check out this http://tinyurl.com/cmtykj YouTube video of Scott Seaborn, head of Mobile at Ogilvy in the UK. I found this particularly interesting as it features Kodak (consumer) and the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens tournament.
The general theme at the show, wherever you looked, whomever you listened to, was that digital marketing allows you to communicate on a one to one basis like never before. This gives me tremendous hope for the future of digital printing (alas, I fear that conventional litho will suffer even more as a result) as marketers get their heads around how to use this data more effectively. The tools are definitely now there to deliver digital messages to the right people, at the right time, at the right place, with the right offer. Print now needs to communicate its potential role in the mix to the right people, at the right time, at the right place, with the right offer. Simple isn't it?
There was one representative from the printing industry exhibiting at the show. Ivor Jacobs (Ivor Solution ltd) whom I worked with in 1997 with the launch of Card Corporation was showing Web-to-Print for business stationery www.businessweb2print.co.uk and photo products. Ivor has always been ahead of the game and still is. Congratulations Ivor, your pioneering spirit is a lesson to us all! Another company, Lorien Unique, presented its Institute of Direct Marketing case study in one of the seminar theatres. This discusses the benefits of multi-channel marketing.
www.w2p.co.uk
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Internet World Exhibition
It's had no coverage in the printing trade press, very few people from the printing industry even know it's on and nobody that deals with printing technology is talking about it in the blogosphere. What is it? Internet World, the largest exhibition of internet stuff in Europe. Ever! It's on now at Earls Court in London.
To give you an idea of scale, there are more than 200 seminars across 6 theatres, split into specific areas: eCommerce Theatre, Email, Mobile Marketing & Analytics Theatre, Enterprise2.0 & Content Management Theatre, Connectivity and Hosting Theatre, Mobile, Online Advertising, Affilite & SEO Theatre and the Web2.0, Social Networking, Usability & Design Theatre.
There are over 320 suppliers exhibiting and there are more than 20 keynote presentations from the top marketers of companies such as:
Virgin, John Lewis, Porsche, Monster, B&Q, Barclays, HMV, Mars, Disney, Ogilvy, Hilton, LoveFilm and more.
There are also special networking sessions, an Agency day, roundtable discussions and, of course, lots of twittering and facebooking going on.
Marketers are going there to learn about digital marketing. I have seen no evidence of the word 'print' anywhere. There are no representatives of any of the printing industry bodies, either UK or European, on any booth or presenting any seminars. There is no evidence of any of the 'Cross Media' companies such as MindFire, EasyPurls, XMPie, Online Print Solutions or Pageflex to put across the relevance of print in the digital mix. There are no representatives from the world of Web-to-Print (except perhaps me and a handful of other visitors). There are no printers (sorry, that should be 'Marketing Services Providers').
If, as an industry, we are going to rise to the challenge of changing our business models, it should start with learning where the threats and opportunities lie. We should start banging the drum about the effectiveness of targeted print at events like this, instead of complaining about attendance levels at Print shows.
I'll be here for two days so I'll blog some more about what I see and hear.
www.w2p.co.uk
To give you an idea of scale, there are more than 200 seminars across 6 theatres, split into specific areas: eCommerce Theatre, Email, Mobile Marketing & Analytics Theatre, Enterprise2.0 & Content Management Theatre, Connectivity and Hosting Theatre, Mobile, Online Advertising, Affilite & SEO Theatre and the Web2.0, Social Networking, Usability & Design Theatre.
There are over 320 suppliers exhibiting and there are more than 20 keynote presentations from the top marketers of companies such as:
Virgin, John Lewis, Porsche, Monster, B&Q, Barclays, HMV, Mars, Disney, Ogilvy, Hilton, LoveFilm and more.
There are also special networking sessions, an Agency day, roundtable discussions and, of course, lots of twittering and facebooking going on.
Marketers are going there to learn about digital marketing. I have seen no evidence of the word 'print' anywhere. There are no representatives of any of the printing industry bodies, either UK or European, on any booth or presenting any seminars. There is no evidence of any of the 'Cross Media' companies such as MindFire, EasyPurls, XMPie, Online Print Solutions or Pageflex to put across the relevance of print in the digital mix. There are no representatives from the world of Web-to-Print (except perhaps me and a handful of other visitors). There are no printers (sorry, that should be 'Marketing Services Providers').
If, as an industry, we are going to rise to the challenge of changing our business models, it should start with learning where the threats and opportunities lie. We should start banging the drum about the effectiveness of targeted print at events like this, instead of complaining about attendance levels at Print shows.
I'll be here for two days so I'll blog some more about what I see and hear.
www.w2p.co.uk
Friday, 24 April 2009
BAPC survey highlights Web-to-Print
Hot on the heels of a US survey from Dr Joe Webb showing over 7,000 small printers think Web-to-Print is a critical factor for their businesses, the British Association of Print and Communications (BAPC) has released its own survey. In April 2009, it received responses from 473 member companies with what they felt were the critical issues facing their business in order of priority:
21.5% Web-to-Print
21.5% Marketing
18.0% Sales
16.0% Business Climate
08.0% Human Resources
07.5% Equipment
07.5% Environment
The majority of these businesses employ fewer than 15 people and almost certainly use digital printing technologies. It does feel as if W2P is finally being recognised as either a threat, an opportunity, or both.
What's needed is a strategy and an achievable implementation plan.
www.w2p.co.uk
21.5% Web-to-Print
21.5% Marketing
18.0% Sales
16.0% Business Climate
08.0% Human Resources
07.5% Equipment
07.5% Environment
The majority of these businesses employ fewer than 15 people and almost certainly use digital printing technologies. It does feel as if W2P is finally being recognised as either a threat, an opportunity, or both.
What's needed is a strategy and an achievable implementation plan.
www.w2p.co.uk
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Web-to-Print at NorthPrint in Harrogate
Despite talk of NorthPrint being cancelled due to the recession, it would appear that visitor numbers are looking quite promising and some are now struggling to find hotel rooms in the town. Harrogate (my home town) is wonderful in the Spring sunshine and there are some truly great restaurants. If you needed any more motivation to visit a small but well produced trade show, many Web-to-Print vendors will be showing their wares.
RedTie, EFI and Mtivity all have stands whilst Press-Sense will be shown on the Presstek stand, XMPie will be shown on the Trapeze Mailing Services stand, PrintGroove on the Konica Minolta stand and Ricoh will be showing DSF.
For more information click www.northprintexpo.com
RedTie, EFI and Mtivity all have stands whilst Press-Sense will be shown on the Presstek stand, XMPie will be shown on the Trapeze Mailing Services stand, PrintGroove on the Konica Minolta stand and Ricoh will be showing DSF.
For more information click www.northprintexpo.com
Friday, 10 April 2009
Web-to-Print in the US
On WTT, Dr Joe Webb has compiled some very interesting statistics regarding the size of the market opportunity for W2P solutions in the US. As usual, he has dug deep into the raw numbers to provide a perspective of what's really going on in the market place. You can find the article and his commentary here.
www.w2p.co.uk
www.w2p.co.uk
Friday, 3 April 2009
Web-to-Print at OnDemand
With the exhibition hall doors now open after the keynote speakers had finished, a larger than expected crowd made its way onto the floor. Many of the big names in hardware were there; Canon, Xerox, Konica, Oce, InfoPrint, Presstek, Fuji etc. (HP did not show Indigo presses and Kodak pulled out). Much of what I had come to see could be found on the smaller booths where all that was required to do a demonstration was a laptop, a chair and someone who knew what they were talking about!
The first stand I came to was Pageflex and, as it turns out, they had several new plays to announce: Pageflex Studio ID is a desktop plugin for Adobe InDesign CS4 more here Pageflex Storefront can now be integrated with Adobe InDesign CS4 Server Pageflex Storefront is now integrated with DirectSmile Online. PrimeGroup in the UK has been pioneering this integration. Lastly, Pageflex has released a charting application, with the creative name of 'Pageflex Chart' more here Quite predictably, these days, Pageflex won 2 'Best in Show' awards for web-to-print and document creation. Another application from Pageflex that is extremely useful is an iPhone App called 'WhatTheFont' It's in the App Store and if you are in the Print game it's a must have!
Just down the aisle the only British W2P vendor exhibiting, RedTie, is making a big splash across the pond and announced a new office in New York together with a gaggle of very experienced people to take the RedTie message across the continent. RedTie has also launched its Managed Services facility to help first time users (or very busy existing users) to deploy sites with a minimum of time and fuss, thereby eliminating the first timer's 'angst'.
NowDocs announced several new features. With the launch of NowDocs v7.0, the GUI has had a major overhaul and it has integrated XMPie for variable templates, VDP and cross-media campaigns. I didn't see an announcement anywhere but UPS (in the US) was demonstrating a NowDocs driven W2P solution aimed at small businesses.
EFI showed v4.0 of DigitalStoreFront hooked up to a large format printer in a completely integrated end-to-end workflow. This new version has an improved GUI, better approval processes, inventory control and background upload for large format artwork. The European Hosting centre in Sweden is now on stream.
XMPie showed a greatly improved uStore with its new release. Personal Effect 4.6 also won 'Best in Show' Much emphasis was rightly placed on multi-channel marketing and the theatre show (similar to the one at Drupa) was very professional.
OPS (Online Print Solutions) showed an enhanced GUI and a full suite of applications showing the depth and breadth of the offering.
Press-Sense iWay did not have a stand but it's new v5.0 release was evident on the Xerox, InfoPrint, Oce and PressTek stands. This release also shows an improved GUI and catalog facility. HP's SmartStream Director is based on iWay.
Reports on Printable Technologies, GMC, PrinterPresence will come soon.
There will be more to follow but already a common theme here is that much emphasis has been on improving the Graphic User Interface and, indeed, the whole user experience. At Last!
www.w2p.co.uk
The first stand I came to was Pageflex and, as it turns out, they had several new plays to announce: Pageflex Studio ID is a desktop plugin for Adobe InDesign CS4 more here Pageflex Storefront can now be integrated with Adobe InDesign CS4 Server Pageflex Storefront is now integrated with DirectSmile Online. PrimeGroup in the UK has been pioneering this integration. Lastly, Pageflex has released a charting application, with the creative name of 'Pageflex Chart' more here Quite predictably, these days, Pageflex won 2 'Best in Show' awards for web-to-print and document creation. Another application from Pageflex that is extremely useful is an iPhone App called 'WhatTheFont' It's in the App Store and if you are in the Print game it's a must have!
Just down the aisle the only British W2P vendor exhibiting, RedTie, is making a big splash across the pond and announced a new office in New York together with a gaggle of very experienced people to take the RedTie message across the continent. RedTie has also launched its Managed Services facility to help first time users (or very busy existing users) to deploy sites with a minimum of time and fuss, thereby eliminating the first timer's 'angst'.
NowDocs announced several new features. With the launch of NowDocs v7.0, the GUI has had a major overhaul and it has integrated XMPie for variable templates, VDP and cross-media campaigns. I didn't see an announcement anywhere but UPS (in the US) was demonstrating a NowDocs driven W2P solution aimed at small businesses.
EFI showed v4.0 of DigitalStoreFront hooked up to a large format printer in a completely integrated end-to-end workflow. This new version has an improved GUI, better approval processes, inventory control and background upload for large format artwork. The European Hosting centre in Sweden is now on stream.
XMPie showed a greatly improved uStore with its new release. Personal Effect 4.6 also won 'Best in Show' Much emphasis was rightly placed on multi-channel marketing and the theatre show (similar to the one at Drupa) was very professional.
OPS (Online Print Solutions) showed an enhanced GUI and a full suite of applications showing the depth and breadth of the offering.
Press-Sense iWay did not have a stand but it's new v5.0 release was evident on the Xerox, InfoPrint, Oce and PressTek stands. This release also shows an improved GUI and catalog facility. HP's SmartStream Director is based on iWay.
Reports on Printable Technologies, GMC, PrinterPresence will come soon.
There will be more to follow but already a common theme here is that much emphasis has been on improving the Graphic User Interface and, indeed, the whole user experience. At Last!
www.w2p.co.uk
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
OnDemand Expo W2P Highlights
I was half expecting this show to be poorly attended due to the current economic climate; that notion was quickly dispelled when extra seats had to be brought in for the keynote addresses at 8.30am. Some 500 delegates packed the room to listen to Charlie Pesko of Qestex/InfoTrends, followed by Mary Lee Schneider of RR Donnelly.
Pesko's message of the day was that the digital print has reached it's tipping point (no surprises there) and to capitalise, printers need to 'do the right thing' and 'do the thing right'. This refers to moving both upstream and downstream in terms of services (W2P and fulfilment) and being ultra efficient. Schneider surprised the audience with the fact that RR Donnelly has over 1,000 digital printing units across 60 production plants and suggested that to survive and thrive, a web portal is absolutely essential.
On the show floor, it was sometimes difficult to get to talk to representatives and demos had to be scheduled. It would appear I was the only British visitor on the day, at least the only one talking to the W2P vendors. I know times are tough but it's been a great opportunity to learn and it's a shame that more Brits have not made the trip. The next time all the major W2P vendors will be together in one place will be GraphExpo (Chicago) in September. In the UK, the next opportunity won't be until Ipex in May 2010. Of course, you can do demos online but sometimes, especially with a subject as mission critical as W2P, there's no substitute for seeing the whites of the CEO's eyes. More to follow.
www.w2p.co.uk
Pesko's message of the day was that the digital print has reached it's tipping point (no surprises there) and to capitalise, printers need to 'do the right thing' and 'do the thing right'. This refers to moving both upstream and downstream in terms of services (W2P and fulfilment) and being ultra efficient. Schneider surprised the audience with the fact that RR Donnelly has over 1,000 digital printing units across 60 production plants and suggested that to survive and thrive, a web portal is absolutely essential.
On the show floor, it was sometimes difficult to get to talk to representatives and demos had to be scheduled. It would appear I was the only British visitor on the day, at least the only one talking to the W2P vendors. I know times are tough but it's been a great opportunity to learn and it's a shame that more Brits have not made the trip. The next time all the major W2P vendors will be together in one place will be GraphExpo (Chicago) in September. In the UK, the next opportunity won't be until Ipex in May 2010. Of course, you can do demos online but sometimes, especially with a subject as mission critical as W2P, there's no substitute for seeing the whites of the CEO's eyes. More to follow.
www.w2p.co.uk
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