The doyenne of print buying, Margie Dana, has a good Print Tip this week for the paper industry: promote to print buyers.
from the survey feedback we compiled, it seems that today’s buyers are not “feeling the love” from the industry. Some paper mills DO get it. They recognize that buyers/production pros spec and purchase paper. They are actively and publicly speaking directly to them. All paper companies should be doing this. Print buyers need to keep up with paper trends and paper education. I daresay that newcomers on the buying side have no clue about the paper trail: mill -> merchant -> printer -> customer (my shorthand).
There are ample educational opportunities for the paper industry, not just about the basics of paper spec’ing, but also in terms of the environmental advantages of paper. Often, many people fail to make a distinction between “graphic designers” and “print buyers,” which are often two separate roles. Targeting designers is all well and good, but they may not be the ones actively involved in spec’ing paper.