Boston, Massachusetts - How can industry data help printers successfully handle the top challenges facing the printing industry? In a Graph Expo 2011 session titled, “How Printers Can Use Data to Adapt and Grow,” print strategist Andrew Gordon will discuss the value of industry research in making savvy printing business decisions.

Gordon, vice president of sales, marketing and business development at online printer 48HourPrint.com, will be joined by Charles Corr, chief strategy officer at Mimeo. Graph Expo 2011, the nation’s largest graphic communications expo, will be held September 11-14 in Chicago at McCormick Place South. Gordon and Corr’s presentation will take place on Sunday, September 11 at 11:00 a.m. at Booth 3457.

“It’s critical to use market research and business intelligence to drive decision-making,” said Gordon. “At 48HourPrint.com we continue to refine our data requirements to ensure we are monitoring the right data and using that data to ensure that we react quickly and appropriately.”

Prior to joining 48HourPrint.com, Gordon provided strategic intelligence support for high-volume production printing at Océ North America and was a senior consultant on print on-demand services at InfoTrends. He is also an executive committee member and past executive committee chair of the Print Industries Market and Research Information Organization (PRIMIR). This membership group of market research professionals initiates research studies on key printing industry topics.

During the Graph Expo session, Gordon and Corr will discuss the vital metrics that each company monitors, as well as primary research that they use to help understand changing industry requirements. They will also discuss industry trends based on recent PRIMIR studies, including Megatrends in Digital Printing Applications, Evolution of General Commercial Print: Implications for the Future, and Transformative Workflow Strategies for Print Applications.

In addition to PRIMIR and other industry research, Gordon said 48HourPrint.com uses internal customer data, as well as marketing and operating metrics to provide direction on business decisions. By creating a dashboard of data, he said printing companies can perform sophisticated campaign monitoring and management that allows them to measure the effectiveness of a campaign and its return on investment.

“Monitoring vital metrics and market data is core to our operating philosophy and we look forward to sharing this with the industry at Graph Expo. Our hope is that the industry can learn from best practices and help improve print’s competitiveness in the marketing and communication mix,” said Gordon.

For more information on Graph Expo 2011 or to register for a session, visit graphexpo.com.