Reston, VA - PRIMIR, the Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization, the research unit of NPES,announces the release of a video that brings to life the key findings and new business strategies from the landmark study, "The Future of Print in the U.S. – Landscape, Implications and Opportunities." The lively and informative discussion explores the unprecedented and major drivers of change, dramatic implications for the entire print community, and real world examples of adaptation strategies and successful business models to leverage new market paradigms.

Since 2000, the U.S. print industry has weathered tumultuous change. Shipments have declined over 40% and more than 30% of businesses have consolidated or disappeared. The evolution continues as potentially another 7,000-8,000 businesses will be lost over the next five years. For the next decade, the U.S. commercial print industry will continue to grapple with a rapidly changing environment as outside forces dampen the demand for print.

Recognizing the impacts—which include changing consumer preferences and the direction of both the U.S. economy and print-related industries (technology, advertising, publishing, and packaging)—is critical. The video features in-depth dialogue between study author David Humphreys of The Economist Intelligence Unit; two Delphi members from the original research panel, Steve Mattingly of Southern Lithoplate and Bryan Hall of Graphic Visual Solutions; and, PRIMIR staff. The unique approach of the original research framework, that hosted an interactive group of diverse outside experts representing a range of industries and academia, provided compelling and unbiased insights into the challenges confronting the print industry.

Commenting in the video, on the use of an outside Delphi panel, Steve Mattingly, Senior Vice President of Southern Lithoplate, stated, "In the multitude of counselors, there is safety and plans and purposes can be established. We wanted to surround ourselves with the best thinking possible so that our members and our partners in the print community could have access to a topical, relevant, and immediately actionable study that could help them look into the future, and make the plans that were appropriate for their company." 

"The Future of Print in the U.S" video and study identify critical trends including the evolution of the consumer experience, the rise of data, the importance of mass personalization and product differentiation, and the role of social media in content generation and consumption. Successful printers will emerge by formulating new business models, based upon key concepts identified in the study, that leverage these outside trends to innovate, differentiate, specialize and provide new services. Affirming this need, Bryan Hall, President/CEO of Graphic Visual Solutions, emphasized, "The heart and soul of our company remains ink on paper, but what we've found through the years is that our clients are growing to become much larger and more sophisticated, and they're reaching out to us to help solve their problems and offer value-added services including CAD engineering, prototyping, fulfillment, inventory management, and data programs—all value-added services that now drive our ink on paper."

According to the study, successful printers in the future will shift their businesses away from the traditional print-based model and embrace concepts such as differentiation and specialization in a particular niche, providing new services, and improving human capital. Printers that fail to adapt will likely be acquired by larger, more progressive printers. Similarly, vendors will need to quickly adapt their business models and products to support the successful commercial printers—they will need to innovate, both in terms of products and forging collaborative partnerships with printers—to provide new business solutions.

"The Future of Print in the U.S. – Landscape, Implications and Opportunities" video is available at: http://tinyurl.com/zeped2y. To obtain a copy of the full study contact Rekha Ratnam, Senior Director, PRIMIR Market Research, at phone: 703/264-7200, e-mail: [email protected], or visit: www.npes.org.