I just got back from AIIM/On Demand, and in thinking about what topic I would write about this month, I was looking through TrendWatch GA’s latest market survey report, TWGA Printing#21, which was released earlier this year. What struck me was how the numbers reflect the trends at the show dead-on. To me, this reflects the power of traditional market research. AIIM/On Demand was last week. And yet, the TWGA numbers have been forecasting these trends like headlights for years.

Let’s just take one of the questions I heard on the show floor. “Should I invest in digital and variable data printing? Or should I stick with trying to build my core sheetfed business?”

To answer this question, printers read the trade publications, listen to the analysts, and read online information portals like this one. They attend networking functions, go to trade shows, and read the association newsletters. All of these are important, valid ways of gathering information. But they aren’t statistically projectible sources of information. Each source is based on its own samples and, ultimately, reflects a unique viewpoint.