Recently, I was asked where I felt that the commercial printing industry stands today in terms of terms of incorporating digital print-related applications into the marketing mix. I was also asked whether I felt this changed based on factors such as black-and-white vs. color or static vs. 1:1 (personalization).

It is times like this that I really feel the loss from the closure of the Industry Measure (IM). During the company’s more than decade-long tenure, we rarely had to speculate. We were simply able to ask. Today, we have to rely on accurate but more narrow, snapshot-type surveys that are easier and less expensive to produce, but are less projectible.

But is the loss as great as it might seem? The answer provides us insight into more than just the state of digital printing applications. It provides insight into a fundamental change in the composition of the commercial printing industry itself that creates challenges for the future of market research in this industry.