Get the trusted insights you need to understand our evolving industry and emerging trends. Become a Premium Member.
On October 29, 2012, the U.S. Postal Service released its promotions calendar for 2013-offering discounts by integrating mail with mobile and emerging technologies. There is a clear drive to make print integral to the direct marketing mix by making it interactive. This article outlines the USPS's newest promotions and discusses what they mean for the industry. Read More
Although predominantly known as a workflow company-"Fiery" is essentially synonymous with RIPing-EFI was demonstrating at SGIA a couple of weeks ago its prowess in developing wide-format hardware, with models on display that showcased two of the company's new technological developments. Read More
Frank Steenburgh says one thing his long experience as a business-builder has taught him is that growing revenues and profit will always be more fun and rewarding than cutting costs. Read why. Read More
Like many of our readers, Senior Editor Cary Sherburne is increasingly depending on a tablet computer for a growing array of activities. In this article, she talks about the business opportunities these devices offer for printers, and the tools provided by Adobe that make it easy to do. Read More
Training and coaching are critical elements in the talent challenge. Whether you are focused on developing your current workforce to improve their overall performance or re-training them to prepare for your future strategies, a systematic approach is essential. As you struggle to attract and recruit the most talented individuals from multiple generations, you will repeatedly hear the question, "how will I be trained and coached so I can grow professionally?" Read More
No small part of the $50 billion economic loss being attributed to storm Sandy will come from business interruptions suffered by printing firms throughout the tristate metro region. Wherever the damage was worst, the toll taken on these highly vulnerable manufacturing operations was highest. Many remain out of commission, their electrical power gone, their communications severed, their work piling up, and their employees stranded at home with gas gauges pointing at empty. Read More
All consumers are different, and these differences drive purchasing behaviors. This article explores how savvy marketers are leveraging these differences to create direct-to-consumer communications that cater to individual preferences and characteristics. Read More
Behind the many accolades SGIA has received is the undeniable fact that the specialty graphics industry in general, and the wide-format digital graphics industry in particular, is the current epicenter of today’s printing industry. The purpose of this article is to define why. Read More
I am pretty sure that most of us have been unceremoniously dumped in our youth by a boyfriend or a girlfriend at one time or another. I am sure some of us also went back and begged for either forgiveness, a new understanding and/or a chance at a do-over. In adolescence these are normal and understandable actions. Read More
AlphaGraphics franchise owners came en masse to Graph Expo 2012, where Art Coley, the president of the network, briefed WhatTheyThink on steps taken to revitalize the business centers and the company as whole. Read More
Thanks to Ben Miyares of the Packaging Management Institute for bringing this absolutely unique Absolut Vodka packaging story to our attention. Four million bottles, each different. How did they do it? Read more. Read More
With this seventeenth article of the series, David begins to look at companies and their 'future' production inkjet offerings and applications. In this article, he looks at KBA, its products and new role in the sheetfed inkjet space. Read More
Richard Romano gives a walk through of SGIA Expo-held October 18-20 in Las Vegas- where every conceivable surface and object was printed on for his enjoyment. Read More
NPES has commissioned The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) to produce an updated worldwide print forecast. WhatTheyThink's Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke with Ken Lane, Business Development Manager, Americas, Economist Intelligence Unit, an Economist Group Business, along with representatives from NPES, to learn more about what to expect from the forecast. Read More
While the concept of TransPromo remains intriguing, many enterprises have found that it is not as simple as it seems in practice. This article discusses the evolution of transpromotional communications, citing a recent article by Matt Swain and Cary Sherburne entitled TransPromo Today: An Industry Perspective. Read More
Messe Düsseldorf created a bit of a stir when it announced it was considering moving to a 3-year show cycle starting in 2015. WhatTheyThink's Senior Editor Cary Sherburne reached out to a few drupa stakeholders to get their opinions. Read More
With drupa and Graph Expo under our respective belts, Ipex is looming on the horizon scheduled for London, March 26th through April 2nd. WhatTheyThink Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke with Trevor Crawford, Director of the Print + Media Group for Informa Exhibitions during his recent visit to Chicago. Read More
At Graph Expo, both presented status reports: Kodak, on continuing to manage its emergence from bankruptcy; Xerox, on maintaining its commitment to graphics as the company shifts increasingly towards services. Read More
It seems to me that sometimes we publishers lose sight of our perspective. It is admittedly understandable as we hunker down in the trenches producing our products that we sometimes miss some of the details of the wider battle for revenue and survival. Read More
Today is “National Print Day” according to grassroots campaign to promote print as an environmentally and socially responsible medium vital to communication. Read More
For printers seeking to acquire another company or to be acquired by one, the options are straightforward. Where does your business fit in the M&A planning matrix? Read More
I am going to attempt to address a few of the pundits who declared the death of print at the AMC conference in San Francisco last Tuesday morning. In doing so, I am sure that my long term readers will appreciate the unusual irony I find myself participating in with regard to my analysis and review of the future of our business. I will try to be as succinct as possible and still place before you the necessary historic details. Read More
You know you should worry when Dr. Joe uses phrases like "simultaneous critical mass." Then we find out that he thinks that data talks to him. His frugal ways are evident as he delights in the prospect of free broadband. Then there are boats and planes, too. It might be worth reading to make sure the next wave of innovation to hit the market is not one that means "goodbye" for your business. Read More
During Graph Expo, I had the pleasure of meeting with Benny Landa to learn more about the progress of Landa Nanographic Printing since it took many of the headlines at drupa 2012. We also discussed other initiatives Mr. Landa has underway in Landa Labs, which has the tagline "Big Things from Small Particles." Read More
Being busy does not equate to delivering results. We are so caught up in the culture of busy we forget to reflect on why we're doing what we do and how it contributes to the results we seek. Read More
According to research conducted by the Corporate Executive Board (CEB) Sales Executive Council (SEC), the Internet has changed the way that customers buy. Customers no longer want suppliers-they want business partners that can show real value by providing business problems. Read More
This week, today, to be precise, the annual SGIA Expo kicks off at the Las Vegas Convention Center and runs October 18–20. There is a tendency in pre- and post-trade show coverage to recite a litany of vendors, products, and specifications, but one of the important things to understand about the wide-format market is that it is all about applications. Read More
For the record I just flew back from San Francisco on the red-eye to meet some east coast obligations, and haven't had the time or energy to compile my notes and observations from the American Magazine Conference just concluded. So what you are about to read is free flowing stream of semi-consciousness. Read More
I think that my friend Drew Davis has an expression in his lectures that captures the essence of Angie's List printed magazine quite well, he says "that the only thing that distinguishes you in a digital world is print" Read More
Graph Expo 2012 was quite a different show than previous years, for a lot of reasons that our Senior Editor, Cary Sherburne, discusses in this article. Read More
Dr. Joe is focused on denial but not in a myopic way. That may make sense once you dig into the column. Or like a lot of his columns, it may drive you to muttering all day. CNN claims that the USPS is being bailed out by election spending. That is, if you believe a decrease is an increase. And much more… Read More
At Graph Expo 2012, WhatTheyThink livecast a speakers series live from the show floor. The WhatTheyThink.com Speaker Series, designed as a "show within a show," featured engaging discussions with industry experts, end-users and seasoned professionals moderated by the editors of WhatTheyThink.com. Read More
In the July/August Edition of the Harvard Business Review, Matthew Dixon published an article entitled The End of Solution Sales. Customers no longer need suppliers because they can find out a great deal of information on their own. This article discusses the concept of "insight selling," which involves bringing value to customers that can't be found on the Internet. Read More
Nobody else could have made as persuasive a case for an as-yet unproven technology as Benny Landa did at Graph Expo when he captivated a crowd with his vision of nanographic printing. Read More
If you listen closely, you can hear the new, quieter sound of Graph Expo. It's easier on the ears, and it makes for a much improved trade show experience. Read More
The interview component of the hiring process is often the weakest link in winning the talent war. Too frequently the interviewee is better prepared for the interview than the interviewer. One of the greatest challenges that senior executives face is to build a team of talented employees; and getting the interview component of this process right is critical. Read More
The web-to-print market is fragmented and hard to determine clear leadership or market share. EFI's acquisition of OPS consolidates the market (slightly). EFI's market share will grow, their product offering will be more comprehensive, and OPS will benefit from EFI's well developed channel partnerships. Read More
Marketers across a variety of business segments are beginning to look at QR codes as a "silent salesperson" that can bring a competitive edge. This article provides examples of this trend within the automotive, retail, and real estate markets. Read More
Scanning through industry publications that cover wide-format digital markets can be a daunting task for any company just approaching this area. The purpose of this article is to focus in on the center of the wide-format digital bulls-eye, and find out the markets and products that make up a majority of the money made using this technology. Read More
We've all seen them: Bibles, directories, prospectus documents and other publications printed on paper so thin you can almost see through it. And those pharmaceutical inserts that seem to be folded a gazillion times before they are inserted into tiny boxes. These printed products have typically been produced in long runs using conventional offset printing, bucking the trend of shorter runs with more customized content. Why? Because paper that thin simply can't be run through a digital press, especially a sheetfed digital press...until now. This white paper discusses how revolutionary technology in both web --- and sheetfed digital presses has brought lightweight papers and the applications that require them into the realm of digital printing, while at the same time opening the door to new applications and cost savings on existing applications. Read More
With this sixteenth article of the series, David begins to look at companies and their 'future' production inkjet offerings and applications. In this article he looks at companies that were offset or electrophotography (EP), but are integrating inkjet into their product lines. Read More
The Fuji J Press 720 was the only inkjet press to win an InterTech award for 2012. As with any piece of equipment the market and needs of the customer should dictate the piece of equipment. This press allows for an easy integration into the offset environment due to its hybrid nature and use of existing bindery equipment. Read More
The month of October brings a brace of major trade shows for the printing industry; October 7–10 brings Graph Expo, as it always does, to McCormick Place in Chicago, while October 18–20 brings the annual SGIA Expo to the Las Vegas Convention Center. WhatTheyThink will be on the prowl at both shows with video, actual written reports, and more. Read More
Repositioning a printing company involves making hard decisions about how the printing market is shifting to new and different media, developing the right product and services, and effectively communicating this transformation to customers and prospects. This article describes how Illinois-based Segerdahl group repositioned itself as SG360° to evolve with the market. Read More
A new study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project looks at the source of local news and information across varying different community types in the U.S. Read More
After 50+ years in the printing industry, and over a thousand articles, Andy's final article looks back to where it all began and looks forward to what the future may hold. Read More
Heidelberg recently hosted a customer event at its North American Print & Packaging Technology Center in Atlanta for nearly 100 printing professionals and WhatTheyThink's Senior Editor Cary Sherburne was there. We spent an extra day with Heidelberg executives and product managers to gain more insight into what we saw at the event and at drupa as well as to discuss future strategies for Heidelberg in North America. Read more. Read More
The process of assessing people for specific jobs is one of the most important tasks within an organization. Winning the talent war can impact all aspects of your business from sales, management effectiveness, client retention as well as product/service innovation. Read More
