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Having a Unifying Business Idea (UBI) is arguably the most powerful strategic tool you can develop for your business. The purpose of a UBI is to help govern a company…to help guide what markets to enter and new products to develop…to help create customer service policies…to build employee training programs so that people can make daily decisions. A UBI is the “container” for your company strategies, practices and values. The goal is to have a UBI that summarizes the very essence of your company. Read More
Newspapers were supposed to survive the new media age because of their highly educated, high income audience, and then when that didn't work, their superior content would make news websites into Internet advertising magnets. Now, even online advertising is shrinking for newspapers. What's next? Read More
On January 4th, we posted a PrintCEO blog notice that Adobe had decided to discontinue the worldwide Adobe Partner Connection Print Service Provider program, effective February 4th. Since that time, we spoke with Adobe and connected with a number of people in the field, both through live conversations and dialog on the blog. This was important, since the Adobe announcement came as an email through its PR agency, rather than letters to customers or a formal press release, although we do understand that all authorized and premium members received an email about the program closure. We wondered, as did many of our readers, what was behind this, why Adobe chose to do this now and what it means for Adobe’s commitment to the printing industry. Read More
Adobe Systems helped to build the modern printing industry and now, it appears, they are hellbent on destroying it -- not by willful action, but by neglect. Without the de facto standard of PostScript, digital printing could not have made the inroads it did; CTP would not have happened as we know it; and PDF would not have created the ability to move files around with ease, irrespective of device or resolution. They were active supporters of the printing industry and worked with print providers and users alike. But, today, Adobe appears to have written off print as it focuses on Flash and new media. Some say Adobe has given the printing industry the finger. Read More
This column is the second in a two-part series that provides Barb Pellow's perspective on a strategic direction for 2010. Last week's article discussed techniques for increasing share and adding value in the new year, and this one outlines strategies for product innovation that service providers can use to position themselves as market leaders. Read More
Have you gone through an honest process to land on a differentiating strategy – and taken a more focused approach to your business? I’m going to share the first of two great tools to help. In this post we cover: Creating Your Differentiating Strategy. Learn how to wrestle with, and answer, three fundamental strategic questions: Who is your core target customer? What business category are you competing in? And, what is your unique point of difference? Read More
The IPA Leadership Conference is taking a different route and it looks like a not-to-be-missed event where you can hear from and hobnob with thought leaders from the marketing discipline, including the former CMO of Walmart. If you think you know what marketers want, you may want to think again and take advantage of this opportunity. As a special offer for our readers, IPA is offering a $100 discount off the cost of conference attendance. Read More
The world of publishing has hardly been impacted by developments in digital printing, unlike other areas of printing. Almost all the developments in digital printing have been aimed at short-run commercial printing, variable data printing, and more recently web to print operations particularly in the business to consumer area. It is only in the area of reprints of monochrome books where reprinting by offset would be too expensive for publishers that digital printing has had an impact in the publishing space. It would appear that this year will see the start of a change as book publishers look to digital printing to change their business models to reduce their capital tied up in inventory. This is becoming possible through the use of high-speed continuous inkjet presses that will allow a switch from offset to digital printing for first runs of books. It is however unlikely that we see either many newspapers or magazine publishers moving to the use of digital printing at this time unless they rethink their advertising driven business models. Read More
Dr. Joe starts his eighth year with WhatTheyThink, and he's less Dr. Doom-ish. There are some signs, though not confirmed, that the industry may have finally finished riding a steep and traumatic downdraft and found a steadier level with a more gradual and predictable outcome. November shipments were down at the lowest rate of any month in 2009, and there were only 100 fewer print workers in December than there were in November. The national economy still has its problems, employment is actually worse than most realize, and incomes are still under pressure. The Bureau of Labor Statistics forecast print employment for 2018, and their forecast is, unfortunately, already fulfilled. Read More
At one time, size was the primary means for independent printing companies to gain leverage in the purchasing arena. Few other options were available. Today, however, companies can maximize their profitability in a variety of ways. Here are a few ideas... Read More
This column is the first in a two-part series that provides Barb Pellow’s perspective on a strategic direction for 2010. It discusses how print service providers and marketing service providers can position themselves for success in an industry that has undergone permanent shifts and changes. Read More
In a recession, ambitious, proactive people don’t just sit around and wait for a return to economic prosperity. Even if they aren’t employed already or can’t find work along their usual lines, they’ll turn to some entirely different pursuit instead—responding to all the hype being circulated about working for yourself by choosing from among the multitude of support mechanisms and project, franchise, work-from-home or consulting options available. While some may be forced into it by circumstances, others will welcome the self-employment alternative as an avenue to change their career path – something they may have wanted to do for a while. And the most inventive ones may go on to even greater career success by launching novel innovations into the marketplace. In the past such enterprising spirits have been responsible for many of what have become today’s mainstream products and services. Read More
As a follow-up to Gail Nickel-Kailing’s post on PrintCEO about DS Graphics’ acquisition of LVI (formerly Lavigne Inc.), I spoke to DS Graphics’ Vice President, Jack McGrath, to find out how the integration of the two companies was proceeding, and to gain more detail about the actual events that occurred leading up to DSG’s acquisition of the assets of the company. Read More
On the first day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
An ink cartridge in an HP.
On the second day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Two ruddle gloves,
And an ink cartridge in an HP.
On a recent visit to the USA I was invited to meet with executives of HP’s Inkjet High Speed Production Solutions division to discuss the current status of its program for the HP T300 inkjet web press. I found this to be an interesting visit as almost nothing had been written about what HP had been doing by either the trade press or the industry analysts following Print 09. Read More
It has been some time since WhatTheyThink has hooked up with Coleman Kane, CEO of Printable. Following a flurry of press releases on new integrations, WhatTheyThink checked in with Coleman to get more detail, and to get his perspective on the industry as we exit what has been a difficult 2009 for the industry. Read More
Andy Tribute’s column this week was thought-provoking as usual. He opined that an annual printing event is no longer viable and that GraphExpo should be on a different schedule. In the 1980s (the heyday of the printing industry) there were multiple printing events. The New England show was every two years — in January! New York had an annual show at the old Coliseum, PICA had a large annual event in Charlotte, and Midwest Graphics floated around different states. Graphics of the Americas took over the Miami Beach Convention Center. The Gutenberg Festival in Long Beach was a major event. Read More
A 2008 Harvard Business Review article, "Reinventing Your Business Model" by Mark Johnson, Clay Christensen and Henning Kagerman states that the secret to maintaining a thriving business is recognizing when it needs a fundamental change. According to the article, “Great business models can reshape industries and drive spectacular growth. Yet many companies find business-model innovation difficult. Managers don’t understand their existing model well enough to know when it needs changing—or more importantly, how to change it.” Read More
There has been much discussion about association consolidation and the limited funds industry suppliers have to support many of the organizations and events in the industry. I want to discuss the PRINT 09 event that is organized by the Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC). Read More
You'd think that all of the economic wounds of the U.S. economy were healed all at once when last Friday's unemployment report was announced. For some reason, the good news in it was glossed over, and the bad news was ignored. Read More
Many in the investment community view Vistaprint as an extremely successful and profitable printing company. Printers across North America point to the company as a model: “If I could just be another Vistaprint.” If you look a little more closely, you’ll see that Vistaprint is not “just another printer,” it’s a sophisticated marketing company that sells marketing products and services to consumers and small/micro businesses. They just happen to print those products. Read More
As we look back at 2009, a technology milestone for the printing industry, marketing communications, education, and the media world may be the rise of augmented reality. Augmented reality (AR) is a field of computer science that involves combining the physical world with an interactive, three-dimensional virtual world. Read More
We recently spoke with The UPS Store's Christa Martin (VP of Product Development & Management) and FedEx Offices Anthony Norris (VP of Digital Access Marketing) about their businesses and competitive positioning in the marketplace. Read More
As this recession drags on, WhatTheyThink is reaching out to various companies to see how they are doing, and what they are doing to survive and thrive. We had the pleasure of speaking recently with Jim Cohen, Executive Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions at Consolidated Graphics. He had some very interesting insights to share. Read More
Effective hiring and staff management aim to maximize the return from your company's human-capital investment and minimize the related financial risks. But obviously, you can’t hope to achieve these goals without at least a basic ability to assess the potential of people. In fact, people assessment is as essential a prerequisite for conducting performance reviews, promotions, and succession planning with your existing staff as it is for establishing benchmarks for new hires. Read More
A company's general intangibles have a very tangible impact on a company's valuation. Intangibles that are perceived as attractive can greatly enhance a company's value while negative or negligible intangibles can drag it down. To safeguard the worth of their businesses, NAPL Senior Vice President and Consultant John Hyde believes that graphic communications company owners should take proactive steps to protect their intangibles. Read More
