• To support trendsetters and influencers, Keypoint Intelligence – InfoTrends produces documents to help influencers in the print industries identify “the next big thing.”
• We develop our forecasts every year after many hours of research, analysis, and writing, and we are now in the process of finalizing this year’s forecasts in a number of coverage areas.
• Each of our service areas also publishes analysis documents throughout the year, which are offered to subscribers and also available for purchase via our report store.

If you’ve ever watched a viral video or clicked on a link to view a piece of trending news, you might be wondering how things go viral and become trends in the first place. Do you have to pay to make something go viral? Who decides what becomes a trend?

Trends usually start because influencers adopt a new style or a new process. Where was the first print shop that decided to put job tickets into big plastic envelopes that moved from process to process? When did variable data printing replace preprinted forms and line printers that filled in the data? How did digital printing, and then inkjet printing, become “the next big thing” that we would all begin following and tracking? These concepts are not fads like wearing stripes with polka dots—they are trends that have an impact on our industry over many years.

It Starts with Data!

Here at Keypoint Intelligence – InfoTrends, we say that everything starts with data, which can help influencers form opinions that can be defended. To support trendsetters and influencers, we produce forecasts and analysis documents to help influencers in the print industries identify what the next big thing will be. We develop our forecasts every year after many hours of research, analysis, and writing, and we are delighted to report that we are now in the process of finalizing this year’s forecasts in a number of coverage areas.

Keypoint Intelligence – InfoTrends’ Production Workflow forecast is designed to help vendors identify trends and build strategies. It covers a wide range of solutions, including:

• Variable Data Tools
• Online Design Tools
• Web-to-Print
• Workflow Management for Graphic Arts and Transactional Printing
• Digital Front Ends for Production, Wide Format, and Packaging
• Print Management Information Systems
• Color Management

Our Customer Communication Management forecasts are focused on business-to-consumer communication, customer communication software technology, and the value of customer communication regarding the costs borne by the enterprise.

Within our On Demand consulting service, the forecasts and trackers focus on the cut-sheet and continuous feed hardware markets. The Wide Format service covers hardware devices that serve the sign & graphics industry, and the Color Digital Label and Packaging service concentrates on innovations in the label and packaging markets, including the emerging digital corrugated segment.

C500 Packaging Applications

Our company also covers the Functional and Industrial Printing segment, including the production of digital textiles as well as the emerging markets for digital printing of home décor, ceramics, and wood.

Digital Textile Example from IPEX

Each of Keypoint Intelligence – InfoTrends’ service areas also publishes analysis documents throughout the year, which are offered to subscribers and also available for purchase via our report store. Many of our consulting services also offer public webinars to highlight changes in the market, emerging technologies that are impacting various service areas, and expectations about what will come next. If you’re interested in learning more about our offerings, visit our LinkedIn page or follow @KeypointIntel on Twitter.

The Bottom Line

To bring it back to the start, who decides when something is a trend? The answer is that you do when you make the decision to buy new equipment or software solutions. So keep on buying, and we’ll keep on tracking the market so we can share information about the next big thing!

For more information on our research, market sizing/forecasts, or our Production Workflow or other services, contact Deanna Flanick today at [email protected].