It seems that the print industry is settling into two camps at the moment: those who diversify their offering and those who don’t.
It’s become such a talking point that one of the keynote speakers at Pira International’s recent Global Print Markets event made it the crux of his speech.
According to Dr Ronnie Davis, vice-president and chief economist at Printing Industries of America, printing companies need to work on either expanding out their offering and working on a more diverse range of products and services (such as print and brand management) or they need to become better at what they do to the point of being able to offer better service to clients as a result of such expertise. (see http://www.printweek.com/bulletin/printweekdailybulletin/article/1097618/print-companies-urged-become-diversified-specialists/)
The diversification route seems to be popular with litho print becoming just one of many strings to the bow of many print companies. As a marketing services provider, Mulberry Square is a good example of how this can be successfully achieved. By expanding out from just print into areas such as design, branding, eCommerce, marketing support and print management, the client relationship becomes more involved over a wider area of interaction and the printing company becomes more of a marketing partner than just someone to buy cards and letterheads from.
However, the specialist approach is where many print companies see the future. A niche approach gives the print company greater efficiencies, specialist knowledge and expertise which can be hard to find elsewhere. As a result of this, specialist print suppliers can and should give better customer service (and in most cases better value for money) through offering high-level advice and support that general printers may be unable to give.
Both directions have merit (and benefits to clients) and it’s up to the respective print companies to show their clients how they can more effectively and efficiently support their business.
The British Printing Industries Federation has recognised these two distinct directions and has reacted by offering more advice, support and training for these two key strategic approaches.
So, Dr Davis’ urge to become “better, not bigger” has already become a key facet of the wider printing industry’s business philosophy.
