#ValueCheck: Print has a future! But the industry is facing a radical renewal!
By Andreas Weber, Head of Value | German Version
With regard to dramatically falling stock market prices: Are printing press manufacturers and, with them, the printers (once again) in a deep crisis? The answer is “no, but …” — because the most sensitive thing is that the structural change in the print media business has a deeper impact than previously thought. And most underestimated that.
Status quo: Nothing goes any further!
- The vast majority of printers and their suppliers can no longer produce organic growth.
- Cost-cutting measures are largely exploited resp. certainly not a guarantee of success in the long run.
- The tried and tested measures for the industry in critical situations — the switch to new technologies for print media production (eg inkjet printing) — does not pull anymore, as it has not really got going for years and therefore only looks like a drop in the bucket.
- Last but not least, according to the feedback from the audience: media-effective, public events such as press conferences at trade shows or financial press conferences are usually completely overcrowded, dripping and riddled with insider details that prevent them from gaining an eye for the essentials.
Are ad hoc measures still possible? Yes and no. — Too much has to change fundamentally, as the valuable #Think!Paper expert analysis shows. Over the past eight days, leading minds from Europe and America have come to the heart of their assessment of the future of print. Tenor: Print has a future and fits perfectly into the digital age. Provided the business philosophy is radically refurbished and new go-to-market strategies and implementation solutions are found accordingly
If you want to know how this affects suppliers, read the #Subscription blog in an interview with Dr. Ulrich Hermann, Chief Digital Officer of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG: “Subscription & Print: Insights, Developments and Market Scenario”.
Thanks to Fraser Church from the UK, the most important finding for print shops is that the industry actually has the best chance. Because print as a medium delivers through its outstanding core properties — Trust and Value – exactly what print companies and their suppliers have to use and assert.
This is best achieved through exemplary multichannel marketing campaigns designed for conversations, which make print appear brilliant in networked communication scenarios. — But far from that there is nothing to see. Functioning genre marketing has always been foreign to the industry! Everyone always cooks their own soup. Pity!
Further reading
The current and exclusive #Think!Paper expert analyzes in the form of short interviews at a glance:
Rüdiger Maaß: Put the strengths of print in the right place!
Fraser Church: „Use print when you need something considered or need to promote trust and value!
Hamilton Costa: „Print is not a common thing anymore! But it’s still relevant!“
Peter Gunning: „Print creates an unspoken trust!“
François Martin: „Print will remain but it will never be what it was!“
Jeroen van Druenen: „Print is always the start of a good conversation“
Bernhard Cantzler: „Print is a natural ’digital detox’ and helps deeper thinking!“
Morten B. Reitoft: „Print has a way higher impact than mobile and web!“
#Think!Paper — the key facts at a glance
What we do
We evaluate and profile print and its proponents as an effective driving force for transformation – across all industries!
Our mission
We show, first and foremost, that print is by no means driftwood in an ocean of transformation (with Titanic-style effects) but rather a solid anchor for the ‘tsunamis in our heads’!
Our USP
- We are bringing together the brightest minds to form interdisciplinary #Think!Teams with a global outlook.
- We are building up the finest pool of expertise with a clear focus on interaction, discourse, customer experience and sustainable conversations.
- We are reinforcing the bedrock of any successful ‘digital’ transformation – proficient, dynamic and meaningful communication.
Benefits for our partners
We help our partners make new and market-relevant discoveries that inspire them and inject new energy into their development.