Charlotte Graham-Cumming
Printers are quite used to contracting out specialised parts of the production process, but the same idea can be applied to broader partnerships that open up some new doors without having to learn to do everything in-house. Michael Walker sizes up the prospects.
The mantra that has been chanted at printers for the last few years is that to develop and prosper they must change from being print services providers (PSPs) to being marketing service providers (MSPs). Some have responded and adapted their businesses accordingly, but the InfoTrends study ‘US Production Software Investment Survey 2015’ suggests that the pace of this trend is slackening, in the US at least, and that many printers are now re-focusing on their core skills.
In 2014, 36% of commercial printer respondents to a similar InfoTrends survey said they were in the process of making the MSP transition, but only 29% gave that same response this year; the drop was even more marked among in-plant respondents, from 30 down to 9%. According to InfoTrends associate director of consulting Howie Fenton*, ‘that likely means that some companies experienced easy success in making the shift, but others grew frustrated and decided to return to their core competencies’.
However, being able to present and sell print as an essential part of a marketing campaign is a route to increased business and better margins, so if it does not make sense to try and do everything yourself in-house, the way forward may well be via one or more strategic partnerships with firms further up the supply chain.
This idea has been given some sustained focus over the last couple of years at Konica Minolta, where they are calling it the ‘art of collaboration’. European head of market development Mark Hinder explained: ‘Agencies and printers should combine to form ‘innovation teams’ to create new value and ideas. The printer needs to ask ‘what’s it for?”
Mr Hinder said that the creative talents on the agency side need to be matched with the logical production focus of the printer, to support an iterative process in which ideas are generated, filtered, prototypes developed and production processes refined so that one or two usable solutions can be put forward to the client. He sees the role of the vendor in this as bringing the tools and being a solution provider, particularly for more advanced technologies such as augmented reality, though he stresses that it does not have to be that complicated:
‘This can be done in every company; the products are based on the skill level. It’s about people talking to people, developing relationships and value ideas.’
Learn the language
How do printers start talking to agencies outside the existing print buyer-supplier relationship? This topic was the subject of a presentation at May’s Smart Directions event by Charlotte Graham-Cumming, director at marketing agency Ice Blue Sky, and she reiterates that ‘the onus is on the print company; if they want to sell, they have to learn the customer’s language’.
This means learning that for marketing and agency folk, what is discussed here as ‘cross-media’ is known to them as multi-channel, multi-touch or integrated marketing. Web to print means nothing to most of them but mentioning managing brand consistency, or personalised campaigns instead of variable data printing (or VDP), will get their attention. ‘Printers should start using these phrases on their websites; look for the commonly searched terms,’ she suggested.
In terms of who to tackle, Ms Graham-Cumming suggests avoiding the big agencies, as they can be protective of their clients and will often have much of the required capability in-house, leaving the only discussion to be one about price. Starting small and local is more likely to yield results, with a ‘can you help?’ approach rather than ‘can we sell you print?’, aiming to learn about the type of projects and challenges.
There is a big education element involved for agencies too, who often do not understand what is now possible with digital print, not only in terms of personalisation, but in the variety of substrates, inks and finishes that are available. This is an idea that has been enthusiastically championed by Healeys Print Group, where although the business is predominantly litho, digital print has grown from zero to 25% in four years and is expected to grow further.
Managing director Philip Dodd says that more than 40% of his customers are in the creative sector and uses an external cold-calling agency to get the initial appointments. ‘Agencies like our digital “look books”; they love creative finishes, even if the end job is done 95% CMYK, it gets the door open,’ he explained. Healeys produces dimensional print and uses gold and RGB inks on a long sheet Kodak Nexpress, as well as a Ricoh 7110 with opaque white ink and spot varnish capability. These will shortly be complemented by a dedicated finishing area for digital.
Mr Dodd is happy to keep the supplier relationship at arms’ length however, saying: ‘We’re more than happy to help them make their business work.’
Specialist stock and finishing are also key selling points at Leeds-based Pressision, where foils, embossing and laminating are added to fluorescent and white inks used on an HP Indigo; the ability to mix bespoke Pantone colours has just been added to provide further differentiation in high-end direct marketing and collectible luxury print.
‘We go out with a consultative sell, instructing clients about what they can do. We show samples and sell on the strength of the products, not the technology,’ said founder James Taylor. It has clearly been a success, as the company’s percentage of digital work has shot up from around 5% to 30% in just three or four months. Mr Taylor too is cautious about any formal link-up with agency clients – and given that he has around 700 of them, any perceived favouritism could upset many more than it pleased – but very happy to work in partnership to come up with the products to be printed.
Buy in the skills
One approach to better understanding marketers is to hire one, which is what X1, originally a commercial printer in Slough that now covers the MSP gamut from strategy to direct mail, email and SMS campaigns, did. The man in question, German Sacristan, arrived in late 2014 to fill the role of head of marketing and customer experience, with a brief to bring ‘more value to customers and more differentiation for them’, on top of the design, web to print and fulfilment services already complementing Kodak Nexpress-driven digital print.
German Sacristan
Mr Sacristan also emphasises that the approach is to talk to different people in customer organisations about what they are trying to achieve. ‘You need marketing expertise and an open mind to have that conversation. Most printers focus on what [equipment] they have,’ he said. ‘We still believe in selling print but it’s not enough on its own, we need to sell other services. It’s about being a real partner – the more they sell, the more we sell.’
The next stage of business partnership is a formal investment, which is what Sheffield-based ProCo did by acquiring a stake in Concept Communications Group of Stansted, Essex (reported fully in Digital Printer, June 2015). ProCo managing director Jon Bailey said that an alignment of values and vision as well as the provision of complementary services and expertise were key factors driving the investment decision and that the focus is on what the combination of the two businesses does for their customers. Mr Bailey also commented that the availability of someone else at managing director level to discuss business issues has been an important internal benefit.
Where the pockets are deep enough and the strategic fit obvious, there is always the option to buy the creative capability that is needed. This can turn out to have considerable unanticipated benefits, as was the case at food packaging and digital print group Ultimate Packaging. The £50 million flexo printer works for national food brands and set up a digital print company, Ultimate Digital, on the back of the HP Indigo 6600’s ability to print on film. It then acquired Hull-based design agency Sharp Iris.
The reason for the acquisition was to be able to develop a complete web to print-driven workflow, which family owner Chris Tonge describes as ‘Moonpig on packages’. ‘It’s taken us by surprise,’ he said, explaining that ‘it’s gone far beyond coping with our own workflow needs and is now allowing us to join up digital projects for global brands and their agencies, even if we’re not printing.’
Proficiency in developing print management tools and technologies is another partnership route available to those with the right skills. Clicks Print in London has combined its HP Indigo press and Duplo finishing capabilities with web-based print platforms PRYYNT and Square Snaps, two technology companies founded by entrepreneur James Washer that enable mobile-based printing of images with rapid shipping. PRYYNT is an in-app photo printing service for Android, iOS and some Windows smartphones that allows the image owner to make a 30% margin on any prints ordered, while customer service and quality control are handled by an international print network of which Clicks is part.
Whether it is understanding your customers’ customers better by teaming up with complementary suppliers or investing directly in them, the partnership route would seem to have something to offer everyone who wants to develop their digital print business.
