An excerpt from AP March 2020 Print Leaders Forum – by Currie Group Executive Chairman David Currie
Currently, there is consolidation continuing at all levels – print customers are consolidating with competitors in order to benefit from synergistic savings and consolidation in order to add complimentary services to create a broader product/service offering for customers.
There are a broad number of factors in the local and international economy causing the softening. The RBA has pointed to a number of key drivers, but from an industry specific point-of-view, we would typically see low interest rate conditions spur investment, and in our industry, this is not happening to the extent as in the past.
There are also new challenges in the local market that will have a large influence in the short- and long-term. This is especially the case when we look at pressures on marketing spend towards digital platforms.
There is a generational change in marketing and advertising thinking and also the consumption of marketing and advertising. Companies are faced with the challenge of appealing to digital natives as well as utilising traditional marketing mix, which includes printing.
We talk about marketers who don’t know print and only know social, but the simple reality is social and digital is instant and quite an easy and sometimes lower cost solution. What isn’t clear is that print is very effective at keeping readers’ attention and has a high effectiveness.
The bottom line is, marketers and brand owners want to connect as quickly and cost effectively with their target audience and they are wading through the very large choice of media available. Print is competing for its share and needs to provide value and return on investment. There are a lot of brand owners that recognise this value and thankfully taking advantage of the differentiation and effectiveness they gain from print as part of the mix.
As such an area of growth is in customisation as it allows brand owners to connect with consumers through their advertising and marketing collateral and packaging. Of course, new market avenues can aid growth as well, as service providers broadening their products and services to their specific customers enables their business growth opportunities. Labels and packaging, textiles, and 3D printing can all be areas of growth if they fit the customer’s need basket.
I do believe there is still value in print alone and digital print, in particular, provides this opportunity especially for value-adds like personalising and creating unique and one-on-one experiences. Embellishment and specialised finishing are also creating better outcomes and more high value marketing.
More of our customers are also seeking diversity in their offerings to customers in order to increase the products and services they offer their customer base, and this becomes a consideration of where they deploy capital, partner or even acquire or merge with complimentary businesses.
Whilst we see the importance of the new technologies and product releases, we also see a pressing need from our customers to keep providing solutions for today.
Our business today is more than 50 per cent directly related to service, in the traditional sense. However, service is our business and our customers rely on us not only to help when there are equipment challenges, but more broadly advice and guidance in identifying future trends.
After 70 years in business, there is not much we haven’t seen but our desire to keep at the forefront enables us to keep identifying opportunities for our own improvement but also for our customers and the market.
This article was written prior to the impact of COVID-19. The digital version of AP March 2020 is available here.
And as part of AP’s 70 anniversary, we’re pulling together a list of 70 local industry pioneers – you can make your nominations here.
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