Danny Cook has been in preparation for taking the reins at Go Inspire for some time. That will happen between now and 7 July when Dimitri Kyprianou who has been managing director of the mail print business since the company’s acquisitions by Xerox, steps down. Cook takes his place in what is described as a “planned leadership transition”.
Cook brings “deep understanding of the business, strong strategic leadership and a clear vision for the future” according to president of Xerox Digital Services Matt Dollus.
Cook has been operations director and, as such, a key part of the leadership team. He represents continuity, something emphasised on meetings with key clients in the days following the announcement of his appointment.
The business, comprising a digital only operation in Leicester running HP PageWide T series continuous feed presses and a mixed technology site in Kettering running Heidelberg Speedmasters (one with inkjet heads added) and a cutsheet digital operation based on Xerox technology.
Ownership by Xerox does not mean every investment has to have a red X on the side. Cook says: “Xerox gives us scale, investment, and long term backing, but it doesn’t change how we make decisions day to day.
“We’re not mandated to use Xerox technology for its own sake. The focus is always on what delivers the best outcomes for our clients, whether that’s reliability, quality, or efficiency. In practice, we were already investing in Xerox technology before the acquisition because it met those standards, and that approach hasn’t changed.”
Xerox is under going its own leadership transition with CEO Steve Brandowczak stepping down to be succeeded by an internal appointment. It had just restructured to focus on office, production print and digital services. Go Inspire is part of this least division and deals with communication between brands and their customers, both inbound and outbound, using both print and digital channels.
A recent customer announcement demonstrates the effectiveness of the strategy. At the start of this year Go Inspire announced an extension and expansion of its work with BT and its sub brands, EE and Plusnet. The business has supplied direct mail print to the BT Group for a number of years and this continues. What was new is involvement in digital deployment including email activity and improving the effectiveness of BT’s CRM activities and greater strategic involvement in shaping those communications.
Explaining the appeal the Go Inspire has with Xerox, Cook says: “What makes our position distinctive is that we sit very close to execution. We’re working day to day on customer communications, campaigns, and data, so we see what actually drives engagement and response. That gives us a practical perspective that complements Xerox’s broader capabilities.”
In short it’s not about simply harnessing the power of print, but being effective and transparent to clients and being technology neutral. “Our technology platform is designed to remove friction rather than add it,” he says.
This goes for customers across the direct mail spectrum from retail, telecommunications, charity, financial services, public sector and utilities.
He takes up the new role at an interesting time he explains. “There’s a shift in that customer communications are focused on outcomes, as we know, but they’re now being viewed as an infrastructure to reach those outcomes, rather than just an output. As AI and technology accelerate, the organisations that win will be the ones that can deploy communications and experiences responsibly, and consistently at scale in a unified customer journey. Go Inspire is well positioned because we understand how to turn innovation into repeatable delivery. That’s where long term value is created.
“The challenge is resisting complexity for complexities sakes. There’s a real risk right now that organisations chase tools, or trends, or pilots, without clear ownership or outcomes. Our job is to help our customers focus on what actually works at scale, because trust is very easy to lose, and very hard to win back.”
