Despite protestations that printers are ‘customer focused’ and are committed to high quality service, the average printer is deeply conservative and unadventurous, focused more on ROI than risk, consequently unwilling to change a modus operandi that has stood them in good stead for a generation or more. There is a strong ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ mentality running through printers’ attitudes. As a result the printing industry in this country has become the industry that likes to say No.
There can be few other explanations when just a handful of commercial printers have invested in inkjet and most continue to pile on additional litho capacity. When digital embellishment technology of any kind is sparse when reports indicate the appeal of foil, varnish and tactile effects to brands, designers and print buyers. The easy explanation is that customers are not asking for these techniques, which is hardly surprising when they do not know what is possible in print. Many of today’s designers will be well versed in what is possible on websites and with social media, but know scarcely anything about print. Because printers are not willing to inform them. When suppliers engage in back selling, paper merchants for example, Du Pont with Cromalin and HP with Indigo, customer demand can prise limpet-like printers from their rock.
However, the tide is changing. Customers want innovation, they want ideas to help give their products or their message impact beyond the background noise. They want to show that use of print is in line with a corporate sustainability strategy. When print delivers this, they will use ink on paper. When offered only low cost A4 pages or business cards, it is easy to choose a digital alternative. Printers have to be willing to offer more to customers and invest in ways to deliver innovation and impact, instead of tutting and declaring that the proposed idea ‘will not work’. Print can no longer afford to be the industry that likes to say No.
Print is the industry that likes to say No
Despite protestations that printers are ‘customer focused’ and are committed to high quality service, the average printer is deeply conservative and unadventurous, focused more on ROI than risk, consequently unwilling to change a modus operandi that has stood them in good stead for a generation or more. There is a strong ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ mentality running through printers’ attitudes. As a result the printing industry in this country has become the industry that likes to say No.
There can be few other explanations when just a handful of commercial printers have invested in inkjet and most continue to pile on additional litho capacity. When digital embellishment technology of any kind is sparse when reports indicate the appeal of foil, varnish and tactile effects to brands, designers and print buyers. The easy explanation is that customers are not asking for these techniques, which is hardly surprising when they do not know what is possible in print. Many of today’s designers will be well versed in what is possible on websites and with social media, but know scarcely anything about print. Because printers are not willing to inform them. When suppliers engage in back selling, paper merchants for example, Du Pont with Cromalin and HP with Indigo, customer demand can prise limpet-like printers from their rock.
However, the tide is changing. Customers want innovation, they want ideas to help give their products or their message impact beyond the background noise. They want to show that use of print is in line with a corporate sustainability strategy. When print delivers this, they will use ink on paper. When offered only low cost A4 pages or business cards, it is easy to choose a digital alternative. Printers have to be willing to offer more to customers and invest in ways to deliver innovation and impact, instead of tutting and declaring that the proposed idea ‘will not work’. Print can no longer afford to be the industry that likes to say No.
Gareth Ward
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