Graphic, paper and converting machinery revenue increases through exports - New technology and the web can spur growth

There’s no denying that the print industry suffered many casualties following the downturn in the global economy. In Italy print service providers are still working very hard to weather what remains a very challenging economic climate.

There is good news to report, however. At the end of 2012 the graphic, paper and converting machinery industry saw revenue rise to in excess €2 billion. Exports were the main catalyst for this growth, with more than 80% of revenue generated from outside Italy.

It’s also heartening to see strong attendance at the Grafitalia and Converflex trade shows. Of the 411 exhibitors that took part, 37% were from outside Italy. In total, 22 countries were represented, with visitors arriving from as far afield as Algeria, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Mexico, Turkey and the USA. The international success of the shows can in part be attributed to a successful partnership between the Ministry of Economic Development and ICE (the Italian Trade Commission).

Looking toward growth markets

To overcome the financial crisis, Italian companies are increasingly exploring commercial opportunities in countries such as China, Russia and Brazil, and in Africa in general. And when it comes to finished print products, Italian exporters are targeting East European markets.

The exhibitions also provided the stage for a debate on the potential synergy between the internet and paper. The discussion made it clear that there’s certainly scope to develop opportunities in this area, but there is a prerequisite for such synergy to happen – technological evolution.

Vincenzo Boccia, president of Grafitalia and chairman of Piccola Industria di Confindustria, had this to say: “We have to turn limits into opportunities. Today the traditional factors influencing production also include expertise, which comprises knowledge and information. For companies operating in the printing industry, it is imperative to pay great attention to innovation. As a result, trade exhibitions remain the only place where professionals can gain knowledge and information and breathe in the wind of innovation.”

Meanwhile Converflex president Simona Michelotti underlines some issues in the converting industry: “What we are faced with today is an extremely competitive scenario, particularly in the food sector, where best practices are required to ensure companies operate according to stringent quality, safety and ethical standards. The contribution of technology can create crucial opportunities for companies.”

The new communication frontier

Also present at the show was Alberto Cairo (www.thefunctionalart.com), one of the world’s leading infographics experts and professor at the University of Miami School of Communication. He discussed his latest book, Functional Art, which is all about infographics and how best to visualize information.

In his presentation Alberto focused on infographics in connection to the use of the technology on display at Grafitalia and Converflex, and on cross media and interactive digital display. He identified five key ideas that define and characterize infographics:

1. The information display is not dependent on software, but on mental elaboration from the planning stage.

2. Infographics is not only art, but a form of communication that should follow strict quality and accuracy standards.

3. Infographics are ‘tools of understanding’ that can reveal hidden truths.

4. Infographics are connected primarily with structure and the message to be conveyed.

5. There’s a whole world of opportunities to explore.

It was great to see so many exhibitors involved in the shows, with all their new technologies on display. It was also heartening to hear that exhibitors were impressed with the many highly qualified visitors and buyers stopping by their stands.

An impressive 18,000 visitors attended Grafitalia and Converflex. International attendees included delegations of industry players from 9 different countries.

So here’s to the future success of the shows – and to the growth of the Italian print market.

Check out the pictures below of some duomedia clients at the show. 

Barbara Bernardi

At the end of the ’86 cult classic, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the film’s smooth-tongued hero imparted this pearl of wisdom: “Life moves pretty fast – if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

It’s good advice that could well apply to the PR world. As someone who could politely be described as a PR ‘veteran’ (faxed press releases, anyone?), I’ve seen the communications landscape change dramatically – particularly since the internet age, and again more recently with the dawn of social media. 

Digital has undoubtedly been a game changer. It has given us all the power to build a loyal following and exert influence on groups of people. That’s why today’s PR pro is every bit as likely to target bloggers as they are journalists –sometimes more so.

Digital has also put an end (thankfully) to things like cutting out press clippings from magazines. It’s PDFs and emailed links all the way.

Expensive product photo shoots and snail-mailing the pics are a thing of the past too. We can get snap happy with our mobiles and post high-quality digital shots on Facebook or Pinterest faster than it takes to book an old-school photographer.

And then there are all the social media platforms. It seems barely a month goes by without another new kid on the block vying for our attention, promising to be the Next Big Thing.

So what does all this have to do with Ferris’ nugget of advice? Well, PR life does move pretty fast. And he’s right – if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. Or more specifically, you could miss what’s important.

It’s very easy for communication professionals to get swept along with the latest fads, jumping from social media platform to social media platform, in the never-ending pursuit of effective stakeholder engagement.

But sometimes it’s worth taking a step back and reminding ourselves that for all the wonder of digital, some old-school PR truths remain.

No matter what channel you’re using, you’re going to need a strategy. Thousands of pictures on Pinterest mean nothing if there’s no thought to how this activity supports your business objectives. 

Then there’s the message itself. It should be consistent and truthful – more important than ever in the digital domain, where a quick Google search can reveal any ‘discrepancies’ in your online output. 

And as ever, the content needs to be engaging. It should be of real value to stakeholders. It should interest them. Be useful to them. Excite them, even. 

So in actual fact, we’re still largely doing the same stuff we’ve been doing since the early days of PR. Just without all the envelope stuffing and paper cuts.    

Lut Verschueren 

The official figures say over 20000 visitors attended  Graphispag Digital but you could already see for yourself that Graphispag Digital 2013 met the expectations in terms of visitor numbers. The exhibition halls were swarmed every day and you could hear exhibitors approving the booth traffic and contacts made.

And that was the ultimate goal. To create a single and central meeting point for the Spanish market to exchange views, launch news, gain experiences, enlarge market vision and make sales happen. This objective was met with a sigh of relief by the whole industry, because - let’s be frank - expectations were not that high with the general crisis still pounding on the market.

The market unease was also reflected in a disparity amongst exhibitors. Some companies opted for a stand without machinery and the accompanying logistic costs. Others came with a great display of equipment to exude confidence in the market. And although participation itself is most important, the general opinion agrees that machinery still needs to be on display at the show. Visitors do not only want to talk the talk, they also need to see for themselves which applications can be realized, how the solutions work, what consumables are required, size, strength, and so on.

Digital printing was the hot topic and the variety of substrates it can be executed on even more so. Not only paper, but also other media were on display: textile, ceramics, wood, … All aimed at impressing visitors from other markets, such as decorators, architects, advertising agencies and marketing members.

Plus we could see all kinds of customized items such as photobooks, mugs, canvases, posters, wallpapers, furniture, textile, etc., but also other products like labels and packaging, again markets where digital printing is becoming increasingly applied. It was clear Graphispag Digital was not just a print show for the paper printers, but was aimed towards a broader marketing audience.

The collaboration with Sonimagfoto & Multimedia was received positively by exhibitors like Canon, Fujifilm or Kodak as it enabled them to reach two different markets from one single stand. The organization has therefore decided that future editions will continue to be combined.

Attendance at the conference Image & Print World Congress and the Image & Print Corner was highly variable. Depending on interest, some speakers could count on very crowded sessions. Some sessions were less successful. Word to the wise organizers that this approach was not as successful as anticipated and should be revised for future calls.

Another similar event in Spain will not happen until 2015. Hopefully the market will have improved by then and the next Graphispag Digital will be the forecast again of good times. A study conducted by Pira International and FESPA, expects digital textile printing to grow more than 870% through 2014. HP expects the business of customizing to generate more of 780 million euros in Europe. I feel those are nice numbers to build on towards Graphispag in 2015. So adios for now and hasta la proxima!

Rosa Arza

Graphispag.Digital is hosted alongside Sonimagfoto & Multimedia, from 17 to 20 April in Barcelona. The show offers a unique opportunity for all 10200 companies in the Spanish visual communication market to source new business opportunities in challenging times. It is the only trade show of the year where these visitors can see the new products first hand. Graphispag Digital also offers a full schedule of training, a celebration of the Image & Print World Congress and an Image & Print Corner,  offering a lot of information on all show topics.

The challenge of this event, according to the organizers, will be to go beyond the paper and look for new materials, products and services to differentiate oneself. Expectations are high and most likely customization elements, augmented reality, QR codes, and other new exciting technologies will be on display. Visitors’ profiles have also expanded into the world of decoration and textiles, advertising, jewellery, automotive, art or even the funeral industry.

The goal is to find new business opportunities, which the visitors can discover during the four days at the exhibitors’ booths - about 130 in total - or during the conferences of the Image & Print World Congress, where approximately 30 experts from different countries will identify the areas where printing and image show great growth potential. At the Image & Print Corner very brief lectures will be hosted, focusing on information exchange to fulfil the needs of the users.

Graphispag Digital has the ambition of becoming the ultimate event of digital printing and signage in Spain, especially after ViscomSign Spain was closed by Reed Exhibitions.  It is still tough out there in the market and many signage companies only decide very last minute if they participate in a trade event or not.

Visitor numbers will give us an idea of ​​the success of the formula, so we just have to wait and experience the next four days. See if they reach the foreseen 20,000 visitors attendance. See you there?

Rosa Arza 

In my previous blog I put forward my objectives, expectations and first impressions during the first 3 weeks of my internship at duomedia. Now it’s time to draw some conclusions. Indeed, Friday the 29th of March was, after 9 weeks of internship, my last day. Time to say goodbye to duomedia and its team that has helped me to improve my  English linguistics and professional skills.

So allow me to share it the way I did with my best friends. First and foremost, explaining the everyday activity of a B2B PR agency requires quite some patience and attention. It was probably the most difficult task of the internship. In fact, I think most of my interlocutors only retained “Communication”, “Printing, Packaging, Publishing” and “customers”. That’s not too bad as  a start. But the most important thing was understanding what I as a trainee could contribute to such agency.

duomedia allowed me to help out on the database. It’s impressive how important and time consuming this task is within an agency. A good database is the core and backbone of any communication strategy. An excellent task for me, as I got to know a lot of new magazine titles and markets. The second main task was research for a client. Get in touch with editors and magazines, asking for background information, editorial calendars and media packs. Interesting to know how this is the basis of defining a media strategy for a client. The third main task was to prepare several client reporting files, comparing online clippings with websites referenced in monitoring lists. Just to make sure we did not miss a clipping we worked hard for to get published.

But most importantly, I got to work in an international environment and work on my English skills. Day after day, I assimilated a lot of new vocabulary and felt more and more comfortable with the language.

I can honestly say there was never a dull moment at duomedia and my days were kept very busy. Just the way I like it. Tasks were clear and diverse; I could work independently and share my results at the end of the day. The three main tasks I briefly described above are but a summary of what I did during these 2 months of internship. It a true experience and I can only recommend duomedia as an internship company for any student. See you again soon?

Florent Lahy

Watching trends in the printing industry I cannot help but notice there is significant ongoing confidence and growth in the packaging sector.  Seemingly born from retail market forces, demographics, changing lifestyle choices and increased consumer consumption this growth is stimulating hope within the print community which has to be good news.  The food and beverage markets in particular are huge and driving brand owners to compete for shelf impact and the latest designs.  This in turn is pushing equipment suppliers to develop new materials and machinery pushing the boundaries of possibilities for packaging design and eye catching effects.

At the recent EFIA  Awards (EFIA is the UK trade association for the Flexographic Industry) - around 450 suppliers, printers and their customers, the brand owners and designers cheered on the winners.  The significant rise in technological advances and quality of flexo print on packaging is making these awards especially competitive.  The software and pre-press side of the process has advanced to amazing levels.  Print on packaging is reaching photographic quality standards on all types of substrates from labels to flexible pouches through to tissue paper and corrugated board and simi-rigid plastics. Also, on the night we were shown a virtual supermarket on the large screen behind the stage with the EFIA prizes flying off of a virtual shelf. 

At the Packaging Innovations Show  a few weeks ago there was a buzz in the air and instead of spending a morning, I decided to stay over and filled two days comfortably with a mixture of learn-shops, debates, research and networking in the two halls at the NEC.  Attended by analysts, print title editors, publishers and their ad execs, the printing community were there to find out ‘the latest’ and join the party. This year the Great Packaging Debate was followed on the second day of the show by a Great Print Debate!  The subject heading was a take on the Benny Landa quote ‘What can go digital will go digital’  - or will it?  This provoked lively comments on digital print in packaging and turned into a well informed and thorough discussion on raising the bar for packaging print and the role of the brand owner and his expectation.   Unilever’s Matt Daniels and Karen Grayley from Waitrose both gave strong signals of their company’s clear intent to achieve the highest standards of packaging in quality and sustainability.  Jo Francis chaired the debate with her usual panache and understanding.

Run by EasyFairs, the Packaging Innovations show has grown over the last few years and has become increasingly popular.  There are two shows a year - the Feb event at the NEC in Birmingham and the October event at the Business Design Centre in London.  This year EasyFairs MD, Matt Benyon is quoted as saying that the huge interest from the print community and the subsequent print side of the show reflects the industry analysts’ forecasts and strong support from the associations.  What I also find interesting is that we are seeing a visible demise in the world of trade shows suffering from economic forces, tight business controls and uncertainty – but here we see a show which is growing in popularity and positivism.

Packaging in whatever form it presents itself will continue to be indispensable.  Supermarkets, High Street Stores, Brand Outlets, Pharmacies, Fast Food and Coffee Shops and importantly online ordering – all have to deal with how they package their products.  What is  great for the consumer is the competition which stimulates creative, exciting and colourful packs.  Fresh food to deep frozen, from gifts to clothes and shoes, from toiletries to medicines and heavier containers to transport the packs all use cartons, corrugated boxes, flexible pouches, glass or plastic containers – and they all need to be printed!  Printers have been printing packaging for many years but the difference we are seeing now is in the sophistication as the competition grows in this market to achieve effective, functional and sustainable packaging.

It’s all good stuff for the printing industry – does anyone really want to bring back the brown paper bag!

by Annie Hotton

The @IAB_Belgium association hosted an interesting event yesterday. It only lasted one afternoon, but managed to result in half a notebook’s worth of scribbles, interesting IRL meet-ups with fascinating tweeps and probably a handful of blogs. Let me start with this one, as a quote from one of the presentations kept spooking through my mind.

Social media – at first everyone wanted to do it. But as it became clear  that it is not as easy as one would like  it to be, everyone seems to be more than eager to pass the hot potato. Clo Willaerts, reputed author of the Conversity Model, stated that social media will be insourced  more and more and will require training to handle it efficiently. More and more people will be adding social media to their everyday job. And where it once was a desired, fun  and hot task, with stakes rising it has now become a hot potato only a few are willing to hold.

I personally don’t mind hot potatoes, like them even better in mashed format. It’s my belief that a cross-media campaign is the way forward, in which the online/digital/social power part will further consolidate and intensify.

But although everyone agrees social media has to be part of the general communication plan, it often doesn’t correspond to a fair share of the budget. Why not? People need to be trained, accounts need to be monitored on a daily basis by various gatekeepers and results have to be measured.   Anthony Bosschum at Darwin Analytics put it clearly when stating CEO’s have lost their trust in marketers as they failed to prove the ROI for items such as social media. It’s up to us to show them black on white (screen or paper) that the efforts made can and will result in hard figures.

Let’s be honest, free tools don’t last and often don’t measure the parameters you’re looking to investigate. And paying tools are often quite expensive for a company that wasn’t even looking to spend that much on social media to begin with. Nonetheless, one can’t live without the other. So if you’re considering launching a social (in – or outsourced) media campaign, make sure to check if you can also free up budget for a monitoring tool. One can’t live without the other. You don’t want your Return on Investment to turn into Return on Ignorance, right?

Speaking from experience, my advice would be: pick your platforms, select your gatekeepers and set out budget guidelines. Don’t be afraid to cook the potato - grab your chance to turn it into an original dish. With parmesan. And ROI.

Thank you @IAB_Belgium for a truly inspiring session and more food for thought than I dared hope for. Blog again soon!

Maya Staels

Labelling the future is a challenge for the label industry, in the face of the exceptional change that is happening on many fronts. A developing palette of label technologies and alternative options; the ‘cloud’ business environment; the urgent need for succession change in SMEs;  making the decision to stay local, serve a specialty market segment, or go international;   maturing geographical markets versus the emerging economies… 

Technology innovation

Technology innovation is changing the face of the entire print industry;  and as commercial print dwindles in the face of downloadable reading matter, packaging print is growing exponentially. It is the key area where the consumer relies on a product’s physical brand image to confirm its quality, reliability, and desirability. Today’s modular presses make it possible to use multiple ‘traditional’ print processes – UV flexo, screen, foil blocking – in the one machine pass – as well as digital print for personalisation, barcoding, etc. What is more, the new-generation digital label presses deliver high-quality print results too; and today’s sophisticated digital pre-press solutions make design, proofing, and even product prototyping fast and easy – even if the client is thousands of miles away. Short-run work and multi-versioning of generic brand labels are now firmly part of a label converter’s remit. There have never been so many options.

Lean and green

At a time when brand owners are concerned to keep costs as low as possible, optimise profits, and still present a ‘green’ image to the consumer, lean manufacturing and sustainable practices must also be central to the label converter’s activities.  

E-commerce has long been a key to the effective running of the relationship between labelstock supplier and label converter, and today’s ‘back office’ at the label converter can be seamlessly integrated with the front end. Using today’s most up-to-date systems, which match those of the customers, is key.

Where next?

Specialisation is one route: there are successful label printing companies serving specialist industries. Alternatively, companies can look to extend their reach from being a ‘local’ supply base, to cross-border trading and, then, an international presence - achieved either independently or as a result of establishing partnerships and alliances with like-minded companies in other countries. Finally, of course, there are mergers and acquisitions – today an area where we are seeing very strong activity.  

Label – the future?

Whatever is to come, the future will still need a label. The intrinsic function of a label is to identify the contents of a package. We have come a long way from the handwritten ‘label’ on a brown paper bag (probably the first example of direct print – a labelling method that still has currency today!) There are wet-glue labels, self-adhesive labels, shrink and stretch sleeves, in-mould labels… and now we can learn about a product through scanning QR code on its packaging.   But we still have to be able to pick the right product from the retail shelf – and only a physical label of some kind can enable us to do that.

Lut Verschueren

Based on article by FINAT.

We all know how shopping for jeans can be a tortuous nightmare. In fact a poll by online fashion retailer isme.com found that 43% of its 1,000 over-50 female respondents said it was more stressful than moving house. While a survey by Which? Magazine found the average person spends twice the amount of time shopping for jeans than they do a current account. A testament to this fact is that of the 15 or so pairs of jeans I own, only a couple are regularly worn and even then that is because I have forgotten how uncomfortable or unflattering they really are.

So what about a service that scans your body shape, takes your measurements and asks you to state the style of jeans you are lookin for (skinny, flared, bootcut, boyfriend etc…) and then 3D prints the perfect fit and colour? Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it?  But in reality, with the fast paced developments in digital printing a ‘made-to-measure’ solution may not be that far away.

We have already seen how 3D printing is proving to be the perfect way to produce small objects like false teeth and hearing aids that are formed to the contours of the wearer’s ear or mouth. But market interest is growing every day with a host of new products now being manufactured from records to houses. Raw materials options are also expanding making ‘made-to-print’ jeans not such an outrageous suggestion.

In fact interest from the fashion industry was piqued last year by the 3D Print Show in London and escalated in January when Dutch designer Iris van Herpen’s Paris Fashion Week collaboration  featured a 3D printed skirt and cape created with artist, architect, designer and professor Neri Oxman from MIT’s Media Lab, printed by Stratasys.

She also presented a dress designed in collaboration with Austrian architect Julia Koerner, currently lecturer at UCLA Los Angeles, and 3D printed by Materialise.

Kimberley Ovitz picked up the baton at New York Fashion Week earlier this month with a range of form-fitting jewellery. Her Coelom Bracelet and Squama Ring, in stainless steel or flexible nylon and a Thana Earcuff and Spicules Earhook were among the AW13 collection produced with Shapeways – a marketplace and community that offers access to 3D Printing. And prices start at a not hugely prohibitive $35.

So is this a market area commercial printers should be looking at?

It is an opportunity that could be explored but as a stand-alone service although there may be some MIS and prepress cross over. The question comes down to investment costs versus sales potential and this will initially depend on cost per item and interest from the existing customer base.  

It is certainly something we at duomedia will be keeping an eye on and for some businesses I think it could be a perfect fit – just like those jeans. 

Catherine Carter

We’ve returned from the Packaging And Converting Executive (PACE) Forum for suppliers and brand owners and the number-one concern among delegates was abundantly clear – how to extend the shelf-life of their products.

The issue is brought into sharp focus when you consider this fact: around half of all food produced in the US and Europe is never consumed. This is a staggering amount of waste – particularly when there are millions of starving people in other parts of the world. There was agreement that on-demand production is crucial for addressing the problem, as well as adding smart tags to food packaging to let consumers know the food is still safe for consumption. This was just one of many issues covered at the PACE networking event, which brings together brand owners and suppliers from across the packaging supply chain to discuss the trends and challenges shaping their industry. 

The list of brands attending the event read like a ‘who’s who’ of FMCG manufacturers – Kraft Foods, Nestle, Heineken, Danone, Nokia and P&G, to name but a few. duomedia was also invited because of our strong track record of engaging and promoting suppliers and brands in the packaging market.

Celebrating its eighth anniversary, this year’s PACE Forum was set in the beautiful location of Prague, Czech Republic.   

Other hot topics discussed at the event were the need to produce sustainable packaging and prevent water wastage – and how this can be achieved across the whole supply chain. But while reducing the amount of packaging is good from an environmental perspective, it poses brands another challenge. Packaging is about much more than just protecting food. It’s also about ‘shelf impact’, tempting consumers to buy, and brand differentiation. 

Delegates also commented on the difficulties of operating in a global marketplace, where there are many regional differences and growing consumption in emerging territories. In India, for example, keeping food refrigerated remains a challenge, while in China there are different regulations and laws regarding food production and wastage. 

There was a consensus that the various companies involved in the supply chain must improve communication and become more efficient, so they can not only meet brand owners’ needs, but also deliver high-quality to consumers without adding to the current mountain of wastage.   

There are no quick fixes. But it was very heartening to hear how suppliers and brands owners are committed to developing solutions that are not only commercially viable, but also sustainable and socially responsible.

 Lutt Willems

Hunkeler Innovationsdays 2013 ended its tenth edition on a soaring success. Extended this year over 5 days instead of 4 to avoid the high peaks of previous years, the show attracted over 5000 visitors from across Europe and overseas to Lucerne, Switzerland.

This unique and lively show is definitely one to look out for in years to come. It differs from any other trade show by being the most compact trade fair in the industry, with an unmatched variety of the latest innovative solutions on the digital printing market. As a result, it attracts many potential customers, decision-makers and also media representatives eager to learn and share their views about the developing industry trends.

With a strong focus this year on the roll segment, inkjet had a strong presence at this year’s edition. There was inkjet on almost every booth of the 70 exhibition partners. Visitors were able to experience first-hand versatile solutions in a production environment with real-world applications such as publishing on demand, direct mail production and transpromo applications.

The atmosphere is also unlike any other trade shows. There are none of the fancy designs you can find in any international trade show. Here, every exhibitor has the same configuration and the booths are stripped to a bare decorum and attire. The focus is on the machines and it gives it a superb ambiance with the noise of the presses churning away as you are strolling from booth to booth catching up with friends and peers.

Duomedia was very happy to be able to support 3 of its clients there: Kodak, Xeikon and Ricoh. A wide range of PR support was offered ranging from the distribution of press releases to a very successful press conference, some #HID13 tweets and many 1to1 interviews. You can view some pictures taken during the show by clicking here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/duomediapr/sets/72157632796424576/

The dates for the next edition have already been set: Hunkeler Innovationdays 2015 will be back in Lucerne from 23 to 27 February 2015: looking forward to seeing you there!

Ingrid Van Loocke

Pictures courtesy of Giuseppe Toppers | Danto

To grow and learn, that’s why I expect to get out of an internship. Or would that be the standard response any trainee gives? Doesn’t matter, because I mean business. I’m a PR student in his last year, so time to get some “on-the-job experience” and learn how things work at a PR agency. That’s the reason I signed up for a 2 month learning curve experience at a pan-European B2B PR agency, called duomedia.  And after two weeks on the job, I think one blog will not be enough to cover it all.

Being 23 years old and approaching the exit doors of the University can be frightening because it means school period is nearly over. After six years at Primary school, six years at Secondary school and five (or more) at University, the time has come to go look for a job. I want to take on this venture fully prepared, gain useful knowledge and be really immersed in the field of communication in order to define both the key elements and subtleties that interest me most. That way I know which future job to look for.

My previous internship at a small E-marketing and Inbound Marketing agency introduced me to tools for creating communicative content, timesheet management and multitasking. However, I felt my communication skills in terms of  language and content management, as well as my writing skills could use some improvement.

When I saw the pan-European and even international strategy duomedia puts forward, I knew this was the place to be. I applied, the management accepted me and here I am. All yours for nine weeks.  Experience is what I asked and what I will get. From day one, the team has welcomed me as one of their own and I’m immediately involved in key operational elements: comparative studies, database research, social media strategy, and basic account management. Interesting to see how the theoretical studies are actually handled in everyday life! Even more, duomedia handles B2B PR for very technical markets, such as graphic arts and food/beverage - markets I had no idea were such large industries.

Oh yes, there will be loads to learn here and I can hardly wait. This is my opening blog. I’ll be back in a few weeks to report on what I’ve learned. I just hope I’ll be able to sum it up in a page.

Florent Lahy

Two weeks ago we organized a press conference for the industry association EuroWaxPack at the confectionary trade fair ProSweets (Köln, Germany).  Although this was duomedia’s first PR project for EuroWaxPack, the impact has been significant.  Looking back I try to identify the key success criteria and in my opinion it boils down to a lot of common sense, which is unfortunately often astray, even in professional marketing and communication initiatives. So what did we do?

 -        bring (f)actual news from a trustworthy source and embed it in a broader industry-specific context

-        target a selected audience

-        meet editors’ needs and readers’ interest for information

-        select the right place: bring it where the related industry is present

-        select the right moment: bringing a proven story on compostability of wax paper packaging  rather than a ‘greenwashing’ story in moments of relentless pursuit for sustainable solutions and news

-        last but not least: secure a knowledgeable and passionate speaker and bring a short, crisp presentation

Following the press coverage, EuroWaxPack received many direct requests for additional information from the industry. A dream come true for any marketeer. Actual companies seeking better solutions and a scientific ‘benchmark’ for their recycling /sustainable practice and turning to the company that can give that information. The circle is complete.

The appeal of industry associations today reaches beyond ‘old school’ networking only.  A generation shift within a revolutionized information age brings different challenges and demands radical changes: retain members, capture the attention of press, the industry and related partners, demonstrate value and provide access to business critical information. 

There’s your relevance of integrated communication/PR … 

Nearly 16000 visitors registered for this year’s three days edition of the Grafische Vakbeurs Gorinchem (#GVG13). Located just over the border with Belgium, it’s the perfect fall-out base for a Benelux attendees mix. Especially with opening hours from 12h00 until 21h00, it made it very easy to avoid traffic jams. So en route this duolady went on the second day of the show.

The show does not really focus on hardware. Some machinery is on display, as well as a lot of applications. But it’s mostly valued as a networking event (hence the free food and drinks). Two years ago when the crisis was reaching its full effect, the atmosphere was really bad. Long faces, lots of muffled talks on how things were going, little chatter on positive news. So I must admit I was a bit preoccupied on how this edition would be turning out. After all, the crisis is still not over. Sure, on a European level we see companies reinventing themselves and adopting news ways of generating sales and optimising communication with stakeholders. But would the Benelux market react the same way?

Much to my surprise, I can’t remember the last time I got so much information and a positive vibe from a show. A warm welcome at the Mimaki stand, friendly faces at the Chili Publish and Esko booths, a hearty goodbye drink at the Compres booth to say goodbye to press veterans Rien Berends and Cees Pfeiffer (managed to get a hold of their last editor’s letter even!) and loads of meet-ups with both familiar and new faces. The day flew by in a heartbeat and the atmosphere was optimistic. Times are still troubled, but there’s a bridge over troubled water and everyone is building it one optimisation step at a time. I think we’ll be surprised by the resilience of Benelux market players and can expect some new announcements in 2013.

I experienced a familiar feeling at the VIGC reception hosted on January 28th. Although the turnout was less than expected, the people who were there were clearly ready to exchange ideas and experiences with peers.

I for one feel recharged with ideas and positive vibes for 2013 and am curious to find out how you experienced the shows you’ll be attending. Going to #pace, #HID13, #Fespa13? What vibes are you getting?

by Maya Staels

A report by Barbara Bernardi, duomedia consultant Italy

We see quite a few events pass by from suppliers trying to inform the market on what’s out there. We consider these admirable initiatives and especially when various suppliers collaborate to give attendees the full picture on the process.

On 29 January the new edition of the Innovation Day took place at the Salesian Don Bosco Institute of Graphic Arts in Milan, bringing together such specialists in colour management as X-Rite/Pantone, Color Consulting (X-Rite Italian representative), Esko and TAGA experts.

It was an interesting day with a strong technological focus, showing participants from the print and communication industry how to manage all possible workflow steps, from inspiration to production, from design to final product.

The day kicked off with presentations and videos, followed by crowded demo sessions held in the school classrooms. All focus was on practicality and exchange, ensuring brand owners can recreate the perfect color representation, from design and prepress to print production. The tools were designed so brand owners can predict how corporate spot colours will be reproduced on a wide variety of substrates. Then followed by instructions on how all color data is stored in a secure, cloud-based portal to facilitate colour communication. In a final fase, participants were able to create proofs and tests to measure true daylight conditions while supporting all the ISO Measurement Standards inclusive of the complete M1, a new measurement standard of illumination conditions defined by ISO.

All in all a highly informative session which was reflected in the feedback from attendees. Many said the Milan Innovation Day found the right balance between a theoretical presentation of products and hands-on sessions. It shed a lot of light on the correct ways of managing, communicating and achieving the perfect colour. Attendees say they managed to understand the concepts and the usage of technological tools which, although available, are not well- known to the industry. Yet these are products that can make a profit’s difference to a company, a designer or an agency.

And isn’t that how you should feel after attending such an event? Well-informed, enlightened and confident this will enhance your business. Congrats to all organisers on a streamlined and well-attended event. See you at the next colour session!