This month I interviewed Tony Karg, senior director of business development and marketing for Fujifilm Graphics, to discuss how printers can use social networking technology as a marketing tool to enhance print.
With the state of the industry right now, what factors do you think are leading to Fujifilm’s current strength and survival?
It has definitely been a brutal couple of years for the industry. Relative to our competitors, we feel we’ve been quite successful. However, relative to how successful we would like to be, there is still room for improvement. To answer your question though, what Fujifilm has done is taken a close look at what it is we do well and made attempts to do that on an exceptional level. We have really focused on the core areas of offset, display and digital printing and looked at where we can deliver excellence. That drive is what is necessary to achieve market growth.
How will the company be able to maintain growth over the coming years, and what can the industry look forward to seeing from Fujifilm?
In terms of maintaining growth, Fujifilm can always be counted on for coming out with new products. We spend about 7.8 percent of sales – that’s $5.2 million – every single day in R & D. It is important to spend money and energy in this area to continue growing. Looking at the Canadian market specifically, we are really focusing on the three core business segments that I mentioned before: offset, display and digital, and looking at ways to diversify. For our industry to grow and survive, companies must diversify what they can offer customers. To be blunt: diversify or die.
Looking at what’s coming up, on the display side of things, we have the Acuity and Inca lines which will see successor products coming on to the market in the next 12 months. For the digital sector, we will be introducing the Fujifilm Digital Inkjet Press to Canada early next year.
How does Fujifilm’s business and marketing strategy differentiate itself from its competitors?
Well I think the most important thing is to really be out there engaging the market. We go to trade shows and exhibit, and we support the industry’s academic institutions as well to develop our next generation’s talent. Fundamentally, we believe we have to interact with people. In our opinion, you cannot manage the Canadian market from the U.S. – you have to have to have people based in local areas to engage with our industry. This is something that is very important to Fujifilm.
In terms of a marketing strategy, a recession is the best time to spend money on marketing activities because it lets you grow your market share. We continue to interact with the printing community to show what we have to offer. Given the market share growth we experienced – they answered.
How are factors like the high Canadian dollar and rising paper prices affecting your business and the business of your customers?
Certainly commercial printing has had a brutal couple of years; not only because of rising paper prices but also the impact of declining run lengths. The high Canadian dollar is both a plus and a minus. It is a good thing in terms of reinvesting in new equipment, but on the other hand it is a bad thing in a sense that a significant part of the industry exports to the U.S. That marketplace is virtually gone for those companies. For Fujifilm as a vendor, there is not a huge impact either way. We balance the risks of exchange rate fluctuations to take out the highs and lows, which in turn moderates the impact on the printing community.
In a recent GAM web poll about sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter, almost 30 percent of respondents said that they use NO form of social networking. From a marketing perspective, why do you think our industry is slow to adopt, and why should print professionals get on board with this?
Fujifilm is also looking at this topic right now and is currently executing a customer survey that includes questions about social networking. These are important questions to ask because the fundamental nature of communication is changing. Print has a place in this, but so too does social media. When I look at our industry, it is clear that companies must diversify to offer broad marketing communications to its customers. Social media is a part of that.
If you are a commercial printer, you should look at some of these new technologies and think about how you could utilize them to drive your print sales. It seems that instead, some companies are avoiding social media and digitally delivered messaging because they feel it replaces their print business. Let’s look at QR codes, for example. These printed codes create a direct link to a website when viewed with a smartphone camera. An innovative print facilitator would talk to retailers and encourage them to include QR codes into some of their in-store signage. This motivates the retailer to continually change its signage to have updated links, thus stimulating print. This is just one example of how to leverage these communication technologies to enhance the value of print in the marketplace. However, if you don’t understand these advancements, you can’t apply them to increase your business.
On a more personal note, what is your favourite part of your job?
I love the fact that I get to engage with the industry. I can see problems and be able to help with solutions. I love getting out of the box with social media, for example. Rather than look at it as killing business, with my job, I am able to look at how I can use it to get more business. I also like the fact that at Fujifilm we can take a leadership role in terms of disseminating thoughts and ideas. As it relates to me personally, I get to work in the “here and now,” but I also get to look at several years down the road and can see what’s coming and how new technology can be a game changer.
A lot of people don’t grow up knowing they want to be in the print industry; usually they just sort of fall into it. One of my favourite questions to ask the people I interview is: when you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was in my teenage years, I was involved with the Air Cadets, so I wanted to join the military and serve my country. Unfortunately, I wear glasses and the military didn’t deem me suitable. When I was in university for my history degree, I managed a typesetting and poster printing business for the Student’s Union. This brought me to the attention of the GM of Allprint (back before it was Allprint Ainsworth) where I joined as a typesetter, starting my career in this industry.
