The Digital Print Forum

Interquest returned to Toronto, and Ryerson University, to host a full day of seminars on Wednesday May 11. Based in Virginia, Interquest (www.inter-quest.com) is an International leader in marketing research and consulting for electronic printing and publishing.

The day was broken into two tracks with Digital Printing and Multi-channel Communications in the morning, and Digital Book Printing in the afternoon. Attendees could register for either track. Both sessions were well attended with over 100 registrants for each one, and extra chairs being brought in.

Digital Printing and Multi-channel Communications

The morning session, led by Gilles Biscos, president of Interquest, kicked off with an overview of current Market Trends, as well as forecasts.  Gilles outlined some high level overall trends to be aware of, including:

The challenging circumstances of overall print volume decline being combined with price pressures. Gilles indicated that while there is a declining market, there are opportunities for leveraging the use of colour in digital print, especially for companies using the combination of promotional messages with traditional transactional statements.

Gilles presented the results of an Interquest commissioned survey of the concerns of Canada’s Transactional Print Providers.

By far the most common challenge identified by the survey respondents – over 90% – was the ongoing overall shift away from print, and towards electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP). The next most important challenge in the survey was transpromo and the growth of colour both at 25%. 70% of those surveyed believed EBPP was driving a decline in their revenues. This also has a correlating impact on the cheque business as well.

The message on Transpromo was mixed; while there appears to be small growth in volume, the survey results seemed to indicate that there are still significant technical barriers, as well as a general lack of understanding in the marketplace.

On the technical side there was an overview of the latest offerings in toner and inkjet based systems – inkjet continues to generate significant interest, and is seen as a key enabler for efficient, economic, transpromo projects.

The morning also included a presentation from Rich Basset from Basset Direct, a leading provider of one-to-one direct mail campaigns. Rich highlighted the challenges in ‘traditional’ direct mail, and provided a success story of their work to help make direct mail relevant to consumers, for major loyalty programs.

As well there were lively panel discussions that explored the Synergies between Printed  & Electronic Communications, and the overall Convergence of Direct Mail and Transactional/Transpromo.

Digital Book and Manual Printing

The afternoon continued with a similar format. The discussion shifted to digital books, however some similar threads continued through. There was a strong emphasis on colour and ink jet. Gilles kicked things off by presenting some market trends for the digital book sector. The importance of the market was apparent as Interquest forecasts 1/3rd of all books being printed digitally by 2020. For book printers, it seems like things don’t stop at digital printing. The data showed that 50% of survey respondents were involved in eBook production as well. Shorter runs are a driving force toward digital printing, with 64% of respondents reporting a drop in order quantities.

Toby Corbin, the Director of Interquest also presented some market trends with highlights including improvements in binding technology and substrate selection. There were two panel sessions—one from the perspective of the printers and the other from the perspective of the publishers.

The printers stressed the importance of providing a solution to the publishers. There was an emphasis on the ability to have an integrated workflow and build partnerships with publishers. The importance of managing data was also at the forefront of the conversation.

On the publisher side, the panel of speakers agreed that there is a place for digital in the market, however there are also obstacles. The primary challenge seemed to be price point—especially for small publishers who’s markups would not allow them to consider digital.  Sustainability advantages also came up in the discussion—proving to be another driver toward digital technology.

Sponsor Displays

In addition to the seminars, there were twenty or so vendor booths, highlighting offerings from a variety of hardware and software providers, as well as fulfillment and service partners. RISO provided live demonstrations of one of their high-speed inkjet devices and representatives from other companies such as Kodak, Canon, Cascades and Webcom were on hand.

The day of information ended with a cocktail reception sponsored by Webcom. If you would like more information about Interquest you can visit www.inter-quest.com.