Print in Motion: Cross-Media Magic (continued from page 1) defining the term, and is now starting to discuss the actual value and features,” says Charlotte Tueckmantel, EFI General Manager, Web-to-Print & Value Add Products. “They are focusing on how to deliver on their promises instead of debating on what cross-media is. A few years ago it was a basic definition, with the PURL as the high hurdle, and we have been excited to see printers embrace it. Today, PURLS are a minimum requirement for cross-media campaigns. Social media is next hurdle, and it is fast becoming the next channel requirement for a campaign. Other trends PSPs need to be very aware of include real-time messaging and content—they have to look at where audience is today and create content that is relevant. It needs to be location-based and include social media, PURLS, and relevant landing pages at a minimum. Location-based marketing in particular is one of the exciting trends, integrating messages relevant to end customers based on their location.” Data, in particular, is going to be an area that printers will need to embrace more fully going foward. Consumers today expect marketing to be sophisticated and relevant to them, individually, and PSPs will need to continue to find ways to use both the data they are provided and that generated by the campaigns themselves to more finely tune the messaging. Campaigns that cross multiple channels and target the same consumers in ways that are appropriate to the medium will increasingly become more necessary. “The digital world is impacting each of us in more ways we can count, but one way that’s obvious is changing customer expectations around how they receive information,” stresses Annette McCrary, Director of Strategic Marketing, Ricoh Production Printing Business Group, Ricoh Americas Corp. “A combination of mail, email, and other channels is now essential to reach customers in a meaningful, captivating way. This is partially fueled by big data—information that allows marketers to develop targeted, personalized campaigns. The more printers embrace big data applications and processes, the more (continued from page 1) they will be able to expand their capabilities for their customers, giving them access to the kind of information needed to customize every campaign down to individual pieces, and to easily incorporate multi-channel and cross-channel (media) elements into each campaign.” Cross-media at GRAPH EXPO At the show this year, there are a variety of cross-media solutions to explore. EFI (Booth 1902) is showing its MUST SEE ’EMS award winner, DirectSmile version 7, at its booth. The software solution integrates with the rest of the company’s wide portfolio of products, allowing PSPs to customize the solution to their goals and their customers’ needs. DirectSmile offers features such as social media integration, location-based content creation and, notes Tueckmantel, “it really embraces print as a key connective component.” For RICOH (Booth 1231), the cross-media focus is on its 1to1 Create Marketing Services, which are powered by PTI Marketing Technologies, a cloud-based subscription service aimed to help PSPs create, launch, track, manage, modify, and optimize cross-media campaigns. The solution was a MUST SEE ‘EMS winner at last year’s event, says McCrary, and it is a “low-cost, high-return solution with a simple and direct workflow that helps print and marketing service providers offer more value-added services such as design and VDP at prices substantially lower than their competitors, and in less time.” Xerox (Booth 613) this year has themed its entire booth around “Just Let the Work Flow,” with cross-media solutions a part of that conversation. FreeFlow Digital Publisher, in particular, “enables the prepress operator to produce print and multichannel content with the simple submission of an input PDF file. Xerox continues to be a leader in the industry by offering this unique ability to print and publish in a single workflow,” says Andre Blaakman, Xerox Marketing Manager, GCO/GCBG/Workflow & Solutions. “Complementing the technology’s original on-site configuration are two additional configurations that take print and digital content production automation to the next level—in the cloud. The new cloud configuration works the same as the on-site version, but offers an alternative way to implement the solution via the cloud, with lower startup costs and faster deployment. The new ePublishing configuration is also cloud based, but offers digital and mobile content production capabilities only—great for print service providers that want to start offering new digital and mobile services but don’t want to revamp their print production workflow.” XMPie (Booth 613), a business unit of Xerox, is demoing PersonalEffect 8.0, the latest version of its personalization software. The new version brings the ability to integrate the latest mobile and Web technologies into a campaign while still ensuring the personalized print components sync up perfectly. The company has also brought new integrations with its cloud-based Circle technology and PersonalEffect uProduce server, for a more unified user experience across the board. Cross-media promotions are fast becoming what end consumers expect in their marketing materials. They want messages to sync up across their various platforms, and they want the opportunity to interact with brands on the platform and channel of their choosing at any moment in time. For PSPs, finding ways to integrate these services into the print campaigns, and make it seamless and painless for the brands creating the content, is key to the future of the industry. “The opportunity here is to reach consumers through simple, focused content,” says Sweeney. “Getting your message noticed in today’s oversaturated media world is an ongoing challenge. A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work, so successful marketers need to focus on relevance and personalization in order to cut through the clutter. If you create meaningful, engaging content, then there shouldn’t be distraction; and your customers will clearly see your content in all channels.” Market Intelligence: Game-Changers at GRAPH EXPO and Beyond For years Printing Industries of America has assembled an independent panel of judges to deliberate over an outstanding selection of technology nominations that highlighted the dynamic nature of the industry. This year’s awards show great developments in high-speed web and sheetfed color inkjet presses, digital finishing equipment, the use of metallic foil, patterning for optimal flexo ink laydown, and a portable spectrophotometer for use in the pressroom. Also honored were solutions that facilitate cross-media marketing campaigns, use a new standard to define and communicate brand colors, and simplify the integration of production and business processes. The 10 technologies selected to receive the 2015 InterTech Technology Award are (listed alphabetically by company): • Canon U.S.A., Inc. – Océ VarioPrint i300 • CGS Publishing Technologies International LLC – ORIS CxF • EFI, Inc. – EFI DirectSmile Cross-media • Esko – Automation Engine Connect • Heidelberg – Prinect Media Manager • Highcon Systems Ltd. – Highcon Euclid Digital Finishing Technology • Kodak – KODAK PROSPER 6000 Presses • Kodak – KODAK FLEXCEL NX System • MGI Digital – MGI iFOIL • X-Rite – X-Rite eXact with Scan Option Show Daily: Please update us on some of PIA’s biggest efforts to educate its members on these technology changes. Michael Makin: Education remains a cornerstone of PIA and we employ a number of tools to get the word out from webinars and conferences (such as the Technical Association of the Graphic Arts, Continuous Improvement, Color Conference, and the re-introduction next month of PIA’s popular President’s Conference). We have an award-winning monthly magazine, technical experts who speak all over the world, and almost 60 courses in our Integrated Learning Center that provides training 365 days per year. Show Daily: What regional trends do you hear from your members? Michael Makin: I don’t know if we have heard unique trends emanating from one region of the country over the other. Concerns with pricing, profits, and volumes resonate from coast to coast as do the regulatory and legislative concerns that pre-occupy members in every region. Printers want a functioning postal service with reasonable rates that won’t drive business away, they remain concerned with the predatory and pernicious practices of patent trolls who try to use the legal system to extort funds, and they want to remind customers and the public alike that contrary to the hysterical claims of some, the print industry is indeed very green and environmentally responsible. Data Security Takes Center DStage in The Printerverse ata security is an important topic as printers become more involved in handling and storing sensitive customer data. In light of recent computer hacking of data from major companies, security is foremost in the minds of printers because of the danger to a printer’s reputation and the financial liabilities. Print Media Centr’s Printerverse’s (Booth 3867) gathered an expert panel to discuss computer security in its “Breach Is the New Black: Data, Privacy and The Cloud” session. The session, attended by both onsite participants and attendees connecting via social media on the Internet, addressed whether cloud storage was safe or on-premises solutions were better. Dennis Amorosao, Vice President and General Manager, BISG Marketing & CIIS Professional Services, Business Imaging Solutions Group, Canon USA (Booth 1213), pointed out there were a wide variety of options for storage and there were a number of factors to consider when determining which was best for a company. Stephen McWilliam, Executive Vice President, Avanti (Booth 654), said there was still a FUD factor in cloud storage. Many on the panel agreed that there was fear, uncertainty, and doubt as to the security of the cloud, especially with larger companies. The larger companies would opt for on-premise storage, especially if the data was regulated such as HiPAA or PCI (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard for credit cards) information. Stefan Karlsson, Founder and CTO, arifiQ (Booth 3864), felt that many printers would benefits from using a cloud system and urged the printers to leave security to IT professionals. He said there were a number of services available that would provide security cloud capabilities without the need to have an IT professional on site. Eric Thibodeou, Workflow Business Manager, GCBG/Production Workflow, Xerox (Booth 613), agreed that small printing companies needed professional IT support when dealing with security and not to leave it up to the prepress manager or a relative with some computer skills. Paul Abdool, Vice President, Enterprise Solutions, Solimar (Booth 641), said cloud may not be the best solution based on a customer’s need. He found the larger customers wanted an on-premise solution, particularly if it dealt with regulated data. Processes must be in place so a company can react immediately if there is a security breach. The costs of penalties and fines could well outpace the cost to implement a secure system. Linda Kish, Director, Mail Center Solutions, Global Product Management, SMB Solutions, Pitney Bowes (Booth 1239), pointed out that security, especially in regulated industries isn’t just about the electronic data. Mail piece integrity where the right sheet gets into the right envelop is still as important as securing electronic data. You will need processes in place that will assure security is maintained for all regulated industries. 62 September 15, 2015 | GRAPH EXPO Official Show Daily | PrintingNews.com
GraphExpo Show Daily September 15 2015
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