ER2 Image Group created these graphics for the Dallas Mavereicks In the Paint event. question is who is going to pioneer this movement?” We’ve seen this sentiment on the commercial print side of the market as well, as print service providers morph into marketing service providers, becoming marketing partners to their customers instead of simply their “printer.” “Our biggest opportunity continues to be getting our customers to think of us beyond simply print-for-pay and ultimately as true marketing partners,” said Tom Trutna, owner, BIG INK. “We can assist our clients with design, logistics, and project management in addition to competitive print solutions. In this model, we are true partners with our customers not just vendors.” Ferrari Color’s Green feels similarly. “Our clients continue to find innovative ways to present their message to their customers. Ferrari Color engages early in the process of providing more than just simple ink on paper. We continue to join them in creating lasting impressions with each graphic investment dollar.” But what does it take to actually make the transition to a new breed of visual communications company? Is offering additional services like digital signage, mobile marketing, and personalized URLs enough? No. PSPs cannot simply add technological capabilities Electrical Signs 1.59% Regulatory Signs 1.63% Fine Art and Museum Graphics 3.11% Yard & Site Signs 3.31% Decor Printing 3.96% Specialty Printing & Graphics 4.28% Labels & Decals 4.67% Fabric and Textile Graphics 4.78% Engineering Drawings (including CAD, blueprints, and renderings) Building Signs Billboards and Building Wraps 4.93% 4.91% 4.78% Small 8.35% Sizes Grand 21.94% Wide 54.98% Medium 14.72% and change their names. If you’re going to offer “marketing services” and become the new visual communication company, shops have to offer marketing expertise. It’s more than just simply executing the various components of the campaign. It’s working with the client to design and develop the program—from start to finish. Shops need to be involved in the direction and strategy of the campaign, be able to provide meaningful metrics, and execute each “piece” of the campaign flawlessly. Are you prepared to become one of the new breed of visual communication companies? Many of these Top Shops are already there—and we can see how they are differentiating themselves from the rest and reaping the benefits. Other 1.35% Retail and POP Displays and Signs (including floor graphics) 14.28% Applications Banners and Signs 13.48% Exhibit and Trade Show Graphics 9.37% Fleet and Vehicle Graphics 8.59% Posters 5.52% Backlit Display Graphics 5.46% The Numbers Forty-eight percent of this year’s Top Shops classify themselves as a “Digital Color Shop/Digital Printer,” leaving the remaining shops split between “Sign Shop” (34.52 percent), Reprographic 48% Shop (5.95 percent), Other (4.76 percent), Commercial Printer (1.19 percent), Exhibit builder (1.19 percent), screen printer (1.19 percent), photo lab (1.19 percent), and Service Bureau (1.19 percent). The average age of the shops in our list is 28.34 years, with our oldest founded 28.34 years in 1910, 104 years ago: Filmet Color Laboratories, Inc. from Cheswick, PA. This year, we have seven shops with 50 or more years in business: Sharpe Images (64), E.H. Teasley & Co., Inc. & Inkjet International (64), Alabama Graphics (60), Thomas Printworks (58), Duggal Visual Solutions (53), Visual Marking Systems (52), and The Composing Room (50). Shop sunder the ten year mark include Excelsus Solutions, LLC (9), Premedia Group LLC (9), Category 5 (8), reproHAUS (7), and FASTSIGNS of Lawrenceville (1). 16 Wide-Format Imaging | April 2015 MyPRINTResource.com
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