Archive for the ‘Digital Printing’ Category

Super-cool Fold of the Week

Monday, December 5th, 2011

This week’s fold is a Storytelling Vertical Open Gate into Accordion submitted by VSA Partners in Chicago. It’s a great example of how a folding can tell a company’s story. While this was not used as a direct mail piece, it’s a creative leave behind piece that people will want hold on to. The designer made great use of strategically placed QR codes to drive viewers to visit the website and specific videos. Enjoy!

Services and Customer Focus Together Make Your Company More Valuable

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

Two things I read last week hit me with a one-two punch: first I read about Warren Buffet’s investment in IBM, and then I read information from a Gartner report on leveraging customer loyalty.

The AP article on Buffet’s investment says: Warren Buffett said Monday that his company has spent $10.7 billion to buy more than 5 percent of IBM’s stock this year, a surprising move by the billionaire investor who has long shied away from investing in high technology companies.”

Why the change is a kicker!
“Buffett has long refused to invest in high-tech companies because he has said it’s too difficult to predict which technology businesses will prosper in the long run.
“But he said he recently realized his view of IBM was wrong based on what he read in the company’s annual reports and what he learned by talking to information-technology departments at Berkshire subsidiaries. He said he should have realized years sooner that hardware is no longer the heart of IBM’s business.
“”Now they’re very much a services company, and they’re very intertwined with their customers,” Buffett said. And he said IBM’s customers are reluctant to change once they start working with IBM.”

Now for the Gartner quote on loyalty and customer experience:
“”I don’t think it’s ever too late,” said Adam Sarner, principal research analyst with Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Inc. “Long-term loyalty initiatives depend on building trust and affinity. The more relevant you are to the customer, the more likely they will be loyal to you.””

So what does this mean to us in the world of Print, or Print and Mail? What can we learn from these two seemingly unrelated pieces of information?

For some time now, everywhere we turn we see studies, reports, and market recommendations about how moving from a Print Service provider to a Marketing Services provider is the way to expand and grow our business. However, it is certainly a complex transition to make, and maybe even too costly. It is hard to figure out where to begin and even if to begin.

What I take away from the Gartner information is that for our industry, and for us as companies or individuals, to compete and succeed we must stay relevant to our customers. Communication channels and technology are changing fast, and some say Print, and Print and Mail are becoming irrelevant. We need to adopt a customer-centric view and prioritize discovering what our customers need, and change our organizations to meet those needs. We are experiencing changes, but so are our customers. There are new regulations and changing demographics impacting how our customers communicate to their customers. We cannot afford to take a product or technology only view, and ignore the changes impacting our customers. We must stay relevant to them.

My take away from the Buffet article relating to our business and our industry is that some very smart investors have stayed away from high tech companies because of the difficulty in picking a product or technology with long lasting impact. They are instead placing their bets on companies that are service providers because a good service provider becomes very involved with their customers and it becomes difficult for the customer to change. The technologies and the tools supporting our industry in producing communications have never been more widely varied and in flux. However, if we focus on the needs of the clients and their communication requirements with an outside-in view instead of inside-out, we, like the giant IBM, can change how we are perceived and increase our value, longevity, and profitability.

So in the end what does it mean? Listen carefully to the clients, learn and understand their needs and even what is driving those needs, and then no matter what you call it, offer service solutions that meet those needs.

Are you interested in learning how some printing companies have accomplished just this? Visit OceWow to watch best practice videos. Watch as we highlight what makes print operations like i3Logix, Yurchak Printing Inc., and Ideal Printers Inc. successful.

A very special Super-Cool Fold of the Week!

Monday, November 21st, 2011

Here is a special treat for Thanksgiving week… First is the Swing Cover Direct Mailer. This piece combines a swinger fold technique with a tri-fold and was completely done by machine at Bindagraphics in Baltimore, MD. Second, watch the actual footage of this mailer being printed in the production facility. Think of it as your turkey dinner with an extra special desert. Enjoy!

As always, be sure to check out more treats for printers and marketing service providers at www.OceWow.com.

Real-Time Accountability… (Part 2)

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

 A New World for Real-Time Metrics

In today’s market, the tools are available to measure, manage, and monitor campaigns in real time. Technology from a number of sources, ranging from Pageflex to MindFireInc., enables marketers to see how people are interacting with campaigns in real-time and allows them to make immediate changes. The service provider can equip marketing professionals with a visual presentation of campaign results with real-time granular detail. The presence of immediate analytics and reports puts service providers and marketing executives in full control. With real-time data, the appropriate adjustments can be made to creative elements, offers, or calls-to-action. The marketing executive can then use the data insight to formulate follow-up campaigns. This leads to higher consumer engagement, more successful campaigns, and improvement in overall ROI.

Service Providers Are Stepping Up to the Plate

Document service providers must position themselves as business partners that can help the marketing department deal with the real-time accountability challenge. Today’s service providers are stepping up to the plate to ensure effective real-time campaign execution. In July 2011, InfoTrends completed a study entitled

Service providers of all types are beginning to take advantage of technological advancements so they can provide marketers with instant gratification on campaign effectiveness. The real-time marketing industry continues to evolve in response to a recent wave of new software technologies and the increasing accessibility of technology, data, analytics, and advanced marketing techniques. The rapid evolution of technology is paving the way for innovative print service providers and data service bureaus to help marketers understand campaign effectiveness and make the appropriate adjustments. Today’s service providers can help marketing executives meet the need for accountability… in real-time!

Visit www.OceWowFactor.com to download the InfoTrends White Paper Cross-Media Takes Hold: Learning From the Leaders.

Real-Time Accountability… With Help from the Document Services Provider (Part 1)

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

A New Accountability

Back when the economy tanked, an old word crept back into our lexicon: accountability. Marketers already had plenty of metrics in place, particularly at larger organizations that were well-schooled in tracking sales leads, market share, and CPM. Nevertheless, these pockets of performance measurements didn’t provide the big picture that senior managers are now seeking. What was lacking was a way to measure effectiveness of a campaign real-time and communicate the overall impact of the marketing organization.

So as bottom lines were scrutinized and budgets were slashed, marketing became an easy target because it was the least accountable. Today, there’s a new accountability in marketing that wasn’t there in the past. Companies are beginning to realize that it’s important their marketing strategies be aligned with their business strategies. Businesses must develop a real-time understanding of how well any marketing initiative is working.

In a multi-client research study entitled The Cross-Media Direct Marketing Opportunity, InfoTrends surveyed more than 500 marketing executives. According to our research, over 50% of marketing executives do not measure marketing campaign performance while executing a campaign. This means that the marketing campaign is completed and the budget is spent, even if it proves ineffective.

Check back tomorrow for the rest of this article!

Newmark Print: Digital and Eco-Friendly

Monday, November 14th, 2011

Newmark Print is one of the premier full-service commercial printers in the Denver area, providing turnkey corporate printing, mail, distribution, and digital media services. Its services include one- through four-color sheet-fed printing; specialty substrate printing; one- through four-color digital offset and variable data printing; and sophisticated prepress, bindery, kitting, direct mail, and fulfilment. Founder and President Aquiles LaGrave stated, “In 2006, I moved an old banged-up press into a garage in Denver. My dream at the time stretched no further than putting in a full day’s labor, and was borne out of my love for the printed word and ink pressing onto paper. Today, Newmark Print is a solutions-driven digital offset imaging and mailing services company in the Rocky Mountains region. Running two shifts daily, our employees oversee an operation that has over 250 years of shared experience. We run work on our five digital presses, fulfilling tens of thousands of orders and mailing tens of millions of pieces yearly as far afield as Asia, or as close to home as your own mailbox.”

CEO Jim Albany noted, “We have always been a digital shop. We service a myriad of industries and handle extensive direct mail campaigns, newsletters, and label work. In addition, about 25% of our business comes from being a trade printer. We work with other providers to supplement their digital capabilities. We leverage the Océ VarioPrint® 4000 for our black & white work. It has been a real workhorse for us. We also have a Canon imagePRESS C7000VP from Océ for digital color work.”

The environment is very important to Newmark. LaGrave explained, “The commercial lithographic printing on traditional offset presses is an incredibly wasteful and dirty process, regardless of the types of ink you use. Whether it be during set-up, clean-up, or imaging, traditional offset presses waste incredible amounts of paper, chemical solvents, and energy before the first deliverable sheet is even printed. This means that traditional offset outputs ‘Volatile Organic Compounds’ (the stuff responsible for global warming) at rates exponentially higher than that of new offset technologies. This was a driver for our focus on using digital technologies.”

CEO Jim Albany reported, “Instead of a traditional offset press, Newmark chose to invest in print engines that are a quantum leap ahead of older technologies in terms of quality and direct environmental impact. Our state-of-the-art digital printing technology offers offset quality while increasing energy efficiency, dramatically cutting down on waste, and eliminating the chemical baths associated with traditional offset.”

Beyond that, most if not all of Newmark’s paper stock comes from non-bleached, post-consumer recycled paper and/or from renewable resources produced on farms as close to its warehouse as possible. The company refuses to use paper from any company that does not comply with the highest standards of clean air and water or aim to create a truly sustainable product.

Albany concluded by saying, “In the end, engaging in sustainable business practices are not about buzzwords, marketing, or image. It’s about creating a world where we work to first limit, then eliminate the negative ways in which we impact it and reduce the strains we place upon out natural resources. This is why we do it, and why we invite you to engage in a conversation with us about the steps we are taking to help that future become a reality.”

For more articles like this, visit OceWow.com to sign up for the monthly newsletter!

Document Strategy Forum – 4 years old and getting bigger and better

Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

The Document Strategy Forum just celebrated its fourth birthday last week. This event is unique for its focus and its size. The focus on transactional documents brings together an audience with a common need: how to keep up with all the changes in regulation, technology, and customer demands surrounding transactional communication, which is at the center of every business’ interaction with its customers. The organizers stay tuned in to what is of interest to their audience, with an example being this year’s addition of both a track and an exhibit floor pavilion for SharePoint. The narrower scope and smaller venue, as compared to the mega-events such as Graph Expo or On Demand, leads to superior interaction opportunities for both attendees and the solution providers.

The focus and size in no way limit the value and learning opportunity provided. There are six tracks and over forty-five sessions dedicated to providing information and insight. The best part of the sessions provided is that they often lead to very interactive discussions amongst the speaker and the attendees, leading to a sharing of perspectives across different functions and industries. I attended a session on Managed Print Services where I was reminded that when speaking about anything with documents, it is a good idea to set the stage by explaining whether you are referring to internal business documents, business-to-business documents, or business-to-customer documents.

The opening keynote presentation by Forrester Research, “The State of the Document Processing Services Industry 2011”, provided great background and thought provoking information for the rest of the conference. The presentation states it is time to change our process approach. We think we’ve got it all under control and we do to a certain point, but firms still struggle to manage untamed business processes: customer onboarding, claims processing and invoicing process. “1998 – 2009 marks a lost decade consumed with packaged apps and leaving enterprises stuck in cement, unable to rapidly change, compete and innovate. 48% will invest in collaborative technology to improve app performance.

Another part of the Forrester presentation described Customer Communication categories and primary applications. They defined the categories as: structured, interactive and on-demand. Key industry concerns include: enterprises trying to get rid of a big headache – aging structured output systems, the ability to quickly comply with new regulations; rapid movement to on-demand and interactive transactions and archaic fulfillment process.

Another unique take away I got from this year’s event was to remember that when talking about “multi-channel”, (and who isn’t?), we need to not only think about the broad variety of output channels with print, email, web-hosted, social media, mobile, etc., but we also need to focus on the breadth of the input information channels from multiple administrative, transactional, marketing, and yes, even customer response sources. As a process-focused individual, this suddenly seemed obvious; you need to look at the inputs, tasks, and outputs in any process to be effective, I do not think I have experienced any other time which highlighted the input side.

I believe that the focus provides superior interaction and networking opportunities. The attendees are mostly high level individuals with 45% of them holding C-level or Director/Department Head Positions. 28% of the companies represented generate 3+ million outbound transactional documents per month (and 13% of those are generating 10+ million per month). I personally have met and established ongoing relationships with many key contacts through participating over the past four years.

This event may be one of the best kept secrets in the industry, and I am looking forward to what the show organizers will do to keep improving for their 5th anniversary event in 2012.

For more information on transactional document solutions, visit Océ Production Printing – Transactional Resources.

Here is another 60 Second Super-cool Fold of the Week

Monday, November 7th, 2011

In this week’s fold, Trish highlights another great creation from ITP in Elizabethtown, PA. This unique direct mail piece was created for New Homes Guide in Fairfax Virginia. ITP and New Homes Guide used this piece to not only tell advertisers about their new large-format magazine, but they also showed advertisers what space they can get for the same price. The piece opens into a tri-fold first, but then unexpectedly tri-folds down to show the new advertising capabilities of the magazine. This is an excellent example of using print creatively to highlight the magazine’s strengths. Check out the video below!

If you are looking for more innovative ideas like these, be sure to check out OceWow.com!

What will the future of direct mail look like?

Monday, October 31st, 2011

We all understand that the digital age plays an important role in marketing communications, but a unique transformation is taking place where the miniaturization of consumer-level technology is driving new types of channels of communications. So I was considering how direct mail will look in the future. The conventional method of messaging with personalization will continue, but will it change the experience for the end user?

The Smartphone is now taking on more uses then being just a phone, and it has caused the technology to become more miniaturized. Individual features are becoming more of a commodity than ever before. Do you remember when it was a big deal to have power windows or a CD player in your car? Technology is driving new innovative channels for direct messaging or even dynamic messaging.

My experience in digital electronics drove me to investigate what science is around the corner that will change Marketing Services. What would it be like if you could distribute your message using video inside a direct Mail piece? Sounds like a cell phone stripped down to play a video message for a limited time with some interactivity. This concept is not new but the packaging and the price is critical for the success.

Still not convinced…

Click here.

I attended a presentation with top talent from MIT, and upcoming advancements in products will include a sensor that will communicate conditions and receive updates. For example, your medical prescription will electronically notify you that you missed a day of taking your medicine. This will not be some large box with an antenna on top of it, but a normal-sized medicine package that you will buy from your drug store.

Going back to the direct mail piece – After some additional investigation I decided to check into product pricing of a media-playing direct mail piece. You can obtain this technology for as little as $15. Now all you need is a small power source and you have the ability to play video for a short period of time. Add in some personalization and you now have a marketing channel.

If products have sensors embedded in them to transmit and receive information, the media messaging can change dynamically depending on the user’s habits or surroundings. Would this be considered intelligent Direct mail? We are just getting started on what is next and working with partners that are creative is going to be more important than ever.

This post was provided by SourceLink. To learn more about strategic solutions and incorporating digital print services, please visit their website.

If you are looking for more resources and ideas for direct mail, visit OceWow.com.

“Speculating on Print’s Longer Term Future”

Monday, October 17th, 2011

I came across this great article last week in the PINE newsletter written by Dr. Ronnie H. Davis, Vice President and Chief Economist. The article offers speculation on the future of print and print markets – something we all wish we could look into a crystal ball to see.

We tend to talk a lot about marketing service providers and how they are critical to the future of print. But this article presents an idea discussed less, especially on this blog. The article states that print logistics – things like packaging, labels, wrappers, and product user manuals – is the only industry segment not susceptible to competition from digital media. Though still a relatively smaller part of total industry sales, a series of graphs illustrates how print logistics sales have increased the most over the past 10 years and the number of print establishments who specialize in logistics has decreased the least when compared to other print segments.

Perhaps this is one untapped area of opportunity for the printing industry. Could your operation capture some of the print logistics market?

 Looking for other ideas to help grow your business? Check out the only business development program created by and created for digital printers.

Quality… It’s Critical to the Selection of a Cross-Media Services Provider

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

The cross-media market is dynamic, growth-oriented, and a major contributor to the future of the printing industry. InfoTrends recently completed a study entitled The Evolution of the Cross-Media and Marketing Services Provider. This study surveyed more than 280 print service providers (PSPs) to understand the current state of cross-media and the evolution taking place in the graphic communications market. The first key message is that service providers as a community nderstand the critical importance of getting into cross-media services. Of the 285 total respondents, over 58% are currently offering some level of cross-media services.

The second key message is that companies taking a leadership posture in cross-media are growing revenue from both cross-media as well as expanding digital print. Respondents offering cross-media services indicated that offering cross-media marketing services increased their digital printing volume by an average of 13.7%.

Participating in the More Lucrative Cross-Media Revenue Stream
The marketing executive is the key decision-maker in cross-media services. These marketers are facing a number of challenges in the transition to cross-channel marketing, from strategy to design and deployment to tracking and measurement. The sheer scope of the cross-channel marketing model, and the new innovations that continue to appear, make it difficult for marketers to keep up.

Marketers are reaching out to their traditional print service provider and agency partners for assistance. To date, they are primarily doing this selectively for specific functions. No single partner fits the bill for a wide range of services.

During an October 2010 study entitled Capturing the Cross-Media Direct Marketing Opportunity, InfoTrends surveyed more than 500 marketers. These respondents reported working with a number of different external service providers to execute cross-media marketing campaigns. Almost 42% of respondents work directly with a commercial printer. Over a third of respondents reported working with an advertising agency, a direct mailer, or a graphic design firm. Since marketers work with commercial printers and agencies the most, it would make sense that these service providers are well-positioned to offer new cross-media services to their existing clientele.

The key question is this: what selection criteria are essential to the marketer? How does that service provider move to the top of the list so they can participate in the more lucrative marketing value chain and the incremental digital print revenue associated with cross-media services?

To read the rest of this article, visit www.OceWow.com and download the September NewsLetter.

HMSA: A Healthy Approach to Customer Communications

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA), an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, is a reliable name in Hawaiian health care. Established in 1938, it is the largest and most experienced provider of health care coverage in the state. Over half of Hawaii’s population has chosen HMSA for their coverage.

HMSA’s mission is to provide quality, affordable health plans, employee benefit services, and work site wellness programs. HMSA also offers a variety of programs, services, and support to help improve the health and well-being of its members and community.

In the complex and dynamic world of health care, nothing is more important than high-quality, effective communications about subscriber benefits. Assumpta Rapoza, Director of Enterprise Risk Management for HMSA, clearly understands the importance of ensuring clear communications about benefits for subscribers. Rapoza stated, “Quality communications are essential for
customer satisfaction as well as the retention of a loyal customer base.”

Clear Messaging to Drive Loyalty
With health care on everyone’s agenda, HSMA wanted to effectively communicate the true value of the individual’s health insurance policy. The company decided to create an annual cost savings report that raised the subscriber’s awareness of the actual costs for medical procedures and
medications, the amount covered by HSMA, and the resulting financial benefit.

According to Rapoza, “If the subscriber went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, he or she typically didn’t know the actual costs and the HMSA benefit. We wanted an agile solution where we could customize communications based on the specific member profile. We were seeking tools that would enable us to create personalized messaging for each subscriber in the form of an annual summary report.”

Rapoza continued, “We needed to push out the messaging. We knew that we wanted to mail out customized statements. While electronic delivery is a more costefficient way to deliver information, we are cognizant that a high percentage of our membership still prefers paper.”

The Solution
HMSA leveraged Océ’s Technology & Software Support (TSS) Solution Development Manager and Systems Consultant resources, its existing investment in Océ digital print technology, upgrades to its Océ PRISMAproduction® workflow software, as well as the GMC PrintNet Variable Data Composition software to design a solution for its annual benefits summary statement. This combination enabled HMSA to design, compose, produce, present, manage, and automate printed documents with individualized targeted messaging that was HIPPAcompliant. The system design also needed to accommodate production in print and electronic formats, created by PrintNet. Rapoza noted, “The end-result was a customerfriendly communication that clearly articulated the value that HMSA was delivering to its membership.”

To read more articles like this, visit www.OceWow.com and download the September Newsletter.

Is Digital Print Part of Your Solution?

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

I only ask because in today’s marketing strategy digital print is only one piece of the magic formula and it’s effectiveness is dependent upon many other factors. It really starts upstream with market research and understanding the audience in order to drive the desired results. Next we need to figure out how to connect the dots. For example, once we gather the data and creative pieces, how do we get them working for us?

We are often faced with the opportunity to show our clients how digital color can impact the mail campaign. For me, it’s never just about putting color on paper, it’s much more personal. Sure, we can convert projects from conventional printing to digital color by combining market cells and targeting smaller segments, which are often considered too expensive to run on their own, but there’s much more to it.

For example, it’s about working with our clients and helping them take a name and address file with a vehicle identification number, break the VIN down to isolate the year, make, model and color, and then use that information to pull in a picture of the vehicle owned by the mail recipient. The next step is to reengineer the package and allow that vehicle picture to show through the window of the outside envelope so the recipient has that immediate personal connection to the mail piece. It’s also about building a program with business rules and logic that requires minimal maintenance, yet having more flexibility than ever imagined. You end up incorporating new ways of thinking and the latest technology to create a personalized experience, meet quick turn times, minimize inventory control and enabling our clients to track their mail.

Sure, just adding color has proven to increase response rate, but when you plan and design variable color to be part of a solution it takes your mail campaign to a whole new level.

This post was provided by SourceLink. To learn more about strategic solutions and incorporating digital print services, please visit their website .

Graph Expo Software Trends Revisited

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

Back in August, I published an article on the main WhatTheyThink site that highlighted my top five software trends to watch at Graph Expo. In general, this year’s show was an indication that solutions are just as (if not more) important as speeds and feeds, and software is top-of-mind for print businesses looking to succeed in the face of still-challenging times. Now that Graph Expo is over and I’ve had some time to reflect, I’d like to revisit the trends I outlined and see how they matched up with what was at the show.

1. Integration, Automation for Print and Beyond

As Cary Sherburne reported in her Graph Expo retrospective, production automation is a critical technology that will help drive efficiency and scalability in print businesses. Collaboration among different vendors to help their customers meet their goals is happening at a greater rate than in the past, as evidenced by many of the larger OEM vendors showcasing partner solutions and integrations at their booths. Hybrid Software, which specializes in providing software technology that integrates disparate information and production systems, had a consistently packed booth. Enfocus also generated a lot of interest with the new release of its Switch automation tool. Regarding the “beyond” part of this trend, the inaugural marketing pavilion that featured a variety of marketing-related solution vendors exhibiting also generated a significant amount of traffic despite its somewhat undesirable location toward the back of the show floor.

2. The Next Wave of Web Enablement

There were a number of developments and even some new entrants at Graph Expo related to the Web services space. As I mentioned in my original post, I was anticipating the launch of a new print eCommerce solution from Keen Systems. I was able to grab a pre-show briefing/demo, and the solution definitely has some potential; it also won a “Worth-a-look” award, which is great for a first-time exhibitor. Another company that has been around for a few years but just started exhibiting again was PrintNow, which offers three easy-to-understand software packages that service providers can leverage. Aleyant Systems, creators of the Pressero system, debuted their updated online interactive design tool, which was rebuilt on HTML5 instead of Adobe Flex/Flash for broader device support. EFI also previewed the latest version of its Digital StoreFront product, which included a revamped interface and ordering workflow. All in all, the future of Web enablement is shaping up quite nicely, and was on display at Graph Expo 2011.

3. Taking a Fresh Look at Print MIS

While production automation was one of the critical technologies outlined in Cary’s piece, MIS was the top critical technology, and there was plenty of activity related to MIS at Graph Expo this year. While EFI’s dominance in this space was certainly apparent, there were plenty of developments from other players. Heidelberg highlighted its Prinect Business Manager based on its CERM acquisition; the company plans to begin initial implementations of the solution in October or November. Technique received a great deal of attention at the show because of its new mobile application (iTechnique), which provides sales reps and managers with access to information such as customer profiles, active jobs, and the ability to submit new proposals. Avanti Systems highlighted its recent integration with Ultimate Impostrip, as well as its Customer Relationship Management capabilities. Finally, the very recent merger of vendors printLEADER and PrintPoint resulted in shared booth space and a showcase of how their products work together. With a renewed focus on operational optimization, MIS continues to be a key enabler, and printers are taking note.

4. Harnessing the Cloud

As I mentioned in my last post, utilizing the cloud results in easier implementations, reduction in software costs, and provides scalability as needs change. For print businesses to be more agile and make changes or shift directions as the market requires, flexibility and scalability are key factors. Many vendors were offering different flavors of cloud computing at Graph Expo. We already mentioned Keen, which is a true multi-tenant, cloud-based service. Many other vendors are taking the approach of leveraging virtualization, enabling customers to deploy software with less hardware footprint and greater efficiency. Kodak mentioned that it enabled virtualization with its Prinergy workflow suite earlier this year, and many customers have taken the opportunity to optimize their deployments.

5. Getting Serious About Mobile

While this trend was listed as number five on my list, I really think that mobile made a huge splash at Graph Expo and the issue of mobility will become a focal point for both vendors and service providers in the near future. I counted at least a dozen different mobile-related product announcements and features at Graph Expo, and I fully expect more to take shape between now and drupa. Some of these developments are around mobile marketing, including the ability to make print more interactive. Other developments are around the concept of mobile production management. My colleague, Barb Pellow, went into many of these announcements in further detail in one of her recent articles. It will be interesting to see how these applications are adopted by service providers and what benefits they provide.

Overall, Graph Expo was pretty great this year, and I think many of the software trends I highlighted were fairly prominent themes at the show. These are just my own views, though. What did you see at Graph Expo that really stood out to you? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

FoldWOW! Another 60 Second Super Cool Fold of the Week

Monday, September 26th, 2011

This week’s 60 Second Super Cool Fold of the Week was designed for The Clarrett Group and printed by Cedar Graphics inRonkonkoma,NY. From the outside, it looks like a briefcase with a handle but when you use that handle to open piece… it reveals a large format poster detailing the Clarett Group’s ambitious plans. The gate into closed-gate fold first revels a quad-fold, then a tri-fold until the poster is fully unraveled. Watch the video below to find out more about the Brooklyner Briefcase Brochure!

Looking for more innovative ideas like this? Look no further! Check out OceWOW for more tips for digital print providers.