This version of "Hotline" updates you on economic topics, as well as marketing trends that are important to your business!

As companies begin to explore the changing landscape of print, questions are being raised, such as: What industries use the most print on a percent of sales basis? What are the current hot markets for print providers? What is the average profit rate for a typical printer?  AND where do I find the answers?

 

Member companies can find many of the answers in the March 2014 Economic Report published by PIA's Center for Print Economic and Market Research. Download your copy here. (Note: requires log-in to PIA website; if you don't have one, call PIA Member Central at (800) 910-4283 Ext. 770.)
 
Here's the answer to question # 2 --  What are the current hot markets for print providers?

• Web-to-print e-commerce branded storefronts
• Web development for clients
• Signs and signage
• Integrated print marketing services
• Fulfillment services
• Database management
• Media marketing support
• Food and beverage labels 

Regardless of the capabilities of today's variable data print engines, it still takes knowledgeable individuals to maximize the performance of those devices.  Given that the print designer has a major influence on performance, education of this individual is crucial to success.

 

Designers and users of variable data print can speed the production of VDP jobs thanks to a new independent guide of the "do's and don'ts" of optimizing PDF files.  Do PDF/VT Right: How to make problem-free PDF files for variable data printing is a concise guide that provides objective information and advice to anyone with a stake in VDP: graphic designers, print buyers, production managers, press operators, owners of PSPs, and digital press DFE developers. 

 

The free guide is edited by Martin Bailey, chief technology officer for Global Graphics and the primary UK expert on the ISO committees that maintain and develop PDF and PDF/VT. A number of leading vendors in the VDP sector have sponsored the guide, including DirectSmile, Global Inkjet Systems, HP Indigo, HP Inkjet High-Speed Production Solutions and Screen. The content is completely vendor-independent. Download Now...

 

In our industry, the Printing Industries of America Ratio Studies are the gold standard for financial tool.  This study has been an annual event for decades and provides outstanding benchmarking information for CEOs and CFOs.

 

The cost is $99 -- but it's free if your company participates and shares your company's financial data --- it's completely confidential!

 

Find out more by visiting the Ratio Study webpage or by contacting Joe Polanco with PIA MidAmerica at (800) 788-2040, Ext. 206

 

The latest data from marketing service provider Valassis reveals that traditional print formats (newspapers, inserts and direct mail) remain the preferred sources of grocery and drugstore coupons, especially among Millennials (ages 18-36). 

 

As reported by Marketing Charts, the 2K14 Shopper Marketing Report finds that while younger adult consumers "are more likely than the average coupon user to prefer receiving online and mobile coupons, they're equally as receptive to newspaper coupons." In fact, Millennials are "the only generation to rank mail as their preferred source of coupons."

  

Millennials' preferred source for coupons:  

• Mail (61%, versus the 51% overall average of all generations)

• Newspapers (52%, equal to the overall average)

• Internet: download (47%, versus the 30% average)

• Internet: print at home (42%, versus the 34% average)

• Smartphones (39%, versus the 20% average)

Unsurprisingly, Millennials are heavy digital coupon users too. Among coupon users who search for them online (more than 8 in 10 respondents), Millennials are the most likely generation to use daily deal sites, like Groupon and LivingSocial, and to use coupons found on social media.

 

See more at Print In The Mix.