The south London wide-format and point-of-purchase (PoP) specialist has set up The Last 4 Feet, specifically for research, creative services, production and placement of in-store material.
“Our main business to date has been in large-format outdoor advertising and retail material,” explains SMP managing director Bradley Slade. “The PoP work focused on the manufacturing side and has been quite narrow.”
Market opportunity
He adds that there were two reasons for venturing into new areas. Firstly, there is a lot of opportunity, with the market estimated to be worth around £1.2bn. Secondly, the company wanted to offer a wider range of services to move up the supply chain.
“It’s about retail awareness and we believe going down that route will expand the market,” Slade says. “SMP is aiming to become the most ‘retail aware’ PoP producer in the UK. We want to demonstrate how to spend money in the right way – it’s not about spending less, but getting a return on investment.”
But SMP isn’t the first large-format printer to delve into areas outside print – high-margin non-print services are widely seen as key to the future of many in the print industry, both inside and outside PoP. But PoP offers plenty of scope to expand, whether it’s on the creative design side or examining the best areas to install PoP and get a good return on investment for clients – a key part of SMP’s new offering.
Bezier and Simpson Group, among others, have spotted the advantages of broadening their services.
Shopper behaviour
Bezier, for example, can’t really be viewed as simply a printer in the in-store arena. It has expanded into sales promotion, consultancy and design. The company has also invested in the ‘shopper behaviour’ sector, setting up an online forum for shoppers in a bid to help retailers plan future campaigns.
Its chief executive, Mark Shaw, says: “It has always been our strategy to offer an integrated approach to the market. We can get products to market much quicker.”
Bezier’s acquisition last August of marketing and advertising agency Poulters cemented its reputation as a company that offered services beyond print.
Mark Simpson, executive chairman at Tyneside-based Simpson Group, also believes that extending your product offering in the PoP market is important. Like Bezier, his firm has a design division and a creative agency, which is part of the group but works independently from it.
It’s not a new area for the firm. Simpson says that the company has been handling creative design work for the past 15 to 20 years.
“The market has become more competitive and you have to think about it differently,” he adds. “We are always looking at new areas, but our focus is very much on in-store advertising.”
PrintWeek’s Printing Company of the Year 2006, Multigraphics, is also focused on PoP, but unlike its competitors, its managing director Gary Lasham does not believe expanding outside of print would be beneficial.
“We are focused on the printing side – we would never profess to be a creative business,” he says.
Lasham argues the best way forward for his firm is to focus on its core services.
“If the print industry gets tougher, you have to focus on your core expertise,” he adds. “But everyone has their own strategy. We aren’t a £30m-turnover firm.”
Without that kind of turnover, Lasham feels he doesn’t have the resources to branch out into radically new areas. But Multigraphics does have design capabilities, focusing on the construction of PoP material rather than its content. Lasham adds that if the company needs creative or installation services it will turn to a specialist, rather than set up its own divisions.
Jack of all trades
SMP’s Slade agrees that it doesn’t help to be a “jack of all trades”, but it certainly wants to broaden its offer.
“It means that companies can look after a campaign from start to finish – a one-stop shop. Once the material is printed, they can ensure that it is installed correctly,” he says.
Simpson adds: “It’s about involving everyone in the process. Once the PoP goes in-store, you need to engage the store staff to get the display installed properly.”
Bezier’s Shaw says: “There’s no point producing great creative work if it does not go in-store.”
RECENT POP DEVELOPMENTS
October 2006 Bezier buys Pointer, a company that specialises in the manufacture and design of temporary and permanent displays
January 2007 Simpson Group wins a £2m contract with Thomson, which involves the supply of materials to around 720 retail outlets
February Bezier launches an online forum for shoppers to help its clients understand shopper behaviour
April SMP Group sets up The Last 4 Feet, which covers retail insight, PoP production, creative services and PoP placement
Point of purchase: penetrating the mindset of a shopper
Trying to get into the mind of a shopper and understand what makes them tick may sound like an area best left to psychologists. But SMP Group reckons its exactly the kind of area it should be getting into if the firm is to add value to its print.
