Kicking off the conference, held at The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in Coventry, IPIA general manager Brendan Perring and, via video link Carey Trevill from Mission Element, presented the key outputs of the research and detailed the aims of the project.
The initiative, they said, was made possible by a coalition of IPIA members: Imprint MIS, Ricoh, Konica Minolta, Epson, The Printing Charity, and Citipost.
The research was conducted in partnership with communications agency Madano, which has mapped perceptions of the UK print industry across a range of key metrics using its specialist data science technology and analysis tools.
Ultimately, the study has identified key influencers who significantly sway the perception of the print industry and its products and has analysed the dominant narratives in the conversation around print.
The aim of the project is to help to develop a long-term strategy to strengthen the print market in the UK.
Speaking to Printweek yesterday about early feedback to the new research project, Perring said: “I think everyone’s very excited. It does sound, in some senses, like we are doing something bold and brave and new, and maybe in the context of the print industry we are. But one of the things we were keen to stress is that this is normal for major manufacturing industries.
“The car manufacturing industry, both individually and as a collective underneath their own associations, do this type of work we’re doing four times a year. The pharmaceutical industry also does this.
“This is an ongoing process of research and development and understanding about perceptions. [We are] deploying this type of technology to understand fundamentally what consumers, businesses, and print buying markets think of our industry – the true perception – so that we then have that knowledge base to actually do something about it.
“And then also the knowledge now of who is shaping that perception, and who specifically we're going to focus on; the 50 most influential people in the UK who we can take a positive narrative to.”
He added: “This is a two-year project for us and we’re already effectively eight months into the project. At the end of the two years, we will then effectively repeat the exercise and refresh the data and see how we move the needle.
“Ultimately, what we want is to move an individual consumer from a box where they think ‘print – unsustainable’, ‘print – redundant’, ‘print – dying industry’ to a box that says ‘print – sustainable’, ‘print – energetic’, ‘print – an advancing industry'.
“If we can just move even those three boxes over in their head, that means that the average big brand buyer or the marketer goes: ‘print really actually stimulates consumers, let’s use print in our next campaign’.
“If we can even get an extra 500 agencies across the UK to start proactively now seeing print as a viable route to market within a multi-channel campaign, we can just grow industry volume.”
Attracting 170 attendees, yesterday’s event also featured several networking sessions and a print technology expo, as well as a full conference line-up.
Running with the theme ‘Ahead of the Curve: How to navigate new markets and find routes to growth’, attendees heard from speakers including Ollie Renshaw of Leeds University Print Bureau, Graeme Smith and Angela Wagstaff of Allwag Promotions, Nigel Clarke of Clarkeprint, and Steve Wenlock of Flexpress.
Each speaker explained more about their businesses and the ways in which they had grown and diversified over the years, with Allwag Promotions’ Wagstaff detailing how the business had worked hard over what became a two-year period to successfully obtain B Corp Certification.
JICMail’s Mark Cross also outlined the work of his organisation and showcased some of the key findings of its data.
Finally, a panel of trade press editors and journalists – including Richard Stuart-Turner from Printweek, David Osgar from Print Monthly, and Jack Gocher from Eye on Display – closed the day’s conference, taking questions from the audience about their views on several industry topics and trends, including young people in print, government support, AI, industry growth areas, and how the sector might evolve over the coming decade.
The supplier expo included Antalis, Canon, Compass Business Finance, Duplo, eProductivity Software, Fujifilm, Howden, Imprint MIS, Konica Minolta, PrintIQ, Ricoh, Vivid, Xerox, and Xmpie, while Print Evolved founder Ivor Jacobs had a stand to support his book Ants In His Pants, which details his industry experiences. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to Pancreatic Cancer UK.
Speaking to Printweek yesterday, Duplo UK marketing manager Zunaid Rahman said: “This event is just a great opportunity to talk to customers new and old. I think out of all the speakers today, four of them are actually our customers, and it’s great that the IPIA membership is comprised of so many of our good customers.
“There’s so many member benefits and it's just a great opportunity to network and touch base with people who don’t know us. We get a lot of support from the IPIA, and what they give back to the industry is fantastic.”
Kevin O’Donnell, head of marketing – Graphic Communications and Production Systems, UK, Ireland and The Nordics at Xerox, added: “As always, the IPIA events deliver on bringing the print community together. Whether that’s clients – we’ve got a lot of clients here – but also OEMs and manufacturers within the UK marketplace.
“It's really interesting seeing how, particularly our clients’ businesses, are moving on and it’s also interesting to hear some real life stories from print businesses at the coalface [who are] really making change and implementing innovation.”
The next in-person IPIA event, the Recognising Excellence Expo/Lunch and Gala Dinner/Awards, will take place on 3 December at the Crowne Plaza, Stratford-Upon-Avon.
