Printers Devil its in the detail

Super-exciting that Bell & Bain is bringing a world-first to the small island, in the shape of Fujifilm’s Jet Press 540W inkjet web press. Can’t wait to go see it in situ.

I also thought it was super-interesting to hear what B&B MD Stephen Docherty had to say about the firm’s happiness in finding there were no click charges attached to this particular piece of digital printing kit.

Having asked Fujifilm about this decision, the reasoning behind it seems simple enough. “We had so much feedback from customers saying they hate click charges, it was never even put forward as a model.”

No doubt there are printers out there who are big fans of click charges, and like the certainty surrounding such a known known when it comes to costs. I’m just yet to meet anyone who’s spontaneously burst into a paean in praise of clicks akin to Docherty’s delight at their absence.

Consumers still prefer ‘old school’ advertising according to some new research from Adobe, the findings of which will make for uncomfortable reading at marketing departments up and down the country.

By old school we can of course include print, such as newspapers and magazines, alongside other fuddy-duddy mediums such as TV.

The research (you can download it here) involved 8,750 consumers in the US, Europe and Asia, along with separate stats for 1,750 professional marketing bods. So a pretty substantial piece of work.

One of the findings that made me laugh out loud was this: while only 12% of UK consumers preferred advertising on websites, nearly twice as many marketers (21%) thought this was an effective place to advertise.

The vibe seems to be that these flat earth consumers will eventually “catch-up” with those digitally-minded marketing types.

Methinks the marketers might need to adjust their blinkers a bit here. Just because they are obsessed with online it doesn’t mean their customers are, or indeed ever will be.

How about consumers being savvy enough to decide, quite rapidly, that being chased around the internet by something you bought last week, along with ads such as the constant variant on “57-year old mum looks 37” is bloody irritating?

At the risk of repeating myself, print advertising is a proven method of engaging consumers without irritating them, per ‘lean back’ versus ‘lean forward’ media consumption.

The consumers in the Adobe survey seem more than sufficiently engaged with the online world to me. Almost half of those surveyed (49%), want there to be a ‘dislike’ button.

The stats will be even more revealing for brands, and marketers, should that particular metric become a reality.

You know that old superstition about bad things coming in threes?

Polestar seemed to be having one of those happenings last week.

First, the group found itself making an appearance in the Sunday Times’ Prufrock column, which drew an unfavourable parallel between a Polestar party planned for last Thursday and the likely lack of partying for the group’s former pensioners.

Second, a fire at a storage facility at Polestar Bicester put the group’s disaster recovery planning to the test.

Third, come party night, a fire alarm resulted in Polestar’s guests being evacuated from the venue minutes before the speeches were due to begin.

I did have visions of a dissident group of pensioners standing underneath a fire sensor, brandishing cigarette lighters… however, after a short hiatus the event continued as planned.

There is no getting away from the fact that Polestar’s jettisoning of its pension scheme obligations has left a bad taste. But the unusual arrangement to spin the scheme off in the first place was rubber-stamped by the Pensions Regulator and the scheme’s trustees. So any blame game really should be three-way.

However tactless the theme of ‘no-one parties like Polestar” was, Polestar did do a good job of selling the sizzle when it comes to its planned web offset revamp. The actuality is still some way off, but by this time next year a brace of 96pp webs should be up and running, location tbc.

I have lost count of the number of people who’ve said “this is never going to happen”, but I remember hearing the same about the Sheffield gravure supersite. Polestar has something of a knack when it comes to pulling this sort of stuff off.

Crucial to it all is the drive of chief executive Barry Hibbert. I’ve also lost count of the number of people who’ve said “Polestar wouldn’t exist by now without Barry,” and I have to agree with them.

He really did electrify the room when he addressed the assembled customers.

What began as a bad week turned into something of a triumph. You can see why Kathy Woodward found him such a stand-out candidate all those years ago at BPC.

Scandal-hit banks that rigged the LIBOR rate appear likely to rake in tens of millions of pounds in fees for handling the privatisation of Royal Mail.

Great choice by the government! Another pass the beta-blockers moment beckons.

Royal Mail privatisation plans are gathering pace, and it seems  increasingly likely it could happen later this year.

Estimates of the value of the business range from £2bn to £3bn, and it will be the UK’s biggest privatisation for 20 years. I guess it will generate a fair bit of printing as a result.

What form will this privatisation take, I wonder? And will the Mail go the same way as our utilities and end up being foreign-owned?

As one commentator put it: “Goodness knows what a stamp will be after the Yanks, Germans, or Russians buy Royal Mail.”

They missed out the French and the Chinese.

Having seen what’s happened to our utility bills post-privatisation, there are calls for the government to implement some sort of golden share arrangement to stop this happening. That would, I think, be a good thing.

Meanwhile, the Communication Workers Union is firmly against any sell-off, even if employees are likely to receive some sort of share deal as a sweetener.

The union is in the process of balloting its 100,000-plus postal worker members, and this could result in major disruption to postal services over the summer if strike action goes ahead. Bad news for us in print.

The government insists there is no alternative to selling off the near 500-year-old service. Opponents insist that privatisation isn’t necessary.

If only there was a third way. What, I wonder, would the Royal Mail be like if it were run using a variant of the John Lewis Partnership model?

I tried, dear reader, I tried.

I tried to get Vistaprint boss Robert Keane to throw open the doors to the firm’s Venlo production site, in order for a posse of eager PrintWeek readers to take a tour of the site.

Wouldn’t that have been great? It would have been the wayzgoose to end all wayzgooses. I tried, but I failed.

Still, the next best thing was speaking to the man himself, and the resulting interview has proved something of a must-read.

It’s a fascinating story, and one that illustrates how luck can play a pivotal part in a company’s success.

In one respect Vistaprint was unlucky in missing out on funding in the dotcom boom. Yet the very fact that the firm had to get its financial house in order because of this meant it didn’t go the way of so many other dotcoms that burned through millions while achieving nothing.

I also found his comments about the competitive landscape very interesting, viz the explosion of online offerings in all of Vistaprint’s markets, such that “almost every conceivable space is carved out”.

“The people who’ve been most successful have not tried to copy someone else, they’ve tried to be unique.”

That’s a very telling comment. I’ve lost count of the number of people who’ve come to market with a me-too idea to be, say, “the next Moonpig”. Nobody is going to be Moonpig again, just as nobody is going to be Vistaprint either.

But there will always be space for something clever and unique.

Hilarious scenes at the M&S Simply Food attached to my local BP garage the other evening.

Standing there by the chiller unit, arms full of Coke bottles, burrowing into the farthest reaches of the display in search of the names of PrintWeek team members. That was me.

The search was partially successful, per this pic. Though I have to admit that’s actually Joe with an e.

Anyhow, the manager comes over, most perturbed about what I’m up to. He thinks I’m looking for the coldest bottles and/or just an annoying idiot messing up his stock. I show him the names on the labels and explain that I’m searching for specific names of chums.

A gleam of understanding crosses his face. Next time I go in the names are turned to the front. In fact, I’ve started going into shops and turning the bottles around as a matter of course. Do I need to get out more?

This morning I saw a big poster site advertising this campaign, which seems to be generating a considerable amount of traction. It’s obviously been a massive project for all involved, can only begin to imagine the amount of co-ordination involved.

It’s also thrown up an interesting “note to selves” for anyone plotting cross-media/social-media activities of this ilk, even if not on such a grand scale.

One doesn’t need to read the Daily Mail to know that Mohammed, and variants thereof, is officially one of the most popular boy’s names in the UK.

Yet there is no Mohammed to be found in the fridge or on the special Coca-Cola Facebook page that accompanies the Share a Coke campaign. My mate Moh is going to have to do without.

Why so? A glaring omission, or fear of a backlash akin to the Danish cartoon reprisals?

I had to ask, and here is the official response from Coca-Cola.

“Coca-Cola GB sourced independent data from Experian to identify 150 of the most popular names in the UK. This data reflects both the gender and ethnic makeup of the population.


Out of respect for religious groups or figures, as well as existing cultural sensitivities, where relevant we omitted names where offence may be caused. We liaised with representatives from the Muslim community in the UK, and it was advised not to include the name Mohammed in our campaign.
 


We’re delighted that so many people have responded positively to the campaign so far, and we’re providing lots of opportunities for everyone to participate.  During the summer, we’ll be taking our personalisation machine on tour across the country, so that everyone can have the opportunity to get their name or a loved one’s name printed on a bottle.  People can also create and share a virtual personalised Coke with friends online at www.shareacoke.co.uk“


What a complicated old world we live in. But ignore such complexities and potential brand disaster awaits.

Next stop, the “personalisation machine”. Can’t wait to see that.

“I thrive under pressure” is the sort of phrase that appears on most CVs nowadays.

And working under pressure can indeed be immensely satisfying. I’ve had fantastically exhilarating days at work when I’ve achieved fifteen impossible things by lunchtime, and it’s a real buzz.

I’ve also had dark days where work pressure has turned into something more damaging. Looking back at some of these happenings, and with the benefit of hindsight, I feel quite lucky not to have wigged out completely on more than one occasion.

It’s a fortunate person indeed who has sailed through life without feeling stressed out about something at work. Never mind at home. And this balance between pressure and stress is a tricky thing.

Unlike, say, a broken leg which is either broken or it’s not; one person’s perfectly acceptable level of pressure could be weighty enough to tip someone else over the edge and into mental illness. And therein lies a potentially big problem for business.

Little wonder this article about stress in the workplace has struck a chord with so many readers.

From a business owner or manager point-of-view it seems to me to be, well, crazy not to have a stress policy in place. It will help protect you and your employees.

I also think there’s a lot to be said for “management by walking about”, per one of the tips for bosses in the piece about connecting with the people in your organisation.

“People are our greatest asset” is another often-repeated phrase, beloved of the corporate entity. By all means sweat your assets, but do try not to stress them beyond repair.

Greetings from Harrogate.

For the avoidance of doubt, I am at the exhibition centre and North Print & Pack, having avoided the understandable temptation to install self in a nice window table at Bettys* cafe tea rooms.

Early this morning there was a spectacular rainbow arcing across the town, and from my vantage point it appeared to come to earth at the exhibition centre. Will there be a pot of gold at the end of it for those exhibitors who’ve put their faith in the revamped show?

Organisers Informa were delighted to have crossed the 4,000 pre-registration mark just prior to the show opening this morning. Let’s hope a substantial number of them turn up.

On first inspection it’s worth the trip. I’ve seen a bunch of interesting stuff and many delightful people from the printiverse, and I’ve only been here for three hours.

Highlights thus far include the Palamides Smartliner 240 lay-flat binder, featuring the clever cold gluing system from Ribler that I remember seeing in a formative stage at the last North Print. Go see it on the Perfect Bindery Solutions stand.

Moll is showing a compact pocket folder producing a real brain-teaser of a piece. Go see that too.

Autobond is running its nifty 52×74 spot UV coater and the machine is on its way to Falkland Press after the show.

GMG is showing a new cloud-based colour management system along with OpenColor packaging proofing, also new. It really is all go!

A big thank-you to all the lovely print folk here at the show who’ve already given us great feedback about the new-look PrintWeek.

What’s more, it’s a delightful ‘spring in Harrogate’ type of day. At least it was at 7am.

And there might even be time to nip into Bettys later.

*No apostrophe, according to the logo and website.

Hands up who’s glued to series nine of The Apprentice?

A hand is raised here.

Despite the known-formula and increasingly strident selection of candidates (at least on the part of most of the female participants, and that Neil bloke), it’s required viewing at Francis Towers and involves guaranteed shouting-at-the-telly action.

I’m not sure if the producers select the participants on the basis of who makes the most ridiculous assertion about their own merits; “I’m half machine”, “I’m prepared to fight to the death to become Lord Sugar’s business partner” and “I feel my effortless superiority will take me all the way” featuring among the current crop.

“Half machine” was fired in the first episode.

This relentless blowing of one’s own trumpet no matter how mismatched to the available facts calls to mind Tre, a candidate in series three. And indeed, some people I’ve come across over the years here in the printing industry.

Tre had a simple strategy, which was to repeatedly go on and on about how brilliant and successful he was, on the basis that enough people would believe this for him to get along quite nicely, thanks.

Beware any potential employees who display such characteristics! Be sure to closely inspect whether there is substance behind the hot air.

By all means blow your own trumpet when the circumstances warrant it, but who wants to hear an extended trumpet solo, every day?

A clever promo pack arrived at PrintWeek Towers the other day, highlighting that it was a mere week to go until North Print & Pack. Here’s a pic of it.

It arrived in a funky board envelope with asymmetric address window, and featuring additional promo info for the show.

The pack in question is a “7 days to go” piece containing chocolates, a bit like a mini Advent calendar.

This idea was conceived by product development whizz Nick Lewis. It’s something he set up after being inspired by the way kids countdown the days to their birthdays.

As well as consumers being able to order a single personalised item for a special occasion of a personal nature, such as birthdays and anniversaries, the pack also makes a great promo piece for use by businesses to highlight upcoming events.

That’s exactly what North Print & Pack has done.

And for those of us of a print anorak nature, the packs are produced by RCS on their Screen TruePress Jet SX B2 inkjet press. Yes, this is the sort of high-value ‘personalised gifting’ application highlighted by managing director Michael Todd when he invested in this kit. I can see how this sort of piece, or variants of it, would be of interest to all sorts of brands.

Each pack is personalised and there’s even more of a wow factor thanks to the addition of a tactile spot UV coating layer (and being digital this marries with the personalised text, for extra wow factor) via the Scodix.

Another one for the list of “interesting new print applications that would never have been possible before”. Love it.