Monthly Archives: February 2010

HP prospering with head-start

By , Friday, 26 February 2010, Be the first to comment

Putting aside Communisis’ results for a moment (in summary: horrible year, no surprise that Blundell et al have shoved everything possible into the last period that took place under Vaughan’s watch), I did utter an audible “oooh” when I saw that the group has bought an HP inkjet web.

Read more »

Tum ti-tum ti-tum ti-tum…

By , Wednesday, 24 February 2010, 11 Comments

And now for some light relief, inspired by a
funeral.

Bear with me on this. Today is of course a sad day
for fans of The Archers, the long-running story about everyday country folk
that airs on Radio 4. It’s the end of an era as Phil Archer is finally laid to
rest, four months after the actor who had played the part for almost 60 years
died.

Read more »

Marketers and publishers poised to descend on west London

By , Tuesday, 23 February 2010, Be the first to comment

Technology For Marketing & Advertising kicks off at Earls Court today. While this event could merit a special award for “most syllables in an exhibition name”, it’s also a useful opportunity to see what’s currently grabbing the attention of marketers. With so much activity in the digital marketing space (and here I am excluding print), I’m expecting a busy show. Last year, Alterian impressed with its analytical approach and sophisticated measurement and management tools for integrated marketing, and as such I’m not surprised that Lateral Group has deepened its partnership with them.

Read more »

TPF should have been called to account earlier

By , Monday, 22 February 2010, 3 Comments

Observing the car crash that is the collapse of TPF, it’s apparent that this company ticked pretty much all the boxes in Begbies Traynor’s “likely trend of distress”, outlined in a blog a few weeks back.

Read more »

Happy birthday Photoshop

By , Friday, 19 February 2010, 4 Comments

Adobe Photoshop is twenty years old today – doesn’t time fly?

In typing that, I am transported back to Linotype’s Brentford showroom, timeframe circa 1991. It is a Saturday. I am attempting to manipulate some image files for, if I remember correctly, various Bowater businesses. They are off to Germany to do some extensive testing on Heidelberg machines, including the then-revolutionary GTO DI direct imaging press.

Read more »

E-book debate gathering pace

By , Wednesday, 17 February 2010, Be the first to comment

In case you didn’t see it, let me draw your
attention to a substantial article on the publishing impact of e-books that
appeared in the Financial Times last week. You can read it here. 

Read more »

We should all be champions of print

By , Monday, 15 February 2010, 1 Comment

News that Two Sides is to actively challenge the seemingly ever-increasing use of “greenwash” is welcome. It’s a cause that’s close to my own heart, and I did chalk up a small victory in this respect a while back by taking Envirowise to task (they of all people should have known better) for mounting an
e-card campaign that talked of “saving trees”.

Read more »

For the love of print

By , Friday, 12 February 2010, Be the first to comment

I’m sure no reminder is needed, but just in case I hope the printing industry at large has been doing its bit to generate lots of Valentine’s Day print. We are all, in my view, duty-bound to purchase at least one Valentine’s Day card, even if it’s only for the dog.

Read more »

Sophisticated sell required

By , Thursday, 11 February 2010, 2 Comments

Does your approach to sales need sprucing up? Does
it perhaps suffer from a lack of sophistication?

I’ve been musing on this topic over the past week
or so, having been in the audience at a couple of events where speakers raised
this issue. At the BPIF’s Finance & Investment conference Bill Joss, chairman of CATS Solutions, outlined a rather depressing sales scenario, thus:
“Hear about job; quote job; win or lose job; move on; wait for next job to
quote on.”

Read more »

Ipex shaping up to be a good show

By , Tuesday, 9 February 2010, Be the first to comment

Fourteen weeks today the doors at Birmingham’s NEC will swing open on the first day of Ipex. Doesn’t time fly? This week organiser IIR is holding its pre-show Media Summit so we’re getting a clearer picture on how the show is shaping up.

Read more »