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Commercial printing technology used by marketers has changed drastically in the last decade – Here’s how

Commercial printing has undergone a profound transformation in the past decade. Driven by the rapid advancements in technology, changing consumer preferences, and the need for environmentally sustainable solutions, marketers have adapted their strategies and turned to innovative printing methods. Here we delve into the primary shifts that have influenced the commercial printing landscape and how marketers have harnessed these changes, based on input from delegates and suppliers at the Digital Marketing Solutions Summit…

  1. Digital Printing Boom: At the turn of the decade, traditional offset printing dominated the market. However, the rise of digital printing technology has allowed for quicker turnarounds, short-run prints, and personalised marketing materials. This shift means that marketers can now tailor their print campaigns to specific audiences, enhancing engagement and return on investment.
  2. Sustainability and Eco-friendly Materials: Environmental concerns have gained significant traction over the decade. Marketers, recognising the increasing consumer demand for sustainable practices, have pivoted towards eco-friendly printing solutions. The use of soy-based inks, recycled paper, and energy-efficient printers reflects a broader commitment to reducing the carbon footprint and waste in the industry.
  3. Integration with Augmented Reality (AR): One of the most groundbreaking developments has been the incorporation of AR into printed marketing materials. By scanning printed visuals with smartphones or tablets, consumers can access additional digital content, creating an interactive and immersive brand experience. This integration bridges the gap between traditional print and digital media, offering marketers an innovative way to engage their audience.
  4. Variable Data Printing (VDP): The desire for personalisation has driven the adoption of VDP. This technique allows marketers to alter text, graphics, and images from one printed piece to the next without slowing down the printing process. As a result, campaigns can be hyper-targeted, with materials tailored to individual consumer profiles, enhancing their relevance and impact.
  5. 3D Printing: While not widespread in every marketing campaign, 3D printing has provided a new avenue for product prototyping, promotional goods, and even unique event invitations. Its ability to bring concepts to tangible life has given marketers a novel tool for brand promotion.
  6. On-demand Printing: With the rise of e-commerce and the need for just-in-time production, on-demand printing has become increasingly prevalent. Rather than bulk printing and storing vast quantities of marketing materials, companies can now print exactly what they need, when they need it, reducing storage costs and waste.
  7. Flexibility with Finishes and Textures: Advancements in printing technology have enabled a wider array of finishes and textures. From spot UV varnishing to metallic inks, marketers can create tactile experiences, adding a layer of luxury and distinction to their printed materials.

The past decade has witnessed a confluence of technological, environmental, and consumer-driven shifts in the commercial printing domain. Marketers have adeptly leveraged these changes, creating more impactful, sustainable, and personalised campaigns. As the boundaries between digital and print continue to blur, the future promises even more exciting innovations for the world of commercial printing.

Are you looking for printing solutions for your business? The Digital Marketing Solutions Summit can help!

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

How to choose the best brochure printing solutions for your next campaign

Brochures remain a tangible touchpoint for many marketing campaigns, offering customers a physical connection to a brand, its services, or products. However, the effectiveness of a brochure hinges largely on its quality. Therefore, when selecting a brochure printing partner, it’s vital to consider several crucial factors to ensure that the final output aligns with your brand or client’s ethos and delivers the desired impact. Here are some top tips, based on input from delegates and suppliers at the Digital Marketing Solutions Summit…

  1. Quality of Print:
    • Consistency: Ensure that the printer provides consistently high-quality prints, free from colour mismatches or errors.
    • Sample Portfolio: Before committing, ask to see samples of their past projects to assess their quality firsthand.
  2. Materials Used:
    • Paper Quality: The weight, texture, and finish of the paper can dramatically affect the brochure’s look and feel.
    • Eco-friendliness: With rising environmental concerns, consider printers using sustainable or recycled materials.
  3. Customisation Options:
    • Design Flexibility: The printer should offer a variety of templates and customisation options to cater to your specific design needs.
    • Special Finishes: Features like spot UV, embossing, or metallic inks can elevate the final look of your brochure.
  4. Turnaround Time:
    • Speed vs Quality: While fast turnarounds are crucial, it shouldn’t come at the expense of print quality.
    • Deadline Adherence: Ensure the printer has a reputation for meeting, if not exceeding, delivery deadlines.
  5. Cost-effectiveness:
    • Transparent Pricing: Avoid hidden fees by ensuring the printer offers a clear breakdown of costs.
    • Bulk Pricing: For large orders, enquire about bulk printing discounts.
  6. Digital Capabilities:
    • Augmented Reality (AR): Some cutting-edge printers offer AR features that can be integrated into brochures, enhancing user engagement.
    • QR Codes: Having the capability to embed QR codes can bridge the gap between your print and digital marketing efforts.
  7. Customer Service:
    • Consultation: A good printing partner will offer consultation on design, materials, and distribution strategies.
    • Communication: Open channels of communication ensure any issues or changes are addressed promptly.
  8. Reputation and Reviews:
    • Client Feedback: Reviews and testimonials provide insights into the reliability and quality of a printing partner.
    • Industry Experience: Printers with extensive experience in your sector can offer valuable insights and tailored solutions.
  9. Distribution Capabilities:
    • Mailing Services: Some printers offer mailing services, allowing you to distribute your brochures directly to your target audience.
    • Geographical Reach: Ensure they can deliver to your desired regions, especially if targeting a nationwide audience.
  10. Flexibility:
  • Order Adjustments: A suitable printing partner should accommodate last-minute changes or adjustments when necessary.
  • Print-on-demand: This option can be more cost-effective for smaller batches or frequently updated content.

A brochure serves as an ambassador for your brand. By choosing the right printing partner in the UK, marketing professionals can ensure that this ambassador speaks effectively to its audience, reflecting the brand’s values, quality, and promise.

Are you looking for brochure printing solutions for your business? The Digital Marketing Solutions Summit can help!

Image by paine from Pixabay

2D Codes: Preparing for the new dimension

After successful implementation in sectors including tobacco and pharmaceuticals, two-dimensional barcodes or ‘2D codes’ are gaining prevalence across industries and are expected at the point of sale within the next five years. The growth in 2Dcodes presents significant opportunities for manufacturers but is not without its risks.

As James Cutforth, Domino Printing Sciences, explains, preparing for the new dimension in barcodes requires bespoke product handling solutions, designed to facilitate crisp, clear coding on a range of products and packaging types…

A new dimension in barcodes

Two-dimensional barcodes have become a common addition to product packaging – with factors such as globalisation, online trading, and the need for more robust anti-counterfeit methods driving their uptake. In several industries, including European tobacco and pharmaceuticals, 2D codes are now a regulatory requirement.

Such is the success of 2D codes that in May of 2020, global standard organisation GS1 began an initiative to support the adoption of 2D codes at the point of sale (POS) with a new barcoding standard – the GS1 Digital Link. The standard will facilitate the use of 2D codes at POS systems and allow for a gradual transition away from standard linear barcodes.

There are multiple benefits to using 2D codes in place of traditional linear barcodes2D codes enable more information within a single code, including dynamic data, and can facilitate serialisation and wider traceability. However, the complex nature of 2D codes also presents some challenges.

The challenge behind 2D codes

It is imperative that 2D codes are printed correctly to ensure that they can be effectively scanned – this is particularly crucial when using 2D codes for regulatory purposes, such as those used in pharmaceutical applications, and will be increasingly important when considering 2D codes for use at POS.

Utilising variable 2D codes on products can provide significant benefits to manufacturers in terms of facilitating better supply chain control, however, applying the code to packaging that has been packed or filled can be challenging.

Dynamic data, such as batch-related information (including batch numbers, and ingredient variations including nutrition and allergen info), product expiry dates, and unique product IDs, will require real-time, on-product coding, rather than pre-coded labels. In such instances, simply ‘bolting on’ a coding device to an existing production line may not be optimal because often, production machinery is not designed with coding in mind.

For this reason, product handling or the ‘presentation of the product’ to the coding device is fundamental to achieving high-quality codes. Manufacturers that choose to code products in-line without effective product handling will be subject to production line variations which can affect final code quality, including:

  • Product position: Small variations in the position of products may result in codes applied in the wrong area or missing or incomplete codes.
  • Product distance from the printer: Positioning too close or too far from the coding device can result in blurry or unreadable codes.
  • Product angle: A slight rotation in product positioning can result in deformed codes, even if this is by just a few degrees.
  • Line speed: Minimal speed fluctuations will affect the quality of the code, leading to squeezed or stretched codes.
  • Conveyor vibrations: At high speeds, minimal vibrations can affect code quality leading to low-quality, blurred, or wavy codes.
  • Challenging product geometry: Certain packaging types can be a challenge for a standard coding setup.

At best, a poor quality 2D code resulting from inadequate product handling will cause a high number of rejections, rework, and defective stock. Poor quality 2Dcodes can also have a knock-on effect on lines that require the aggregation of serialised products. The repercussions can be even more severe if an unreadable 2D code leaves the factory unnoticed. Brands can face financial penalties such as fines, as well as loss of business, product recalls, and potential legal implications.

What’s the solution?

A bespoke product handling solution can solve all issues above concerning code quality by ensuring optimal and consistent product delivery to the coding equipment. The optimal solution will be designed based on several different considerations, including:

  • Product and packaging type: Factors such as the shape of a piece of packaging, substrate type, and weight of a filled pack can be crucial. In pharmaceuticals, for example, boxes of blister packs are light and have regular form, but glass or plastic medicine bottles will be more challenging to code.
  • Code requirements: Code type, placement, and resolution are determining factors. Many machine-readable codes have minimum size requirements and necessitate the use of high-resolution printing technologies.
  • Existing production specifications: If a coding solution is integrated into an existing production line, it will need to be designed with existing specifications in mind so as not to slow down production or reduce overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).

A bespoke solution may use multiple types of technology to handle finished products and present them to the chosen coding device for final printing, including specialised conveyors, wheels, or product carriages and movers such as robotic arms, depending on the product type. These devices can use different methods to handle products with varying levels of force for delicate and robust products alike. A bespoke handler could be developed with pneumatic or servo-electric driven side-, top-, or bottom belts, or even magnetic or vacuum solutions.

As well as improving overall code quality, bespoke product handling solutions can also be developed to allow additional processes to enable pre- or post- treatment of a substrate, where necessary. When used alongside machine vision systems, such solutions can also help to give critical information for operations monitoring.

Conclusion

Product handling is the foundation that a viable 2D printing solution is based upon. When applying 2D codes directly onto product packaging, it is imperative to consider whether products can be adequately coded in situ or if a specialised product handling solution is required. Product handling solutions will help improve overall code quality on the line, helping manufacturers to improve OEE by reducing waste, increasing production efficiency, and reducing overall running costs.

How is image recognition software transforming the customer experience?

Across the world, the image recognition market is expected to reach $38.9 billion by 2021. Clearly, this technology is growing in use and demand — but why? 

Many industries differ with regard to how they use new tech products, and the same applies to image recognition software. From improving the customer experience to streamlining operational procedures, Precision Printing — a specialist personalised wallpaper — explores how the software works and why it could enhance business…

What is image recognition technology?

Essentially, this technology is designed to retrieve, process, examine, and interpret pictures, photos and high-dimensional data. It takes this from the ‘real world’ and produces useful information in multiple formats. This could be anything from uploading a photo of a group of friends to Facebook that automatically tags each person to their accounts, to taking a digital fingerprint scan in order to determine a person’s identity. 

Partly because 80% of the content online is visual, image recognition technology is rapidly growing and is becoming more and more adept at mimicking human vision and understanding. 

How is it transforming customer engagement and business processes? 

Generally, image recognition software is benefitting industries across the board. Many companies now have a digital presence, whether on social media or via an online store. A major advantage of this technology is that it can offer real-time insights into consumer behaviour — but not only your consumers. Visual analytics will allow you to monitor the consumer behaviour of your competitors, which will allow you to address their concerns within your own campaigns and potentially attract them to your brand instead.

Keeping an eye on your online competitors is essential — but tricky. With image recognition software, you can now find similar content to what your brand is putting out on social media and track down social mentions of your company — no more manual, time-consuming searches. Not only will this help you monitor the competition in your industry, but it will also allow you to be more responsive to marketing opportunities that would otherwise have been missed and pick up on trends that may be flying under the radar. 

Many brands are opting to launch apps — not a surprise considering that it’s predicted that global gross app revenue will hit $102 billion by 2020. Clearly, there is money to be made and customers to be won with apps, but how does image recognition assist? This technology can help brands boost engagement levels with their consumers, letting them extend beyond the standard boundaries of online and offline and making the app more immersive. As a result, promotional material and discount offers should be able to pack a greater punch and potentially offer a greater ROI. 

How image recognition affects individual industries 

This technology offers opportunities for all brands and sector — but which in particular are already seeing benefits? 

Fashion

Image recognition promises to play a major role in the fashion industry. Firstly, a consumer, when leafing through a magazine, can use image recognition software on their mobile devices to scan a product they’re interested in and land straight onto its product page or relevant online marketing content, which could increase the chances of a conversion. Similarly, consumers can upload images of clothes they like and shop online for similar or complementary products — streamlining the shopping experience. 

From a brand perspective, image recognition makes picking up on trends much easier and quicker — due to the rapid evolution of trends in this sector, this could prove invaluable. 

Automotive 

The automotive industry is also benefitting from image recognition technology. Self-driving vehicles are an emerging market and they’re being developed with the assistance of image recognition. To ensure that self-driving cars are safe, they need to be able to detect hazards immediately and make informed decisions regarding their next action to avoid causalities. That’s where image recognition comes in. With this technology, self-drive car sensors will be able to spot dangers on the road in the same way as a human motorist does, reacting in a way that should avoid crashes and accidents. 

Although we’re still a while away from having motorways full of self-driving vehicles, image recognition is certainly already playing a part in the automotive industry and will help some brands in the sector capitalise on a trend that may be huge in the future. 

Healthcare 

Image recognition software is also a useful tool for healthcare professionals. The technology is currently being used to help process the huge numbers of medical images that need verifying and checking in the sector. As a result, doctors can diagnose conditions and diseases at faster rates and with great accuracy, meaning less stress for the patient and easing the pressure on the doctor when it comes to arranging the best course of action.   

Image recognition is a growing technology that looks set to benefit companies on many levels. Are you clued up on how it can help your business in 2018? 

Sources: 

https://mobgen.com/image-recognition-can-beneficial-company/

https://www.upwork.com/hiring/data/how-image-recognition-works/

https://www.itproportal.com/features/a-guide-to-ai-image-recognition/

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

Printer launches ‘Together We Are Stronger’ Poster Campaign to Support NHS

Printing firm Where The Trade Buys has launched a campaign to show support for the NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As part of its ‘Together We Are Stronger’ campaign, the company is calling on people to print off its posters and colour them in, to their own tastes, and share them on social media.

The campaign launch coincides with the UK public’s overwhelming response to ‘Clap for our Carers’, which saw people head for their balconies, windows, and doors, to applaud NHS health workers in their efforts to fight Covid-19.

Louise Stephenson, Managing Director at Where The Trade Buys, said: “The pressure the NHS staff are under at the moment is unimaginable. At a time of crisis, it is imperative that we all pull together and there’s no better way to do that than through social engagement.

“While the majority of us are limited to the confines of our own homes, it is a great way to interact with our families and celebrate our unsung heroes. Let’s share these posters on social media and show the NHS we are all behind them and put a smile back on their face.” 

The company is urging people to share the posters between family and friends and engage with the hashtag #TogetherAtHome on social media, and will re-tweet anyone who tags it too.

To download the free poster, visit https://www.wherethetradebuys.co.uk/together-at-home