Having just arrived back from Fespa Digital 2014 I can honestly say I’m still buoyed by the optimism within the wide-format sector. Players in the wide-format digital inkjet space have been resilient throughout the recession, and despite all the difficulties many continued to invest in new technology and services while cutting back the ‘fat’ on their businesses and are now in pretty good shape to face the future. The vibe at Fespa, and at the earlier Sign and Digital UK, was that this is a sector full of businesses ready for growth. Our recently published ‘Widthwise Report 2014’ (downloadable at www.imagereportsmag.co.uk/ widthwise) puts the meat on the bone, with solid data backing up the more nebulous ‘feel’ that we’re on to something good.
For many of the kit and consumables vendors, the possibilities of inkjet technology have created potential new markets for their offerings – which has resulted in them developing industrial print and 3D solutions for instance, or just changing their sales and marketing strategy to focus on reaching end print specifiers/customers directly. And sometimes that has led to a certain confusion as to if, and how, PSPs can benefit from this inkjet explosion.
What is clear, is that for PSPs to build business, they have to grow demand for work that pays. And, at the risk of repeating myself for the thousandth time, that means getting the message out to as many potential print buyers as possible about all we can achieve. Many companies are doing a great job now at
spreading the ‘educational’ message – and Image Reports is supporting that effort. Our Think Bigger website is now live (at http://www.thinkbigger.co). It is aimed directly at creatives, showing them examples of what this sector can do for them, and carries blogs, video interviews with designers etc. to stimulate their interest. Let me know what you think. I firmly believe that if we all pull together we can not only grow our individual businesses but the sector as a whole.