Speakers at New Zealand’s inaugural PODi (Print on Demand Initiative) AppForum delivered a mix of digital print information, the latest marketing concepts and dollops of dry humour at the Novotel Ellerslie in Auckland last Friday.
PrintNZ and the Graphic Arts Services Association of Australia (GASAA) supported the event with sponsorship from Fuji Xerox, Kodak and Frontline Technologies. Joan Grace, chief executive PrintNZ, spoke of the importance of professional development in the industry while Garry Knespal manager of PODi Australia New Zealand gave an overview of the research work that GASAA completes on behalf of the industry. He urged people in the industry to take the initiative, congratulated PrintNZ on its Part of Life campaign and looked forward to the New Zealand and Australian bodies continuing their work together.
Keynote speaker, American strategic marketing expert Kate Dunn of the Digital Innovations Group, gave a quick outline of the state of the printing industry today and explained what printers need to do to succeed in world that has changed dramatically in the last 10 years. She said, “Develop a competitive advantage and live by it; it’s hard to be a jack of all trades in the printing industry. And the more responsibility you take in any job the more value you provide and the more profit you make.”
Simon Rowles, managing director New Zealand and vice president Asia Pacific of Carlson Marketing Worldwide, created a buzz with his presentation on customer loyalty programmes. He said, “Marketing spend continues to shift from above the line to direct to customer. There are big players looking to move their advertising from above the line to direct to customer. People aren’t watching television ads like they used to.”
Michael Smedley, group manager, Business Services and Solutions Group Manager, Kodak Australasia, also gave a lively talk on the company’s strategy to carve out an even bigger slice of the print industry pie with new and existing technologies while Ben Goodale, marketing expert and founder of Just One; delivered a drily humorous talk on the importance of relevance in DM campaigns. Kevin Trye, VDP consultant and owner of Printnet Publishing, spoke on personalised, cross-channel direct response marketing, with an emphasis on purls.
