Briefing

Is it time to dust off direct mail?
It is, perhaps, pertinent to realise that a multitude of present-day marketers have pretty much zero experience in direct mail, such has been the fixation with online digital marketing channels in...

Flagship wide-format expo takes big strides forward in Amsterdam
Fespa’s Global Print Expo is a celebrated annual fixture in the wide-format print calendar that more often than not takes place in a German city every May.

The collapse of Communisis
Forged in the heady days of the early noughties, Communisis looked like it would dominate the communications market. It never quite fulfilled its potential, but what was behind its demise?

Don’t skimp on service: it’s the customers who make a business bloom
Keeping a sharp focus on prioritising great service can pay dividends across the whole scope of an enterprise.

Puzzling out PFI’s M&A debacle
A rampant buy-and-build strategy does not automatically result in success – as ex-employees and creditors of PFI Group can sadly testify – so what was the strategy behind the massive growth plan?

Pinpointing print’s opportunities
The 13th annual Power of Print event boasts a busy schedule with something for everyone. This year’s event will seek to explore the opportunities – and challenges – for print and paper sectors in a...

Thinking outside the box can move your business growth up a gear
Growth aspirations are now back on the agenda for many printers, but lateral thinking may be required to succeed.

Packs open up pots of opportunity
Fans of BBC Two show Inside the Factory will know that the production stats for some of the products featured are pretty mind-blowing, be it 360,000 tins of rice pudding made per day, or 130m malt...

AI is still in its infancy but has huge potential for print
As with any new or emerging technology that is being talked up as the second coming, it can be wise to proceed with caution in its early days, at least until its potential is somewhat proven.

Drupa visitors can expect a digital print wonderland
The options for digital colour have come a long way, and the market is now fiercely competitive.

Print remains stubbornly a pale and male sector
Despite some increase in the number of women employed in the industry, print continues to stand out as a particularly non-diverse sector. But why? And what should be done?

Growth high on the agenda at Fespa 2023
After years spent in recovery post-pandemic, many wide-format printers have now finally broken free from the shackles of Covid and – despite, or perhaps because of, the other many current external...

Automation leads the way in development
Technological advances were everywhere in idyllic Lucerne as Hunkeler Innovationdays returned after a four-year hiatus.

From repro apprentice to technology innovator
After almost a half-century in the industry, former Branded chairman Alan Wright looks back on a career that encompassed the golden days of repro, and has evolved into cutting edge packaging pre-media...

Good vibes at Connect’s ePS revamp
Just prior to the 2022 Connect event, the last with EFI branding, the business spun off its Productivity Software manufacturer into a standalone venture, with the division acquired by private equity...