With such rapid change in our sector, the world for print and graphic communications businesses no longer resembles that of four, or even two, years ago.
The PacPrint13 Board has recognised this and has moved proactively to ensure the exhibition keeps pace and reflects the requirements of the industry, today and in the future.
For the first time PacPrint organisers, have undertaken extensive industry research, conducting face-to-face meetings with past PacPrint exhibitors and visitors over the past few months, and canvassing the views of more than 600 business owners and key industry personnel in a recent survey. The results, say PacPrint13 Chairman Ian Martin, will shape a ‘new look’ event in Melbourne from 21-25 May.
“Right from the start of the planning process, we have been aware that PacPrint13 would have to be a very different event from those which have preceded it,” he explains. “Quite apart from the obvious changes to the size and composition of the industry since 2009, the media landscape, the competition and challenges facing businesses, and the options and opportunities available have all altered radically in that time. The responses gathered from a broad cross-section of the industry has given us a good idea of what changes we need to make to reflect that transformation.”
Some attitudes, he reports, remain constant. The key reasons cited for visiting PacPrint continue to be the opportunity to see the very latest products and services and to keep pace with industry trends, with areas including digital technology, finishing, prepress and production, and technical innovation – including things like IR, AR and printed electronics – predictably coming up as key areas of interest.
Most participants still believe PacPrint’s major role is as a ‘B2B’ marketplace, yet a significant number are very supportive of a stronger focus on attracting key decision makers in the print buying and media spend space and of using the platform PacPrint provides to remind the broader community about the power of print. A desire for more educational and networking opportunities was also a strong trend revealed by the research.
“Obviously, these findings will drive both the efforts to recruit interesting and exciting exhibitors as well as influencing the direction of the educational opportunities offered at PacPrint13,” Martin says.
“We are already looking at structural changes that will create a more exciting and user-friendly experience at the exhibition, as well as introducing new areas to showcase cross-media and e-business innovations, allowing visitors to leave with fresh approaches to integrating digital and traditional marketing channels to drive customer engagement and increase revenues. And we’ll also be providing some exciting new initiatives in the education area, to be announced shortly.
“These changes and new initiatives will add extra value to an event which already promises to be an outstanding opportunity for business,” Martin says, citing a broad and exciting exhibitor list, co-location with the Visual Impact Image Expo (VIIE) sign and display show and a host of other events and opportunities which are being added to the PacPrint13 calendar almost weekly.
Perhaps the most encouraging feedback from the research, however, has been confirmation that most participants believe the worst of the downturn is over, with an overwhelming majority looking forward to stability or even slight growth in the short to medium term future.
“Our aim has always been to create an event which provides the ideas, inspiration and resources that businesses in our industry need to plan for the future. The positivity expressed by our research participants was fantastic to see and has made us even more committed to delivering those things at PacPrint13.”
Pacprint13
www.pacprint.com.au
