If some random person put me on the spot by asking, “What can you tell me about the hot topics in print & print buying these days?” I'd reply, “Got an hour – or two?”

If they only knew! So much is happening. Tip ideas literally trip over themselves in my head. Where to start?

To wit:

• The evolution of printers intrigues me. Are they printers? Marketing services providers? Media agencies? Nowadays, I often have a hard time telling who does what when I visit web sites. This can't be a good thing.
• One hot topic is definitely the career paths for print buying professionals. Are modern print buyers moving into larger, grander roles or facing extinction? What do current job descriptions look like? What should they look like? What new skills do corporate print buyers need to acquire?
• Is the topic of print brokers still a hot one? In research I've done, buyers tended to have very strong feelings for or against working with brokers. I must revisit. My hunch? In a few years, new customers won't care whether they work with brokers/distributors or printers themselves.
• And while I'm on the subject, the print management model is still a hot topic. Throw that into a group of print buyers and stand back. Barbed words will fly.
• For a few years, the big buzzword in the industry was sustainability. Then it was transpromo. (A transpromotional document is the marriage of a piece of transactional printing with marketing content.). What's the newest buzz about? 3D printing – which, to me, isn't really “printing.”
• Then there's my fascination with types of corporate print customers, especially the two main types: new ones and experienced ones. Worlds apart, they are. How do they differ? What are their distinct needs? How are service providers catering to each?
• How are printers using – and offering – integrated marketing? Are they adapting easily to social media and using it in tandem with traditional media? And do their customers look to them for these services – or not?
• What’s new and inspirational? Are there new print processes – or existing ones that have been so advanced that we MUST know about them? What about exciting new technologies that print providers and their customers would go nuts over? These always interest me.

So you see, I have plenty of food for thought for future Tips. Please send along your thoughts on any of these topics. I'd love your comments.

What do you think the hot topics in print are?

© 2013 Margie Dana. All rights reserved.