Lucy Swanston, Chair of the Strategic Mailing Partnership
So, what might 2023 have in store for our industry? Don’t just take my word for it – here are some of my thoughts along with those of some industry key players:
Taking the best of 2022 forward
The resilience and perseverance of our industry never ceases to amaze me.
Post-pandemic we are now being battered by different forces like increased material costs, energy prices and industrial action. Yet, in amongst it all, our membership is up, and it’s up by over a third.
We have to continue this real appetite for collaboration, a commitment to working together to solve problems and make mail better for senders and receivers, and that’s a positive. Such spirit of collaboration was evidenced recently by the Canon Creatives Futures award, run in partnership with The Drum. It shows just what’s possible when we all pull together as a sector to keep mail and print prominent in creatives and marketers’ minds, especially the generations coming through.
Trends in 2023
In 2023, with inflation as it is, companies have had to bring forward their plans to automate business processes like workflows, estimating and order acquisition, to drive higher levels of efficiencies and maximise their profitability. Agility is a key necessity.
The biggest opportunity available to printers in 2023 will be to continue diversifying their services and being at the forefront with their sustainability strategies. If they don’t, many will not survive doing what they’ve always done. There has to be change as brands seek more and more support from their supply chain partners to help them meet their ESG goals and commitments.
Hopes and fears in 2023
From the SMP’s perspective, our new strategy has set a momentum going and my hopes are that we can keep it going and ride out the current economic storm. There is a lot to be optimistic about but must all share responsibility for helping educate current and next generation brands and marketers about print media and its sustainability, to reduce greenwashing, whilst remaining profitable.
Looking long-term to increase the awareness and engagement of mail as a channel, we are working incredibly hard to educate young creatives and marketers and the Creative Futures Awards competition with The Drum, Canon and other print industry experts is a notable example of this. The project invites emerging talent to design an omnichannel marketing plan for youth charity YMCA, showing evidence of clear strategic, data-driven thinking, combined with creativity and innovation, across multiple channels and touchpoints. This builds on the work the Royal Mail already does with undergraduate students studying at universities across the UK.
Nick Benkovich, VP Global Portfolio & Product Management
Key trend prediction for the print/packaging industry for 2023?
- The next wave of digital or digital 2.0 is here… with higher speed, higher quality roll to roll inkjet not simply being an alternative for short run or when variable data is needed, but in many cases a true replacement for digital capacity with all the benefits.
Biggest challenge prediction for 2023?
- Workflow optimization and scale…how to hire, train and deploy staff in the appropriate places within the business while finding the areas where automation can drive higher levels of efficiency with repeating template style work… Having the right technology partner with the knowledge, breadth of solution and integration options, will be critical to ride the wave to maximize profitability.
Danny Cook, Managing Director, Go Inspire Solutions – part of the Go Inspire Group, a Xerox Company
2023 Trend predictions?
- I expect the number of jobs we see come through our factories will remain similar to last year, but that batch volumes will decrease. Targeted and personalised communications will become a necessity to get cut through, and the data strategies that sit behind communications will become even more important than they already are to facilitate this.
2023 Challenge predictions for 2023?
- We have limited control over macro factors, so our focus will be on maintaining our agility to best serve our clients.
Ben Briggs, Managing Partner at Join the Dots
2023 Trend predictions?
- Sustainability – One of the biggest challenges we face as an industry is greenwashing…We need to educate brands, marketers, the future generations of marketers so that we can stop the misconceptions around print and its eco creds.
- Innovation – We need to start doing more innovative print, not just commenting on ‘cool’ designs…The more innovative, fun, eye-catching print we can create, the more opportunity we have to appeal to a new generation of print marketers.
- Phygitisation – The world is becoming more digitally focused as consumers require faster and easier ways of doing things…combining print and digital technology… because it’s a necessity to enable and enhance the customer experience…to make campaigns more effective. To make it easier for consumers or to drive more response.
2023 Challenge predictions for 2023?
- Siloed working, between teams within brands or agencies, between agencies and creatives, between printers, agencies and creatives. And of course, between ‘competitors’… We have to protect our work, our USPs, but we also need to share our work, the learnings so we can educate each other, generate better work and inspire the future print industry.
- The lack of education and awareness of print channels as part of the wider media mix…in particular, where letterbox media is concerned… marketing courses are not teaching print media. Courses are available once you are in the industry thanks to Marketreach, JICMAIL, and the DMA, but by then people are often in their niche and have their misconceptions…one of the ways we can help bring more people in is to show the creativity that is possible within print.
So, let’s see how 2023 pans out and how the SMP can help you help shape the most positive industry outcomes…
