The Numbers Tell the Story
IN THE NOVEMBER Quick Printing Update I mentioned the results of the 2007 Print Design Survey sponsored by MAN Roland. In brief, 92% of designers work in print and spend 70% of their time doing so. Print buying is growing for 23% and staying steady for 64%. Oh, and 88% do the print buying themselves.
Now for the bad news – price remains the number one consideration in selecting a printer – followed by quality and service. Trust comes next followed by digital short-run capabilities and then environmentally friendly practices. To me the fact that price is by far the number one consideration for print buyers means that many printers are failing to differentiate themselves from their competitors.
If that sounds a little harsh, I point to a recent mini-survey by printbuyersonline.com that asked the following: “Please rate how effective you believe that print suppliers are at communicating meaningful differentiation from their competitors.” The results (evidently rounded off to the nearest percentage point) even surprised an old cynic like me.
- Excellent – 1%
- Very Good – 9%
- Good – 14%
- Fair – 54%
- Poor – 21%
That means that less than a quarter of printers are perceived as doing an adequate job of differentiating themselves from the competition – just a bit more than are perceived as doing a poor job. The results might even be more disturbing if, as I suspect, those giving their printers a “fair” rating were just being polite.