This Month's Spectrum Summary:

(The following is an excerpt from the August 2004 issue of Spectrum, a proprietary monthly briefing published exclusively for the clients of I.T. Strategies, Inc. © 2004)

Watch Out! Here Comes "Decoradvertising;"
Can the Converters Convert Themselves?

Inspired by this year's Neocon Trade Fair, Patti Williams and Mark Hanley debrief on the blurring of the line between décor and advertising. Decorative printing and POP printing to date have tended to be viewed as separate, parallel markets. Now, however, people are custom printing wallcoverings, furnishings, and other decorative surfaces for brand recognition in commercial settings. Although small at this point, "decoradvertising" is bound to grow and expand the growth of POP and wide format printing. Some print outlets are specializing in these applications, among them Printing Prep of Buffalo, NY which recently launched an "all surface printing" operation. Most of this activity today is in wallcoverings.

Most major suppliers don't sell direct, but rather through distributors, who in turn sell to "the trade," for example architects, interior designers, hotel and restaurant owners. They in turn sell to a broad mix of commercial, residential and governmental end users. One barrier slowing growth is education. Addressing this, we are working with an industry committee on an exhibit demonstrating the possibilities for the design community and print suppliers. It will be first shown at the SGIA/DPI conference scheduled for this October in Minneapolis.

Today's mainstream POP converters so far continue to outsource "decoradvertising" and other digital jobs. The traditional converters are unable to scale down and respond to this high volume market. Here it is not a problem of education. The problem is rather that digital is more than just getting the right equipment; it is a completely different kind of business. The two applications are merging, boosting demand. But it will be the specialized digital print providers getting all or most of the new, high-margin business. Accelerating the growth gap between the digital print suppliers and traditional converters is the increasing use of offset by the small print-for-pay providers. Offset can now handle shorter and shorter runs profitably and the digital print shops seem able to adapt to offset more easily than the traditional analog converters can adapt to digital. The growing appeal of decoradvertising is one more trend fueling growth on the digital side while the analog side over time seems destined to shrink.