In his latest blog, Marcus Clifford talks about new IPIA research and says that together, we can spread ideas and dominate a narrative that reflects what we do and can achieve.
We can take the prize by engaging and connecting through your own ‘inciting incidents’- Growth and Profit are the outcomes!
For those who remember the movie Highlander, there was a ‘gathering’ of immortals, and the one left took the prize. I mention epic and quest below as I think there’s a lot of positive visceral passion across our great sector. But at our own gathering, it’s time to combine it with a more structured intellectual approach, and the IPIA project gives us a guide here. It links us to being part of a movement and creating a gathering with good outcomes.
Educate and Inspire
I see many businesses that own the communication process and the narrative, educate and inspire their customers. They continue to perform better through good times and bad times. They use knowledge and information well to endorse the dynamic and proactive credentials of print in campaigns to achieve top results! This is open to us all as there is a great font of information available. ‘places where something important comes from’.
Just take a look at the JICmail website https://www.jicmail.org.uk/. They have a vast range of ‘Insights’ that are readily available produced by suppliers and vendors to the sector. Use what is there already and add it to your narrative.
A simple and small step of many – Set up a library resource, the ‘Room of Inspiration’ in your business, full of reports, insights, data, and wonderful examples of print. Take some of your team to the Fedrigoni showroom in London! How can you inspire customers if we don’t inspire our own team? Everyone needs to be involved in this. There are many more structured approaches to enable you to progress your business, so give me a call.
I talk with many businesses about embedding a common narrative, culture, and mindset. Instilling the language of innovation as it promotes growth and greater profit. It’s about flagging up the status and legitimacy of much we know ourselves but seem to collectively and individually fall short on communicating to those who should know and will respond to, pay for value and solutions.
Every employee should be a messenger of value propositions. A messenger of the messages.
I was struck by the presentation of the new IPIA research at the IPIA conference, on the organisation’s epic and worthy quest to positively sway the perception of the print industry and its products and its aim to develop a long-term strategy to strengthen the print market in the UK – ‘print really does stimulates consumers, let’s use print in our next campaign’. By moving the perception from consumers thinking ‘print – unsustainable’, ‘print – redundant’, ‘print – dying industry’ to a perception that shouts, ‘print – sustainable’, ‘print – energetic’, ‘print – an advancing industry’. It’s such a worthy project/campaign/cause, and all stakeholders should get on board and add energy and resources.
They are systematically quantifying messages and narratives that work, creating momentum and a forum—gathering—a movement of inspiration to counter other channels to market and highlight what print can do as a complementary communication tool and as a stand-alone. Take a look at what they are doing and get onboard. https://www.eyeondisplay.co.uk/ipia-print-industry-research-to-help-drive-growth/
Ask yourself and your team: Do you communicate well? Can you do better? Look at how others do it.
A business I know communicates the power, creativity and benefits of print really well, but also invests in product and ideas upgrading. They take a client’s products, spend time internally analysing how they could improve their impact, produce examples, and then invite their client in to review and discuss. The company monitors reductions in print runs and proactively reviews value upgrades. As a result, they have seen their profitability grow.
Whatever your size or market focus, changing, adapting, or just using what’s out there already will spark connections with customers. The IPIA initiative is one to get involved in and follow. Call me to discuss structured, effective, and practical ways to move your business forward.
To discuss growth, connectivity, change and development initiatives, call me.
Marcus Clifford 07743 818806 .
