Industry Insights: FESPA Census Interview with Sean Holt

At FESPA 2015 in Cologne, FESPA will share the top-line findings of the FESPA Print Census, the most far-reaching piece of industry research ever conducted by the organization.

Here, FESPA General Secretary Sean Holt explains the rationale for the Census and its value to the wide-format print community, and offers a glimpse of what the findings reveal so far.

What were your objectives for the FESPA Print Census and how does it differ to previous FESPA surveys?

The FESPA Print Census is the most comprehensive survey of printers we have undertaken to date, with the aim of gathering our deepest ever data about the global wide-format print community in terms of size, business performance, growth prospects and key areas of development and investment.

We have built on the framework of the long-running FESPA Worldwide and Economy Surveys to develop an extended set of questions that reflect the changing market for print. In addition to this, we’ve broadened the reach of the research into territories such as Brazil and South Africa, where we have expanded our event presence in recent years, in order to provide a more global picture.

Are there any surprise findings so far?

We continue to collect Census entries, and would encourage all readers to participate, to help us arrive at the most comprehensive picture possible www.fespa.com/fespa-membership/census.html

Undoubtedly, the sample data we have extracted so far reflects the state of flux that our industry is in. Some of the findings we’ve seen so far affirm what we already know about the industry, for instance 81 percent of printers stated that clients are demanding shorter runs and just-in-time delivery which reinforces the drive for digital print technology.

Other data demonstrates trends within the industry and the most in-demand applications. For example, 71% of printers report that textile for garment work is growing in their business, underpinning the growth of textile print, which in turn is reinforced by 34 percent of respondents stating that they look for textile printing capabilities when buying a new device.

The interim results also show that a wide range of applications are being produced by screen and digital printers, with most respondents citing that sign and display applications are a key component of their business. The greatest growth areas for printers are occurring in emerging applications including garment, décor, soft signage and wall coverings, with 26 percent of respondents stating they regularly produce wallpaper & interior applications.

With change comes opportunity and the findings so far underline how much the community we represent needs help to fully understand how these changes can benefit them.

Most notably, printers want to understand the technologies that can be incorporated into their business and how they can make their sales and marketing strategies more effective.

This is especially the case in a sector where so much business has been won through word-of-mouth recommendation and repeat business but survival depends on extending reach into new and often unfamiliar customer segments.

This reinforces the continued value of global innovation showcases such as FESPA 2015 in helping PSPs to reach business-critical capital investment decisions.

It also cements the need for FESPA and our national associations to offer well-curated educational, knowledge-sharing and best-practice initiatives where printers can openly share their experiences and debate opportunities.

How will this information benefit the FESPA community?

Robust, vendor-neutral industry intelligence offers a tangible benefit to members of FESPA associations, as it can help them benchmark their businesses to make informed decisions. What’s more, since the full data is available exclusively to members, it can be a source of competitive advantage.

For us as an organisation, the data gives us insight direct from the market, highlighting new directions and areas of interest which we can use to shape our events and products.

Take for example European Sign Expo, which has been co-located with our European FESPA exhibition since 2013, and the newly launched Printeriors showcase event being introduced in Cologne in May. Both new events have been introduced to meet a qualified demand from our community for information and inspiration about areas of potential growth and diversification – in each case, the initial spur came from clear feedback through our community research.

How will the full findings of the FESPA Census be shared?

The data will be analysed by our research partner InfoTrends and published in the form of a report to be distributed via our national associations. The full research will only be available to members of these associations, and not directly from FESPA.

Please explain the methodology for the survey.

We chose to work with InfoTrends due to their credibility as a research organisation and the depth of their experience within our sector.

We set ourselves a target of attracting 2500 responses in the first year, knowing that 2500 would give us a statistically robust sample. We extended the reach of the survey to include other territories, including important regions such as Latin America and Turkey, and have been delighted with the response from these geographies. They already make our industry insights more global than ever before, and we expect this to continue as we revisit these countries with FESPA exhibitions and conferences through 2015.

How was the survey funded?

We’re committed to providing our members with valuable data to support their own business decision-making processes, so it was logical for us to fund the Census through our Profit for Purpose programme, which reinvests surplus revenues from FESPA’s global event portfolio into projects to help printers develop more profitable businesses.

This approach will enable us to offer the final FESPA Print Census report to our association members free of charge, rather than levying the type of costs which often make meaningful industry research data cost-prohibitive for printers.

Printers can access this invaluable data, and a range of other benefits, simply by taking membership of their local FESPA member association.

To participate in the FESPA Census, please visit www.fespa.com/fespa-membership/census.html

Click here to locate your national FESPA member association.