In a recent blog I wrote about the green effects of web2print solutions. I didn't mention one of the more obvious advantages of online solutions for the environment: they often result in less printing. I was a bit afraid of going this route in my previous post, because it might be misinterpreted by some customers. But in the reactions I got on my previous blog, it seems that most printing companies (at least amongst our customers) are going this way in any case.
Targeted content creation
Like I said in the previous post about green printing, the first positive advantage of online solutions is that the creation of content can be much more targeted. Less prints can be ordered to achieve the same effect. And they can be produced closer to the location of the end customer, if applicable.
Cross Media Publishing
But more and more, printed output is also combined with other types of publishing. When our customers host a product database and use it for catalog creation, the output is also often published to the websites. PDF files are no longer created just for printing, they are also put online in Flash Viewers, allowing consumers to browse through them before deciding that they want a paper copy. Direct mailing campaigns are no longer sent out just on paper mailings, they are also sent out in emails with pURL implementations.
This is a logical trend, and luckily most printing companies are able to position themselves as providers of these services. Even more than that: they are ideally suited to provide a full spectrum of marketing services. While it can't be built in a single day, marketing expertise remains easier to attract than printing capabilities.
Diversifying into the future
And this diversification seems to be something that many of our customers have in common. While some customers are still going into the older areas of digital asset management and web2print applications, more and more of them are progressing into the next logical market: cross media publishing. Besides diversification of their own services, this also means that there will be a more difersity in the offerings of the printing companies. Digital Asset Management solutions can only be offered in so many ways. But when it comes to the wide possibilities of cross media publishing solutions, each of the printing companies is bound to put their own stamp on the hosted applications.