Retail Industry Overview/Trends

Take advantage of in-depth research from Keypoint Intelligence to learn about the Retail industry, print opportunities specific to Retail — and how you can tap into them!

Karen Kimerer, Business Development Leader, KL Kimerer & Associates

Financial Industry Overview/Trends

Take advantage of in-depth research from Keypoint Intelligence to learn about the Financial industry, print opportunities specific to the vertical — and how you can tap into them!

Karen Kimerer, Business Development Leader, KL Kimerer & Associates

The Time is Now: Your Brand and Culture Matter More Today Than Ever Before

Over the course of the last two years, we have experienced unprecedented change — as an industry, as a country, and as a global community — change that has forever shifted the way we look at the world, the way we work, and the way we do business. We’ve watched some businesses thrive during this time. We’ve watched others die. And we’ve watched some we barely knew emerge as giants.

So what sets the successful ones apart? The degree to which they live and breathe their brands. Put another way: their culture.

If we’ve learned anything in 2020 and 2021, it’s that change really is the one true constant. The time is now for us to develop strategies that help prepare us for whatever change will come next. To do that, we need to examine how strong brands outperform their competitors, recruit and retain loyal employees, and demonstrate their values along every step of the customer experience.

In this presentation, we’ll take a look at what’s brought us to this cultural and economic moment, what successful organizations are doing in response, and what we can take away from all of this to invest in our own companies’ unique cultures and to prepare our businesses for the future. This session is a call to action for us all to come together and get real about what tomorrow looks like and how we’re going to embrace it.

Francis McMahon, Executive Vice President, PPS, Canon Solutions America

Paper Risk Management: Positioning Yourself for the Future Supply Chain

As the print industry unevenly starts to emerge from the COVID-pandemic, a new challenge is emerging. Business is picking up, but the availability of paper stocks has become more limited and unpredictable, which in turn has caused paper prices to increase. Add in lack of labor, rising raw material cost, and you’ve got to plan ahead better than ever before. This session will address the following:

• What is happening to the paper supply chain? Why is it happening, and what is needed for the supply chain and price increases to stabilize?
• What have been the implications for print providers? How should print providers react today?
• How have print providers mitigated any changes that have negatively impacted their business?
• What should print providers consider for tomorrow to protect themselves?
• When can we expect the supply chain to become more stable?

Please join Marco Boer from IT Strategies, Mike Ratcliff from Midland Paper, and Eric Hollingsworth from RevSpring as they discuss the current rollercoaster actions in the paper supply chain.

Marco Boer, Vice President, IT Strategies

Mike Ratcliff, President, Midland Paper

Eric Hollingsworth, Vice President Operations, RevSpring

Maximize your Profit with Canon Inkjet:

Printers have many opportunities to maximize their profitability through Inkjet technology, process optimization and workflow improvements. As you consider ways to reduce costs and speed up delivery times, you need to take a holistic look at your entire enterprise to evaluate what you need to do to maximize your investment.

During this session, topics to be discussed will include:

• Increase the value of communications with preference & consent management, targeted content and consistent messaging for all channels
• Gaining operational excellence through accurate cost estimation, workflow improvements and process efficiencies
• Considerations for postal optimization and mailing/inserting efficiencies
• Brand color and color consistency across the enterprise
• Optimizing production with CSA’s Project 360
• Empowering your employees with knowledge and providing them the tools to be successful

Ed Jansen, Vice President, PPS Marketing, Canon Solutions America

The Paper Chase – Inkjet Production in a Market with Paper Shortages

The past two years have been a very turbulent time in the graphic paper and printing markets. Announcements of some papermill capacity closures to balance supply and demand already started prior to the COVID pandemic, but the pandemic drove major restructuring measures in several major paper companies. Canon has invested significant resources in supporting the paper manufacturers when moving medias to different manufacturing or distribution channels to ensure consistent performance on our Canon presses. The availability of some paper grades has been significantly reduced and some have been discontinued altogether, so it is reassuring for our customers to know that the Canon Inkjet presses have a wide flexibility in the medias which can be used. During this session hear about opportunities for print service providers to keep their Inkjet presses running despite paper shortages.

David Croll, Strategic Product Manager, Media, Canon

A Business Case for In-Plants & the Power of Investing for Success

The right technology investments help in-plants thrive. Yet parent organizations are continually approached by outsourcing providers who attempt to sell them on the idea that print is not their "core competency". With this in mind, it is essential that in-house print operations demonstrate their unwavering value to create a solid business case for continued investments and success. This means in-plant leaders must focus on competitive production costs and improving efficiency, expansion with new print applications or services, and growing their core offerings. During this session our panelists will shed light on the value they deliver. How they continue to justify the in-plant vs. outsourcing and how inkjet plays a vital role in their strategy and relevance to their parent organization.

Karen Kimerer, Business Development Leader, KL Kimerer & Associates

Craig Seybert, Manager, Printing Services, Penn State Health

Lisa Stelter, Manager Print & Mail Services, Sanford Health

Transactional Print - Accurate Mission Critical Print & Mail Communications

Even one-mis-mailed item can lead to fines, litigation and damage to your company’s reputation. Today’s Transactional Printer needs to be a trusted customer communication resource to their client’s businesses in which client-centric data is key, and efficiency and security are paramount. To achieve this, they must have an intelligent workflow solution in place that combines technology, compliance security, document processing mail services, and data security to meet the highest quality assurance standards set across a broad spectrum of industries to enable them to deliver a compliant transactional document that is designed to generate response, improve customer relationships, and streamline company communication operations. During this session, you will hear from your peers how they consistently deliver accurate mission critical print & mail solutions to their clients, to include topics such as:

• Compliance & Regulations
• Document Integrity
• Digital Print Security
• High Speed Production, Accuracy and Efficiency
• Standardized processes

Chris Kropac, President, PCI Group

John Slaney, Chief Technology Officer, Content Critical Solutions

Commercial Print & Book Manufacturing: Business Growth Opportunities

If only we had a crystal ball to predict the future of commercial print and book manufacturing. What we have learned is that the future is bright. Here are the facts: IT Strategies predicts a 15% Compound Annual Growth Rates for Inkjet produced simplex pages between 2021 and 2024. According to the NPD Group, in the book market growth occurred across every major supercategory, including adult non-fiction, adult fiction, juvenile, and teen categories. Unit-sales volume in 2020 rose 8.2 percent, year over year, to reach 751 million units. There has been a resurgence in direct mail...personalized direct mail blended with interactive elements. Increases in customized direct mail cut across a myriad of different industries.

As the world continues to turn, so does the demand for print. During this session, you will hear from successful Print Service Providers who have made strong business decisions to change the way they do business to position themselves for their future success as the world continues to change.

Marco Boer, Vice President, IT Strategies

Marty McQuiston , General Manager, Taylor

Todd Roth, Vice President, Core Publishing Solutions, a Thomson Reuters business

Response Optimization: Direct Mail to Digital Conversion

Helping your clients optimize their direct mail campaigns should be your top goal. It is incumbent upon you to guide your clients towards the most efficient and effective campaign strategy, even if it means your customers print less. Providing your clients with solutions that allow them to convert direct mail response to digital interactions will move you from vendor status to partner status.

During this session, you will learn how to play an integral part in the omnichannel wave that is overtaking today’s marketing strategies. We will cover the following topics:

• Direct Mail to Digital Conversion, to include: Extended Reality, Digital Voice Assistants, Informed Delivery, and Retargeting and Micro Personalization
• Omnichannel Communications to include: Know more than your clients do about omnichannel, Challenges today’s marketers are facing and how you can help, and Easy to implement omnichannel strategies that cost next to nothing
• B2B - Where is the “B”, to include: B2B challenges in the post-COVID, remote work world, Techniques to capture addresses, and Informed Address Pilot
• Response Optimization and Other techniques to improve interaction with direct mail

Chris Wells, Executive Vice President, DS Graphics/Universal Wilde

Estimating for Production Inkjet

Ink is one of the major drivers of job cost on production inkjet so you would think that estimating and tracking consumption would be top of mind for profit seeking print organizations. Canon has multiple tools to support print service providers in managing cost. Learn from Canon Solutions America experts and customers on the VIEW application capabilities, as well as TrueProof and its business impact on the ability to accurately project costs.

Barb Pellow, Manager, Pellow and Partners

Leveraging Workflow to Maximize Profitability

Holding back on investments in workflow automation means holding back on growth potential —a mistake that no printing business can afford to make in an environment where growth and profit are essential. The extent to which a business is automated has a strong influence on meeting critical customer requirements while maximizing profitability. Automation breaks the production bottlenecks: the inefficiencies and constraints of manufacturing that hamper productivity and profits. Get recommendations from both Canon experts in workflow automation as well as your peers relative to how to streamline key manufacturing processes.

Barb Pellow, Manager, Pellow and Partners

It's Not Finished 'Til It's Finished

The work is not finished until it is finished — as in post press finishing. Finishing is more than just a production step — it’s crucial to your business strategy. Finishing solutions can make the difference in meeting critical deadlines and exceeding expectations.

Barb Pellow, Manager, Pellow and Partners

Staying in the Mail: Meeting New Challenges

Whether you consider your company a printer or a mailer, if you do commercial mailing on a regular basis – you want access to information that will save you time and money. Service providers need to deal with the complexities of USPS rates and regulations. In this session, you will hear from Leo Raymond, Managing Director of Mailers Hub. Leo will provide timely information for you and your mailing staff about the latest information in the postal world. He will explain the current events regarding service and prices and share strategies and perspectives on how to help you and your customers deliver the mail more affordably.

Barb Pellow, Manager, Pellow and Partners

Inkjet Print Innovation

Get some printspiration! Come take a look at the recently unveiled Print Innovation Wall, a celebration of boundary-pushing print projects from our inkjet community.

Barb Pellow, Manager, Pellow and Partners

Project Peacock — Direct Mail

There has never been an opportunity quite like this to stimulate the senses and evoke excellence through direct mail. Strategically plan your direct mail conversations with inside intel from buyers at brands, agencies and publishers. In this course you will get an overview of survey results from print customers who attended Project Peacock Postal on April 29, 2021. Turn their responses into a plan of action and open doors to new business.

Deborah Corn, Intergalactic Ambassador to The Printerverse, Print Media Centr (PMC)

Project Peacock — Packaging

After a year of pandemic-era plain packages, consumers are ready for vim, vigor, and vitality on the outside, and too-good-to-pass-up promotions and offers on the inside. Strategically plan your packaging conversations with inside intel from buyers at agencies at brands. In this course you will get an overview of survey results from print customers who attended Project Peacock Packaging on July 15, 2021. Turn their responses into a plan of action and open doors to new business.

Deborah Corn, Intergalactic Ambassador to The Printerverse, Print Media Centr (PMC)

Project Peacock — Publishing

Publishing continues to evolve in so many exciting ways. No longer a faceless funnel transmitting books and magazines to readers, it’s now an ever-expanding landscape that utilizes technology and customer data to gain insight into what customers and consumers want, and how to give it to them. Strategically plan your publishing conversations with inside intel from buyers at agencies at brands. In this course you will get an overview of survey results from print customers who attended Project Peacock Publishing on September 9, 2021. Turn their responses into a plan of action and open doors to new business.

Deborah Corn, Intergalactic Ambassador to The Printerverse, Print Media Centr (PMC)

Strategic Planning with Data

Planning your business strategy armed with strategic planning provides focus and insight, enables you to identify risks and opportunities and map a clear direction. Learn how to gather and leverage strategic planning data to map a strong business strategy.

Karen Kimerer, Business Development Leader, KL Kimerer & Associates 

Retail Industry Overview/Trends

Understand the touchpoints in between the Manufacturer and the Consumer that are required to get the product to market, and the print service opportunity that lies within. Get insight into Retail Industry trends and learn what applications are selling best into the market.

Karen Kimerer, Business Development Leader, KL Kimerer & Associates

Retail Industry Overview/Trends

Selling into the Financial Services Industry? Come get an overview of the Financial Services industry and dive into the latest research available on industry trends.

Karen Kimerer, Business Development Leader, KL Kimerer & Associates

Successful Sales Strategies

Learn the 4 Keys to Sales Success, actions to take now to build sales momentum, vertical market sales insights and tips for managing the inkjet print sales team.

Bill Farquharson, Aspire For Inc.

Sales Prospecting

Learn how to identify the market opportunity for inkjet, then prepare and launch your strategic outbound sales efforts.

Kate Dunn, Founder, Evolve Sales Group

The Future of Direct Mail: An Opportunity for a Unified Marketing Strategy

Omnichannel marketing is constantly evolving, complicating ROI measurements. Has COVID had an impact on marketing strategy and consumer engagement? Come find out in this session where Melanie DeCaprio, SG360, will share third party research detailing The Future of Direct Mail.

Melanie DeCaprio, Vice President, Marketing, SG360

MKTG LAB | Multi-Channel Marketing Campaigns (Trekk)

Learn how you can leverage thINK resources to build multi-channel marketing campaigns to help generate leads — and new print business!

Emilee Christianson, Director of Client Services, Trekk

Building A Best Practice Marketing Plan

Learn the 10 key building blocks to a best practice marketing plan, including Strategic Planning Data, Marketing Objectives, Strategies & Metrics, Inquiry & Lead Goals, Personas, Unique Value Proposition & Key Messages, Creative Strategy, Content Plan, Website Optimization & SEO, Multi-Channel Marketing Calendar, Marketing Automation and Reporting Dashboards.

Robert Rose, Founder, Chief Troublemaker, The Content Advisory

Leveraging thINK Member Resources

thINK Membership is free to you as a Canon Solutions America inkjet customer, and there are multiple benefits to membership. Come learn about all of the resources available to thINK members and how you can take advantage of them to accelerate your success with inkjet!

Cindy Cumings, thINK Marketing Director, thINK