Printers need to stop competing over print as a standalone commodity, which is constantly pushing the price down, Kate Dunn, president of Digital Innovations Group and author of PODi's S3 programme, told delegates to the PODi App forum, which kicked off in Sydney this week.

In her presentation Dunn said it was becoming more common for print buyers to utilise a combination of mediums rather than just one, and in order to benefit, print suppliers must figure out the best mix for their clients and help them do it. She said, “You have to find something of value that you can charge for and plain old print is not that. We need to realise that print on its own is marginalised and it’s hard to differentiate in quality.”

Dunn continued, “What we are moving into is an integration of mediums, things by themselves don’t work anymore. When you are just one of the pack the only thing you can compete on is price so we need to be different to each other in niche markets.”

Also at the forum, Garry Knespal, general manager of PODi ANZ said while the entire industry has felt the impact of the global financial crisis, digital print and in particular relevant or targeted print marketing was holding its own. He says, “The printing industry is constantly being attacked both environmentally and on its effectiveness. Digital has the opportunity to take a leading role in demonstrating that targeted and relevant printing is not only effective, but environmentally sustainable.”

Knespal also said that 12 months on from the last conference the regional PODi has made significant gains. He adds PODi has published the third market report for Australia and New Zealand with detailed information and comparative data.

The three-day forum, which is wrapping up today at Sydney’s Masonic Centre, was attended by a range of industry representatives and was supported by industry leaders including Ricoh, Red Tie, Fuji Xerox, Online Print Solutions, Objective Lune, DataBasics, Creo, Pent Net, Konica Minolta, Roland DG, Currie and Océ.