Awards retain quality baseline

As Pride In Print returns to Wellington’s TSB Arena on May 3, the focus remains on quality for those judging New Zealand’s print expertise

Following a review of this year’s awards, the Pride In Print committee decided to retain the quality-based approach that it has employed since the inception of the awards almost 20 years ago.

Scott Porter, awards chairman for Pride In Print, says the committee considered feedback from the last successful campaign before deciding to endorse the system. It also debated the issue of whether or not to reduce the number of award recipients. should be reduced. The committee felt that would defeat the whole concept of Pride In Print.

Porter says, “The basis upon which the awards were founded was to raise the levels of quality in the New Zealand printing industry, to bring greater customer satisfaction to domestic print buyers and to allow our printers to compete successfully on the international stage. Over the years, Pride In Print has been extraordinarily successful in that goal.”

“We can only achieve that by setting the quality bar within each print sector and then giving printers the incentive to get to that level, and recognising them when they do. Each job entered in Pride In Print is judged on its own merit. The entrant must demonstrate they have the skills and ability to get over the bar. If we changed the basis of the awards, and selected only one recipient in each category, we would not be recognising the efforts of everyone who had upped their performance and attained the goals we had set.”

Print Olympics
Porter likens the quality-based targets to Olympic qualifying times. He says, “With the Olympics, if you get over the line, you earn qualification. It doesn’t mean you will be the best-in-category, but it does mean you are recognised as being in the top echelon in terms of quality. That is how the Pride In Print Awards work. Golds go to those who attain the quality standards we have set, and those companies can then celebrate by taking their achievement on to the marketing stage, using it to advance their relationships with existing and potential customers.”

He adds that the quality bar has risen year on year, and the quality achievements have leaped ahead, particularly in the last year, reflected in the number of companies that earned gold, many of them small in stature. He says, “The other major benefit of a quality-based approach is that it has encouraged the successes of companies who are smaller or in niches. Some of the major awards in Pride In Print 2012 went to either niche companies working in cities, or to the regions. All of these major winners say that they feel confident taking on bigger companies and are encouraging other small guys to do the same next year. The feedback we received was that Pride In Print has become part of the small company culture. They understand that quality starts internally first at their workplace.”

He concludes, “Quality can come from any print shop, big or small. By rewarding quality, we are allowing those smaller companies to compete, and often beat, the big players in the industry.”

Kurz joins Pride In Print as a new sponsor
Pride In Print has announced that hot stamping technology supplier Kurz has come on board as a new sponsor.

Mark Stocker, managing director of Kurz Australia, says, “The whole awards night is a good reflection for not only the printers but also the suppliers to stand up and pat themselves on the back for the thankless work they do. Suppliers deliver high-quality materials and ongoing support to enable their customers to produce work to a standard that can compete with their peers in business, and be rewarded for their skills. The night also is a great reflection of supplier-printer relationships and teamwork, working together to reach a common goal, as well as a great opportunity to reflect on the pressures of the printing industry.”

The awards night will continue the Print Out Loud campaign theme. Sue Archibald advocates that the print industry needs to go hard to make the Awards a glowing tribute to the quality that New Zealand print can produce. She says, “We have pushed to make the voice of print be heard among print buyers and among New Zealand business as a whole. But we cannot do it alone. Printers need to do their bit. They need to select entries which scream out the message, ‘This is a showstopper.’ … jobs which are outside the box. The time is now for printers to find their voice, and make themselves heard. Then Pride In Print can showpiece your examples of excellence.”

Early bird entries for Pride In Print close on December 21 and regular entries close on January 31; late entries close February 28. Pride In Print welcomes entries from any person or company associated with the production or purchase of print. Entries must have been printed in New Zealand between January 1 and December 31 and can be from any printing process.

Archibald adds, “Success in Pride In Print opens doors for more work with current and future clients. Winners find the competition provides an invaluable benchmarking opportunity, showing their quality to be higher than the competition and providing downstream benefits in the marketplace. So now is the time to get entries in and to share in the rewards.”

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