Pop up for Pride In Print: chairperson John North and a marketing creation that helped advertise the last Rugby World Cup
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One of New Zealand’s top advertising agencies employs the Pride In Print Awards as a yardstick for quality in the selection of printers and associated trade suppliers.
Jules Calnan, head of print production at Auckland-based Ogilvy New Zealand, says she has used the annual Pride In Print Awards booklet as a resource for the past five years. She says, “We use the Awards book to source a myriad of suppliers, not just printers but pre-press and finishers as well. As technology has developed rapidly over the past few years, we need to keep in the know of who has capabilities of producing the quality of work we demand.”Ogilvy New Zealand buys an estimated $10 million print per year. Calnan believes that, for a major agency, quality in its finished print production is key, with the firm looking to achieving quality standards not just in pure print terms, but from finishing and other suppliers too. She says, “It is critical not only from our clients’ point of view, but from our in-house colleagues and our sister companies. Our print production department has an important role within the agency to bring out and enhance the creative idea presented to our clients. It is not just about ink on paper, we have a creative role to play in the selection of suppliers, print methods and finishing.
“We owe it to all the people we work with, and for, to excel in the work we produce. This is why a client leaves the control of the decision-making processes in our hands. My favourite saying is ‘You can pay the same price for a bad job as you can for a good job... there is no excuse to deliver a bad job’. Those who have passion and pride in their work, tend to enter their work in Pride and Print. Therefore I make the assumption that these printers will follow that passion through from an A4 flyer through to a complex die-cut, bound job.
“Overall, I feel Pride In Print should be regarded not just as an annual ‘Awards’ but a culture of excellence, and a tool for the discerning print buyer to use. It is like a yearly annual to me.”
John North ,Pride In Print chairperson says is it is “fantastic” to have the endorsement of such a major industry force.
“The most important thing for all of us, throughout the print industry, is to do what Ogilvy New Zealand says and embrace the ‘culture of excellence’. That really is what Pride In Print is about.
“When we started this campaign a decade and a half ago it was to instil in our industry the ownership of excellence, and a belief that by getting better at what we do, we could grow the print industry as a whole. The Awards are a part of that effort to lift the bar -- and indeed they have. But they only provide the yardstick of where we are year by year. The most important thing is for companies to understand and embrace the concept of excellence.
“Ogilvy’s adoption of Pride In Print as a genuine working tool for the selection of suppliers is a great step forward for us along that path. It rewards ‘excellence’ in the industry – and shows we were right to make Pride In Print the tremendous thing it is today.”
For printers seeking to attract business from discerning print buyers, Calnan offers a final piece of advice: she says, “Have passion about every single job you produce. That way you will always be proud of the results.”
