IVE’s story begins back in 1921 when Oscar Selig returned from World War I and started a local newspaper ‘The Link’ in Sydney’s Balmain. Over the last 101 years, IVE has grown, developed and diversified but print weboffset remains a core part of the IVE business. In the 4th instalment of our 101 series, we sit down with Stefano Teghini, Head of Sales at IVE’s Print Web Offset to break down what the world of commercial print looks like now, the current challenges and the opportunities that lie ahead.
Give us the 101, what does Print Web Offset do?
“Essentially, it’s ink on paper! We print magazines, brochures, catalogues, books and more. With a wide range of capabilities, we innovate and work with our clients to bring any idea to life on paper.”
How do you do it?
“We have the largest print web-offset capabilities in Australia so that helps! On shore facililites are critical in this industry due the volume of work we produce and the speed and high rotation at which we need to get it to market. We have multiple sites across New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia which house a full end-to-end service offering including design, print, binding, packing, with distribution capabilities too. We run a lot of site tours and visitors are always blown away by the sheer scale and volume of what we do.
Our entire business model is customer-centric, from our innovative and expert team through to the fleet of printing and finishing machines utilising the latest technologies. We’re always looking at how to deliver the best for our customers – if they are successful, then so are we.”
Who is a typical client?
“There really is no partner too small or too large for us. We have some clients who will print one job a year for a few thousand copies right through to national and multinational companies that print millions of catalogues a week. We typically work in the publishing, travel, financial, and retail sectors but if there’s a client that needs printed collateral then we can help. Some of our partners are brand new to print and we work with them as trusted advisors. Others have ink in their blood and know exactly what they want!”
What does a typical project look like?
“Each project varies. We can produce a range of printed products depending on what the client wants to achieve. It could be a promotional flyer to go into someone’s letterbox, a financial document or a glossy magazine you’d see on sale at the newsagents or a travel brochure to support in-agency sales right through to a retail catalogue to drive customers online and in-store as part of a wider integrated marketing campaign. We can work with clients on a one-off basis although we do find that the majority of our client base has an ongoing need for print, which results in long term partnerships.”
What’s the most common misconception about Print Web Offset?
“Well, there’s a fair few out there! Maybe that print is dead, print is boring, print is bad for the environment or print is not relevant to the younger generations.
I passionately disagree with all of these. Print can be exciting, educational, inspirational, reliable in an unreliable world and thought provoking. The research consistently backs up the fact that print works – for example, over 6.8M Australians subscribe to consumer magazines across the country1. That’s a strong audience reach and readership for regular communication with an engaged and loyal customer. Also more than 80%2 of catalogues are read in print copy. And it’s a trusted medium, with 82%3 of consumers trusting print advertising to make a purchase decision above all others (including tv and radio).
There are a lot of myths about the environmenal credientials of paper and print. A lot more education is required on this as paper is one of the few truly renewable products with the sustainably managed forests.
In contrast to widely held beliefs, Gen Z is an emerging market for print media – with research showing they prefer print books over digital and spending an hour or more a week reading print magazines4. Perhaps that’s a knee-jerk reaction to growing up in a digitised world, but it’s an interesting trend to stay across. It’s certainly a trend that our clients are exploring in order to maximise cut-through with that audience.
The industry can also be quick to set up print and digital as rivals. The reality is that print and digital work best in conjunction with one another. There will always be a place for print – the physical, tacile and ‘escapism’ that it provides that simply can’t be replicated elsewhere. Digital creates an entirely different and complementary experience. The marketing mix is all about creating multiple touchpoints in multiple mediums. We actually work closely with IVE’s Data Driven Communications in order to deliver integrated campaigns across different channels.”
What are some challenges your industry is currently facing?
“Paper, paper, paper! During the pandemic, availability of paper has been a challenge for all in the industry. In fact, in order not to let our clients down and to keep our presses running, IVE commissioned two ships to bring more than 22,000 tonnes from Europe earlier this year. That shows how far we’ll go to keep printing for our clients! I’m grateful to work for a market leader that can make bold decisions like this to meet these challenges head on.
Like any industry, we’re not immune to increasing costs with raw materials, consumables, transport, and energy – all the pricing challenges! It’s a very real issue. We’re hopeful 2023 will bring some stability and predictability to the printing channel which will enable our clients to confidently build print into their marketing strategies.”
What’s most exciting about working in Print Web Offset right now?
“Well there’s a few things! Firstly, print is continually evolving. It will always be an important part of our everyday lives but it has to change as the market needs it to. Bring it on!
I mentioned before the importance of print being part of a broader marketing strategy. At IVE, we’re able to offer it all from digital comms through to creative, instore POS, distribution and more. A lot of our clients don’t realise how diverse our offering is – and it’s exciting to be able to show them!
Finally the team! I love coming to work each day. I am very lucky to work with such a talented team across Australia. Every day they bring passion, dedication, comeraderie and a can-do attitude. This energises us all and spurs us all on to deliver our best work…and also keeps me on my toes!”
To find out more about how print can support your business and the world of Print Weboffset, get in touch with our dedicated team.
Research sources: 1TMRC, 2022, 2TMRC, 2021, 3Digital Sherpa, 2022, 4PIA, 2021
