So the main purpose for most heading to Cross Media 2013 will be to get a clear understanding of the current lay of the digital communications land. The main questions on everyone’s lips will be simple: what’s hot right now in the world of marketing, and how can printers go about converting that into revenue?
Cross Media 2013 marketing manager Andrew Thornhill is confident those visiting the Business Design Centre on the 23 and 24 October will go home with plenty of answers.
"I think what printers will get out of Cross Media is access to the wealth of new possibilities coming along in terms of things like automated marketing," he says. "The technology’s moved on quite a lot now; there’s quite a lot of new and exciting stuff to see, such as developments from the likes of HP and DirectSmile in terms of marketing automation you can put in place to distinguish between different areas of your marketing campaign. It’s really quite spectacular."
"It’s certainly heading in the direction of big data, the intelligence you can gather, and it has become more about individualisation rather than personalisation: the ability to track an individual’s habits," he adds.
If this year’s feature programme is anything to go by, ‘augmented reality’ and ‘printed image recognition’ will also be the buzz phrases du jour. 2013’s programme, which has been substantially beefed up compared with Cross Media’s debut 2012 show, will feature an Augmented Reality Hall of Fame with some no-doubt impressive examples of how this is already being deployed.
It will also feature a Documobi Cross Media Wall, intended to encourage people to discover how easy it is to use ‘intelligent Print Recognition’ to link printed media with online content by bringing along materials to create a simple campaign,
For Timon Colegrove, managing director at Hunts Paper & Pixels and speaker at one of this year’s seminars, image recognition technology is now very much king of cross-media. And this year’s show will, he feels, reflect this.
"The most important thing for people to learn about now has to be image recognition," he says. "The beauty of it is the way scanning the image can take you on an automated journey. As mobile devices progress, as 4G becomes faster, it’s going to become more the norm and people will expect any piece of print to be interactive, whether that’s a brochure, an advertisement, anything."
"QR codes aren’t as design friendly – some companies have tried to put their logo in a QR code but it just undermines the brand," he adds, explaining that the beauty of image recognition, by contrast, is that it doesn’t compromise the design of the print in any way.
Tesco senior marketing manager Mark Cody will be using his seminar slot to provide insight into how the retailer has so far utilised image recognition technology.
"Tesco has been using this for a while, mostly on our food magazine, but now in our new Tesco Magazine, too. This makes it a much richer experience for customers. The way people have been engaging has been very positive," he says.
He adds: "The key thing for us is to try it and see what works for our customers. We’ve certainly found people like videos, and competitions people naturally always want to engage with. We’re trying to make it relatively functional, but inviting and exciting at the same time."
Extra content
Linking to extra online media is a great way for firms to really get their money’s worth when generating content and imagery, explains Cody. "From a publisher’s perspective it’s a great way that they can work with advertisers to deliver much more engaging and rich content. With a magazine photoshoot you might take a number of shots, but you can only have one on the front cover. But now you can have loads of additional content that sits behind that image that customers can then explore online."
In putting together their exhibitor list, features programme and seminar schedule, Cross Media 2013 show organisers have been conscious to factor in criticism from some quarters that last year’s event was too print heavy.
"What we got to very quickly was a place where it wasn’t just printers we were supporting. Rather brand owners, agencies and marketers were also all very much engaged," says Thornhill, adding: "One of the things that was levelled at 2012 as a criticism was that it might have been too print-centric, but I think having listened to what all the stakeholders and visitors said, we’ve now shifted to a more balanced cross-media event."
Which is not to say, however, that print is being in any way sidelined. The title of the show is after all ‘Cross Media’ not ‘digital media’, so it won’t be all about communicating through the medium of silicon, aluminum, plastic and glass.
In fact the key theme of 2013 will be the critical role print still has to play in the marketing mix. Thornhill explains that persuading printers to embrace complementary digital communication channels is actually an easier task in some ways than highlighting print’s power to marketers. Which is why there’ll be plenty of talks and case studies in this vein.
"It’s never been a particularly hard sell to get printers to realise they need to do more or that they need to engage more. I think it’s a more difficult sell to get marketers to realise they shouldn’t just be concentrating on digital channels," says Thornhill.
"That is changing though," he qualifies. "We are seeing the swing back to printed content, which is great news for all printers. We’re going to see a shift of people falling in love with printed material again as a part of marketing campaigns, because it brings real value if you’ve got a tangible, touchable piece in your hand."
Robert McClements, speaker at one of the Cross Media 2013 panel discussions and chief executive of BPIF special interest group CDi Print Yorkshire, agrees. "I do think that message is getting through now," he says. "I’ll be speaking on the importance of integrating media and recognising that print has a pre-eminent position. It’s important for the print industry to recognise that it has an opportunity to lead in the integration. We need to demonstrate that there is a very powerful message that can be sent out when print and other media work together."
"There is a renaissance of print," agrees Colegrove, whose talk ‘50 Shades of Web to Print’ will highlight how "sexy" print still is. "People are realising that print has been dropped because digital is cheaper, but the fact is it’s all hidden away on our devices," he says. "So if I’ve got a newsletter on my iPad – yes it’s there, but it’s out of sight and out of mind."
Big hitters confirmed
It comes as no surprise, then, that all the big hitters in digital print will be present and correct, with Konica Minolta taking the largest stand at the event. Canon will be demonstrating technologies via the EFI and DirectSmile stands, while visitors to the HP area will see the company’s augmented reality offering from software developer Aurasma.
Ricoh, meanwhile, will have plenty for forward-thinking printers to get their teeth into. A key feature will be MarcomCentral, a cloud-based marketing asset repository that enables printers to run multichannel marketing campaigns on behalf of clients, and which will be commercially available in November. Then there’ll be the vendor’s Clickable Paper image recognition solution which has just successfully finished its first trial at Norfolk-based Barnwell Print, and will be available in the first half of 2014.
So Cross Media 2013 is shaping up to be a great chance for printers to gen up on the very latest digital innovations. But it will also bolster their confidence regarding the value of print, and how to persuade customers of this fact. This year’s show will hopefully, then, be the forum where many finally realise that print and digital can be firm, and highly complementary, friends. And that they will continue to be for a long time to come.
CROSS MEDIA ESSENTIALS
Date 23-24 October
Location Business Design Centre, Islington, London
Price Free if pre-registered at www.crossmedialive.com/register, £35 on the door
Opening times 23 October, 10.00–17.30; 24 October, 10.00–17.00
Exhibitors 80-plus
Key attractions
- On display in the AR (augmented reality) Hall of Fame will be exciting examples of brands being brought to life through
- the combination of print, AR app Layar and mobile devices.
- Fancy the thrill of jumping out of a plane from 21,000 feet without the terror of actually doing it? Then head to creative production and technology company Inition’s Virtual Reality Skydive feature. Or try your luck crossing a plank of wood perched between two virtual skyscrapers in Inition’s Virtual Vertigo challenge. Hair-raising stuff.
- The latest gesture-control and facial-recognition technologies will be on show as part of the Specialmoves’ spooky interactive portrait.
- Marketing agency Oglivy will be providing small businesses from the local Islington area with advice at the Oglivy Ideas Shop. One-to-ones will be by appointment only.
- Cross Media 2013 will feature five show floor theatres covering different fields. These are: Cross Media, Digital Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Print and Innovation and Content Marketing and Publishing Strategies. Each theatre will host five seminars each day (see timetable on next page).
- The Documobi Freestyle Cross Media Wall will enable visitors to create a simple cross-media campaign for their business by providing a printed item such as a business card or photograph, and video or online content. The print will be displayed on the wall so visitors can scan this to access the digital content.
SEMINAR PROGRAMME
Theatre 1: Cross-media
23 October
10.15-11.00 Introductory address: A new age of storytelling – creating an immersive experience for your ‘opt-in’ customers
11.15-12.00 Ten key takeaways on tangible joined-up marketing; bridging the gap between online and offline; integrating ideas with action
13.00-13.45 How to keep one step ahead of the
‘always-on’ consumer with a real-time planning approach
14.00-14.45 MoneyForce – an engaging multichannel experience with digital at its heart
15.00-15.45 The journey to a seamless customer experience
24 October
10.15-11.00 Business re-imagined – shifts in the digital revolution
11.15-12.00 Unlocking the creative power of data
13.00-13.45 Local newsbrands – relevant dialogue in a cross-channel world
14.00-14.45 Personalising video delivery across digital channels
15.00-15.45 Paid social is growing exponentially – but who’s getting it right?
Theatre 2: Digital and Direct Marketing
23 October
10.30-11.15 Shining a torch on the biggest digital and direct marketing trends in 2013 – top priorities for marketers going forward
11.30-12.15 Choosing the right channel, with the right message, at the right time
13.30-14.15 Digital and direct marketing opportunities in the cross-media mix – smart strategies to maximise ROI
14.30-15.15 New innovations in delivering personalised content
15.30-16.15 Email conversions and subject lines
24 October
10.30-11.15 Translating metrics into profits – if you can’t measure it, don’t do it!
11.30-12.15 Everything you’ve always wanted to know about marketing in the cloud and ensuring your data is secure
13.30-14.15 Harnessing the Twitteratti’s influence to create a mainstream media phenomenon
14.30-15.15 How to build, optimise and expand your search engine rankings
15.30-16.15 The art of engaging directly with your target audience on a personal level
Theatre 3: Content Marketing & Publishing Strategies
23 October
10.45-11.30 The power of great content to remain ahead of the game
11.45-12.30 Monetising content across multiple platforms
13.00-13.45 Integrated marketing – bringing online and offline together to create a powerful marketing
mix
13.45-14.30 Applying journalism principles to content to tell a story that works across devices, platforms and audience frames of mind
14.45-15.30 The five steps to creating a solid multi-channel content strategy and increasing your ROI. Case study: Ted Baker
15.45-16.30 The power of storytelling
24 October
10.45-11.30 Your publishing strategy 101- how do you get results from cross-media advertising?
11.45-12.30 Leveraging the value of content creation
13.45-14.30 Creating content in a native age and the hottest trends in digital
14.45-15.30 Successfully using social media channels to attract a global audience
15.45-16.30 Learn from innovative start-ups in publishing & media
Theatre 4: Print and Innovation
23 October
10.15-11.00 The importance of including print in your content marketing strategy – European SMB study by Infotrends
11.15-12.00 Putting print back on the map by keeping it creative, engaging and relevant
12.15-13.00 Adding value through cross-media for publishers and printers - hear more about the latest market-leading, image recognition technology
14.00-14.45 Less is more – publishing and print innovators signpost a targeted future for paper use
15.00-15.45 Demonstrating the ROI of print to your customers
24 October
10.15-11.00 How can print add value to cross-media communications?
11.15-12.00 50 shades of web-to-print. Case study: Vogue
13.00-13.45 The house of print vs the house of digital
14.00-14.45 How cross-media printers can raise their prices by 10%
15.00-15.45 Cross-media marketing: turning a threat into an opportunity for the print community
Theatre 5: Mobile Marketing
23 October
10.30-11.15 Leveraging mobile to enhance cross-media marketing
11.30-12.15 Putting mobile at the heart of the customer experience
13.30-14.15 Capitalising on the boom in renting
14.30-15.15 Top strategies to make money out of the mobile phenomenon and measure the ROI
15.30-16.15 Mobile strategy – fact and fiction
24 October
10.30-11.15 How is big data transforming mobile opportunities
11.30-12.15 The mobile consumer – top tips on building a mobile campaign that works - ‘sorting the wheat from the chaff’
12.30-13.15 The hottest new start-ups – five quick-fire rounds
13.30-14.15 The hottest work in mobile in the UK today
14.30-15.15 Get the best of both worlds – add mobile data capture as the magic ingredient to print
15.30-16.15 Innovations in mobile marketing
