IPIA says 'essential' 2018 event will drive print forward

The Independent Print Industries Association (IPIA) has unveiled the line-up for next month’s Everything is Possible in Print (EPIP) event.

According to IPIA chief executive Marian Stefani, this year’s event has been developed to appeal to marketers, print buyers and also, for the first time, print business leaders.

“Events like this are key for the print industry, we have to communicate better with people that use our products and services because otherwise we’re never going to increase demand.”

“So, EPIP is about creating dialogue so that we better understand what the market wants from us as an industry and also telling the market what we’re doing that is different, so it’s essential for the whole industry.

“It’s going to be an amazing day, we’ve got some fantastic speakers lined up.”

The IPIA is expecting around 200 delegates at this year’s event, building on the 180 that attended last year.

Delivering one of the keynotes this year will be Rafe Offer, a seasoned global marketing professional who most recently founded Sofar Sounds. Before launching the live music business, Offer was head of global marketing for businesses including Coca-Cola and Walt Disney and director of innovation for Diageo.

Other speakers will include Stephan Pretorious, UK group chief executive and global chief technology officer of digital media agency Wunderman and Adrian Last, executive vice-president and director of ITV Studios Marketing, who specialises in brand marketing and digital engagement.

“Our speakers will be talking about why they have come back to print, how they have done it and why it has been successful,” said Stefani.

She added that in putting the schedule together she had invited speakers that will challenge the audience’s thinking, to help them look at print from a fresh perspective – which she said was key so that printers and buyers better understand marketers needs and adapt according.

“Then they can service those needs, so rather than chasing the work that is running away from us, we can help them create new work.”

In between the keynote sessions will be 10-minute 'inspiration sessions' where a number of speakers will, according to Stefani, give an ‘elevator pitch’ on “new innovations, new ideas and thoughts” which delegates can then and discover more about it a dedicated partner area in the form of a desktop expo.

As well as the speaker programme, the all-day event, which takes place at London’s Congress, just off Oxford Street on 3 July, features ‘The Exchange’ where delegates can network with other attendees, discuss marketing challenges and business challenges with a view to delegates developing business boosting connections.

“We’ve had marketers coming back to us after EPIP telling us that, as a result of what they heard, they were rethinking their print marketing strategy and wanted us to put them in touch with people that can help, and that’s music to my ears and the whole reason we launched the event in the first place.”

For more information and to reserve your place, visit everythingspossibleinprint.com.