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The Print Buyers Conference held at this year’s Graph Expo will go down in history. This is because it marked the first time that an event dedicated to print buyers had been run at the Chicago-based show since its inception in 1974. And it seems that the sell-out event was long overdue.

Packed full of seminars and panel sessions, the convention gave print buyers from all over the US a rare opportunity to unite and discuss the issues important to them. And in turn, it offered us the chance to uncover how the US buyer is doing business.

North America is home to about 40,000 print establishments. This figure is down from an industry high of 58,000. In fact, the US printing industry is losing more than 1,000 companies a year through fierce competition and merger and acquisition activity.

The average firm is privately and family owned, with three-quarters of companies employing fewer than 20 people. Such factors have helped to create a buyer’s market and caused the US print customer to reassess their needs. And in turn, US printers are undertaking radical changes to meet the demands of their clients.

The identities of both US print buyers and their printers are altering. “Print buyer is a funny term – a catch-all phrase,” says independent print consultant and Boston Print Buyers founder Margie Dana. Out of the 170-strong conference audience, only seven had the job title ‘print buyer’. More surprisingly, when asked what percentage of their jobs were actually related to print, some audience responses were as low as 15%.

Identity crisis
Job titles and functions ranged from design and marketing to creative, training and support- based roles. “This is one of the challenges in uniting print buyers,” says Dana. “It also makes it hard for printers
to identify the print representatives within a company.”

To complicate matters further, US print buyers are having similar problems locating printers. “More and more frequently, printers are cutting the word ‘printing’ out of their company name, which could indicate the industry’s growing identity problem,” says Dana.

Such name changes may inform print customers that a firm offers more than just print. Yet buyers may still be left unsure about what exactly they do provide. “The term ‘communications’ is too broad and indicates nothing to the buyer,” she adds.  

However, it does seem to indicate that progressive printers are stepping up and reacting to the market by embracing the changing needs of the US print buyer.

“Print buyers’ budgets are being sliced,” says Dana. “There are just a handful of buyers left that work with only print.” Multi-channel marketing, digital technology and variable print are all hot topics for US print buyers. Frank Romano, Professor Emeritus, School of Print Media, Rochester Institute of Technology argues that print buyers must learn about digital printing or get left behind. “This is where the market is going,” he says.

Web-to-print and e-printers were also popular points of discussion, with the internet creating a national shopping market for US buyers, meaning that they are no longer constric­ted by distances between states. These systems are particularly attractive for simple and repeat jobs, where issues such as colour manage­ment and consistency aren’t such a problem. And from visiting the stands at the show, the popularity of these two services was obvious, with handfuls of different models on display.

But although there is a variety of innovative technology on the market, among US printers and buyers there is still the fear that the industry is in decline. To combat this, Romano encourages print buyers to
be proactive and to branch out into new areas of print, choosing printers that can help them complete the job.

But considering that the average US print buyer has had little or no formal training in sourcing and buying print, this may appear a daunting task.

So how do print buyers learn their skills? The US print industry remains an extremely personal one. This has caused some buyers to become reliant on their printer’s sale representative’s knowledge of the industry. “I sympathise with new print customers, as the industry has become so complex,” says Dana.

Reviewing relationships
Although it is crucial for buyers to develop a good relationship with their printer, it is also important to constantly reassess the firm’s offerings.

US print buyers do recognise and value the importance of a proactive printer, who can keep them up to date on new ideas, material and kit. “Ask printers for suggestions and don’t set concrete specs,” suggests Dana.

Speakers at the conference also encouraged buyers to expand on their own technological and printing knowledge. “I believe it is our job to know everything about print and where to go,” says Rebecca Anderson, panel speaker and vice president of print management and distribution at JP Morgan Asset Management. “I will always ask questions. We are viewed as professionals – and this is what we are employed to be.”

A host of buying guides and resources are available to the US print customer. These include publications such as Pocket Pal and Getting It Printed, and websites such as www.whattheythink.com and www.printondemand.com.

Even more valuable than these resources is the US print buyer’s willingness to share industry information with other print buyers. “There is no end to this need for information,” says Dana. “All print buyers are related and it is a lifelong profession.”

It is enlightening to learn about the issues faced by US print customers. Yet most striking is how many of their concerns echo those of their UK compatriots. “The print buyer issue is a global one and the behaviours of print buyers are universal,” says Dana.

“And all print buyers are in this together.”

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PRINT BUYERS
The changing role
Surprisingly, the environment was not at the top of US print buyers’ list of concerns. It was identified by speakers as a key issue that must be acknowledged. However, many of the print buyers believed that
US printers were still unable to offer green alternatives at cost-effective prices, which prevented them from adopting such practices.

‘Print buyer’ is a rare term in the US. Many buyers’ jobs are being combined with marketing, design and creative roles, and their titles are changing. The share of their job that is dedicated to print is also decreasing.

The number of US print buyers sourcing digital print is increasing rapidly. Multimedia marketing, variable print and personalisation are seen as ways to revamp the printed product. US buyers are attempting to create more cost-effective campaigns, which use print that caters more to the individual customer. 

Print buyers are using new technologies such as web-to-print to expand their buying horizons. Such systems have allowed buyers to shop outside of their states and become more selective about their supplier. However, in some cases it can create too much variety and make it difficult to choose. Buyers are encouraged to spend time understanding exactly what they want and how best to achieve it.

Print buyers in the US are willing to share and swap information with other buyers, such as sources and references.

In addition, many have purchased or rely upon additional guides and resources to help them with their job.