Canon has kicked off its nine-week national road show called Print Ideas with a successful launch in Perth and says bookings for future sessions are filling fast.
The leading supplier has teamed up with Kellie Northwood from industry lobby group Value of Paper and Print (VoPP) to take its recent PrintEx15 presentation out to print service professionals and sign makers around the country.
“The aim is to make sure that those who weren’t able to get to the Sydney Showground in May don’t miss out on the key ideas and applications that were provided there,” said Dale Hawkins, senior marketing manager, Canon Professional Print. “The buzz of PrintEx15 may be over for another four years, but for Canon and their customers, the excitement continues.”
Northwood presents a session that looks at the recent findings of research conducted by VoPP.
“The Print Ideas events open with Kellie sharing the results of the VoPP research, which tells us, quite simply, that print is still a very welcome, effective and irreplaceable part of the multi-channel communications mix,” said Hawkins. “From a marketing perspective, print is effective and delivers real results, and on a creative level, it offers a myriad of options that simply can’t be replicated by digital or electronic channels.
“This can open up new and, importantly, high-margin revenue streams for businesses in the print and graphic communications sector, and that makes VoPP the perfect backdrop to Canon’s presentation, which is designed to help print service providers find innovative ways to capitalise on opportunities to build their future business success.”
The event shares the PrintEx15 theme, ‘Ideas to Stimulate Your Print Business’, and will next visit Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
“To demonstrate just how the right ideas and strategies, supported by innovative technologies, can add value, maximise margins and help businesses avoid the ‘commodity train’, Canon will be taking delegates through some creative and innovative responses to the diverse print requirements of a typical business, using the fictitious client created for PrintEx15 – the Coffeco Coffee Company,” said Hawkins.
The Coffeco products encompass everything from printed menus, place mats and drink coasters, to signage and POS, printed interior finishes, print in manufacturing on iPhone covers, and more conventional printed products like business cards and letterheads.
Complementing the product display, the company will set up a ‘real world’ production environment at each location, demonstrating solutions that can add value to print. These will include technologies shown at PrintEx including Canon ImagePress digital cut-sheet presses, Arizona flatbed printers, Océ ProCut systems with EngView 3D prototyping and workflow software, Océ ColorWave and Seiko SII ColorPainter wide-format printers, ONYX and Fiery RIP technologies, Océ PrismaSync workflow and a range of Canon imaging supplies.
Canon product specialists will be on hand to help delegates explore ways in which Canon technologies can meet specific business needs while business development specialists, equipped with Canon’s specially-developed ROI calculator, will help work through the practical financial aspects of investment.
“We’ve had very positive feedback so far from our first Print Ideas event in Perth, and bookings for future sessions are filling fast,” said Hawkins. “We’re delighted with the response and are looking forward to partnering with businesses across Australia to help them expand their business potential.” 
Print Ideas events will be held over the next nine weeks:
· SA - Adelaide: August 4 – 5
· QLD - Brisbane: August 25 – 27
· VIC - Clayton: September 1 – 3
· NSW - Macquarie Park: September 22 – 23
To find out more or reserve a place at a session near you, go to printevent.canon.com.au
