Making print interactive is key to its survival

Dubai: Print is alive and well, but only if it incorporates mobile technology, according to experts at the Gulf Print and Pack exhibition yesterday. Gone are the days when print was the prime medium to access information. Today, consumers are increasingly using their smartphones and tablets to access content via the web. This migration has pushed print solutions providers to ramp up their efforts to keep print popular. The solution? Connecting print with the internet.

Canon Middle East, in partnership with UK-based Documobi, are launching a mobile app that can read a printed document and take the user to the brand’s different online channels, including their website and their social media profiles. The app uses the Mobile Print Recognition technology.

“Print is not dying,” said Peter Lancaster of Documobi. “We still need print for its visual and tactile nature, but we need to add some capabilities to it... to make it more relevant.”

The service allows users to get customised special offers, which change depending on time and place. This relies on accessing users’ personal information, as is the case with other apps.

When asked if this may pose privacy concerns among users, Lancaster said: “When you’ve downloaded the app, it means you trust the brand. You can also use it anonymously and get to do some things.”

For advertisers and marketing professionals, the service is expected to help them better measure their target audience. By having people’s personal information, advertisers can know who accessed their client’s profile, when and from where.

For printers, the service can help them boost volumes, according to a recent study released by Canon. “The study shows that over 90 per cent of cross media campaigns [in the region] have print as a key component, and roughly half of the budget is meant for print,” said Antony White, product business developer at Canon Europe.

“As economies are growing, businesses grow and there will be more need for paper,” said Hendrik Verbrugghe, marketing director at Canon Middle East. The application does not require scanning a QR (Quick Response) code, which can be found on printed materials. The use of QR codes is steadily growing in the region.

“QR codes are not trustworthy... [it takes you] on any server, and databases are not private,” Lancaster said.

Kodak has launched some products that print paper with QR codes that give personalised information to customers based on their details. So, the message delivered on paper is the same for everyone, except for the information accessed via the QR code.

Komal Sharma, managing director at Kodak in the Middle East and Africa, says that creating ‘unique’ QR codes has not been widely picked up by advertisers in the region.

“They’re not aware of these technologies as much as they should be... and then there’s data management... they don’t know how to use specific information [of customers],” Sharma said.

Meanwhile, Japan-based OKI has released mobile-enabled printers in the region, meaning you can send a message to the printer from your mobile and once the paper is printed scan the QR code using the QR reader mobile app. The service will then direct you to the brand’s website, for instance. It also keeps a history of what you have accessed.

The Canon application is expected to be launched in Europe and the region during the second half of this year.