Experiential marketing. It was big in 2011 and it's set to get even bigger in 2012 as brands eschew more traditional advertising forms in an attempt to get a greater bang for their buck.

The advertising and wide format print industries have been collaborating for years to try and make greener billboards, but no one has been able to master the trick – until now. With the unveiling of Europe's first 'eco-board' at a site next to the M4 motorway in London in late June, Ricoh has set the digital signage bar high for others to follow.

 

For investors looking to make an acquisition in the printing industry, the obvious choice appears to be wide-format digital.

 

Whether you're a manufacturer looking to add an important capability to your portfolio, or a printer wanting to keep pace with the times, the numbers bear it out: Wide-format digital printing (primarily 30" and above) will lead our industry in growth.

 

Here are 5 reasons why any investor, big or small (and that you means you, Mr. Mom-and-Pop Shop), should consider a merger and acquisition (M&A) as a potential growth strategy:

The countdown has begun. It’s less than a year until the 2012 Olympic Games in London gets underway and over the course of the next few months a raft of printed paraphernalia will be produced for games organisers and official sponsors alike, providing a welcome shot in the arm for the UK printing industry. The intensity of activity will continue to build as the Games approaches with the weeks leading up to the event itself set to see the nation’s printers involved in a whirlwind of activity.

EskoArtwork and HP join forces to deliver integrated workflow solutions tailored for sign and display market
 
Gent (Belgium), June 23, 2010 – EskoArtwork (www.esko.com) announces that its partnership with the HP Graphics Solutions Business has been extended to the HP Scitex Large Format Division. In reply to the fast growing need for dedicated prepress tools, EskoArtwork and HP Scitex agreed to co-market integrated workflow solutions specifically tailored for the sign and display market. These solutions include the complete EskoArtwork i-cut Suite, a collection of pre-production design-to-finish software to streamline the entire production workflow.