I landed at Changi airport at 3:30 am, a day prior to Dscoop. And soon realised the best way to explore the city (any city) is on foot - the bylanes, the heritage buildings, green spots and the interaction with hawkers in chaotic centres. All through - from Chinatown food street, Orchard Road to Bugis Street to the Changi airport - the city poetics was determined by print. Like the humidity, print was almost everywhere - bus shelters, metro stations called MRT’s (Mass Rapid Transport), food stalls, the glitzy malls and the OOH campaigns at the Changi airport (produced on a HP Latex!) This speaks volumes about where print is heading.

My companion was my smartphone. Which helped me navigate. Also, conduct transactions (a big boon especially after the demonetisation), and streaming videos and connecting back home. A tiny device powered by an Android operating system providing with infinite possibilities, just like digital print.

The Dscoop take away
My one big take-away from Dcsoop Asia was all about how much we are under utilising the potential of our digital presses; and how it is important to push digital print to the next level.

Consider: A firm Blippar which exhibiting showcased how augmented reality and digital print can go hand in hand and create superior consumer experience. An interactive package which abetted brands to interact through games, videos or display nutritional content (in the case of a food package) with its consumers.

Publishing with digital has made inroads in educational and the children’s book segment. mykingdombooks.com and putmeinthestory.com are eCommerce websites. And what do they do? They personalise children’s books. As a customer you need to add two photographs plus the elements to be personalised e.g. the name of the child, and voila the book will be delivered to your doorstep.

As Roy Eitan, director and general manager, HP Indigo and Inkjet Digital Press Solutions, HP Inc, says, “It’s all about connecting the digital world and physical print. This helps create value and emotional connect to the brand.”

Roy skipped the blah blah phish. During a nifty press-con, he showed seven business cards, digitally printed. Each had a theme and design which was linked to a personalised video through a QR code. The one I chose in colour pink has Roy's son, kickboxing. It’s all about an emotional connect plus recall value.

Digital print is a guide
Mondelez launched customised Colorfilled packs in China. This meant, a customer could colour the pre-designed pack and add a personalised, sentimentalnote in the top corner. According to Dennis Dong, head of e-commerce, marketing, Mondelez China the sales saw a quantum leap and was boosted to 10,000 packs per day. At a delicious premium price.

Personalised packages do not represent high volume, but they deliver high margins. Shoppers feel valued and develop deeper loyalty for those brands. Being non personal is considered flatfooted.

Finding a toehold
Not everyone can be a Cezanne, a genius gone wrong.

Amidst thousands of brands, reinventing the status quo holds the key. And how does one do it sans the hundred working sessions and five hundred brain stormings. This is the miracle of customised packaging. While there are likes of Coke and Oreos who have attracted the TRPs for their recent personalised retail marketing campaigns, the non-super brands are investing too. A Singapore-based, third generation manufacturer of sugar products Cheng Yew Heng sells sugar sticks in unique personalised packs. The sugar sticks under the brand name Jewels are flavoured rock sugar stick and every stick is unique in design. Plus there is a Japan-based rice mill which hardsells a rice-like commodity in unique flexible packages printed on a HP .

It's about conceiving a product as an art form. A devotion to the visual and the functional that sets print, apart.

Technologies and tie-ups
The keynote session saw movers and shakers of fashion, photography, concierge, and delivery service industries presenting success stories achieved by disruptive execution of ideas.

Michael Boyle of HP says, “We’re driving a transformation. We’re partnering with brands, agencies, and PSPs. It’s all about the partnerships – we’ve got to work together to build a more efficient ecosystem.” This was seen in their strategic tie-up with China-based YiFuTu.com, a graphic-design and printing services platform.

As a part of HP’s strategic development effort in building working relationship with innovative e-commerce players, Alon Bar-Shany, vice president and general manager, Indigo Digital Press Division, HP Inc, announced an official collaboration agreement with YiFuTu.com.

Bar-Shany says, “The plan is to drive creativity and customer growth around the world. We plan to replicate such business model across Asia. We wish to create a network of HP Indigo’s user plus educate end customer about the various possibilities with digital print technology.”

Unlocking the excellence of digital print
On day two, at the HP Center of Excellence (COE), attendees got the opportunity to “touch and feel” the innovations. The COE is an HP boutique in the true sense. The 2,26,000 sq/ft facility provides customers with one-stop access to HP’s broad digital printing portfolio and solutions, as well as a space to connect with experts and share creative and technical best practices. Eitan says, “The facility aims to educate and inspire printing companies and their customers - including brands, agencies and print buyers about new opportunities made possible by HP digital printing solutions.”

The centre houses complete graphics portfolio and partner solutions along with an extensive gallery of applications – from stamps to building wraps. Creative applications of HP Latex digital printing applications in the home, office and retail settings, HP’s Mosaic software designs, books are few of the applications that unlock the full power of digital printing. For example, the photo album room demonstrates the range of possible applications with digital. This included a combination of good quality colour results, use of unusual substrates, and fabrication of the album including the innovative covers. The majority of the samples was from print service providers in India, as the Indigo printers installed in India enjoy a major share in the photo album market.

The highlight at the HP facility is a peek into the new generation of inks for the HP Indigo 10000, 20000 and 30000 digital presses, which is HP’s current focus. The specially created pink room houses products printed with special HP Indigo ElectroInk Fluorescent Pink, which glows in the dark under UV light.

As Eitan says, “We do not give just presentations to customers. They can work on the machines and test files. It is always hands-on approach and that’s probably what makes it different from a traditional showroom.”

Strategy shift
“Some of the innovation I saw at the Dscoop, especially in the ink segment like the conductive inks I feel is a very innovative way to move forward. I look forward to see few of these innovations coming into Marico first,” says Sridhar J, head of packaging, Marico.

It was the first time at Dscoop Asia for Rehan Poonawala, the third-generation entrepreneur of Mumbai-based Comart Lithographers. He says, “We have been using the HP Indigo technology since years. Here, I got to network with a lot of people plus got a lot of exposure and sneak peak about the latest technology that HP has to offer now and in future.”

That's how the Dscoop event was. With brands keen to explore and pump money into innovative campaigns and packaging, it will invariably result into the growth of print service providers (PSP). Such collaboration narrows down the gap between the brand and the PSP.

And HP's this strategy has worked best for all parties involved - the end user, the PSP and the machine manufacturers.