HP today announced new executive appointments within its Graphic Solutions Business (GSB) as part of its strategy to drive the transformation of analog to digital printing.
HP GSB Senior Vice President Christopher Morgan has promoted two veteran HP executives, Sumeer Chandra and Francois Martin, to lead the global marketing effort.
Print's new business models
"Digital colour printing has created new, effective business models with personalisation, on-demand production, simplified supply chains and improved sustainability for print," said Chandra, the new GSB vice president, Worldwide Marketing and Strategy. "As a leading digital colour printing solutions provider, HP is helping print service providers and their customers understand the distinct advantages of digital technology and how it can transform their business."
Chandra was previously vice president, Strategy and Planning, for the HP Imaging and Printing Group.
Martin, the new GSB director of Worldwide Marketing reporting to Chandra, previously served as GSB marketing director for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region and as EMEA current business manager for HP's Indigo digital press division.
"The market is rapidly becoming aware that HP's digital printing solutions are changing the industry in a way that affects how printing companies and their clients look at printing. Ideas now can take any shape – virtual or tangible, mass communicated or personalised," said Martin. "Our goal now is to clearly establish HP's industry leadership and market the benefits of digital to an expanding audience – from print service providers and technical design professionals to creative agencies and brand owners."
Dynamic growth opportunities
Digital colour printing continues to be the significant growth factor in the global graphic arts industry. Overall volume for HP-printed digital colour pages for example, has continued to achieve sizeable increases, particularly when compared to trends in the analog printing market.
HP's marketing strategy focuses on application areas where digital printing's benefits can have the greatest impact, including:
- Advertising, marketing and direct mail – applications that benefit from digital printing's ability to produce personalised materials for a higher return on investment
- Publishing – a segment that is transforming to digital, print-on-demand technology to reduce waste, print overruns and warehousing expenses associated with analog printing
- Labels and packaging – where HP Indigo print quality creates greater shelf impact, and solutions for flexible packaging, shrink sleeves, in-mold labels and folding cartons offer additional options for brand owners and design agencies
- Signage and display – an area that is evolving from solvent to latex and UV printing for greater flexibility and reduced environmental impact in creating materials for indoor and outdoor use
- Technical design – a market that relies on HP's large-format and 3D printing solutions for mechanical CAD, architecture and engineering applications to print and share blueprints, prototypes and other technical materials.
