WHAT'S IN A NAME? THE PRINT BUYER'S DILEMMA

by Jim Derochea - Marketing Communications, Solutions, Multi Channel Guru

What's in a name? What's in a title? A lot, if you are in the communications world today, especially if you have anything or had anything to do with printing. For instance, today, "Web" is more than just a kind of roll fed press and "Channels" aren't just for TV anymore while Publish" means much more than what an author aspires to have done with their writings. Case in point, I recently touched upon how the "Publishing" term has evolved and become acceptable as a replacement for the word "print" in several acronyms. Originally viewed as print only applications, it has recently become acceptable to view the terms "W2P" as Web-to-Publish and "VDP" as Variable Data Publishing, to accommodate the inclusion of digital channels. But, in some cases, the industry terminology and "phraseology," is lacking and has not kept up with the changes in the technology & trending landscape that seems to be occurring at a rate equal to the speed of light! Unfortunately, this has led to confusion & misperceptions and can spell pain for those involved.

Lets look at the "Print Buying" industry, for example. Over the last year or two, there have been many changes in the print buying community. Having managed a team of Print Buyers for a number of years, I personally saw a dramatic transformation of the scope and responsibilities for print buyers. Not only does the term, "Print Buyer" no longer accurately describe what many of these professionals do, but, the term has suddenly gone out of vogue as well, as companies look to add newer channels to compliment the print channel. The term, "Print Buyer" or the term "Printer" for that matter, no longer fits, since both the Print Buyer and many commercial Printers have incorporated cutting edge channel technology into their repertoire. Let me back up a minute, to give this subject a little context.

Lets go back in time a bit, to mid-2006 to be exact, when I was in the midst of conducting some personal research into emerging communication technologies and trends. I have always had a strong fascination with technology & trends; "emerging" technology & trends to be precise. No matter what area, what application, I have always loved to learn about new breakthroughs in technology, often picturing if/how it might affect my life or imagining how I could leverage it differently for a different application or how I could leverage a new technology in my work life.

Anyway, around this same time, in 2006, I was challenged to look at the roles & responsibilities of the Print Buyers I managed, to assess whether they could be doing anything differently. The wheels started spinning. I thought about the influx of recent & emerging communication technologies that I had been educating myself on, while also pondering my team's deployment of the millions of collateral touch-points to our customers each year, printed touch-points.

Then, BOOM!!! That's when I was hit with an epiphany, of sorts. A realization regarding the future roles & responsibilities of my team of print buyers, maybe all the print buyers, for that matter. I rationalized that, going forward, we would still need all of those many touch-points to the customers each year, but I deduced that those touch-points could eventually be deployed in diverse ways; deployed through more efficient means via digital channels such as email, web portals, W2P, SMS, etc. The signs were there, but no one (in the organization) had looked that far ahead yet.

In my opinion, this revelation meant that Print Buyers needed to evolve or risk possible career obsolescence in the near future. This became the foundation for my "3-5 year Vision" for the Print Buyers, that included a proactive road map for our "Print Buyers" to follow. A road map that included a training and education schedule, a resource list and a timeline for completion, to help prepare them for the transition into a new, multi channel role.

Looking for validation, I shared this vision with several industry leaders, including Margie Dana, founder of the PRINT BUYERS INTERNATIONAL, who just happens to have great relationships with many of the industry giants. Margie's own research validated the same theory as well, which served to deepen the motivation of my my team. Margie has spoken on this topic in the last 2 years, at numerous graphic arts conferences across the country. In fact, the theme of the Print Buyers International's 2009 Conference, RELEVANCE THROUGH REINVENTION, focuses on that very topic! (The conference is slated for November 3-5, 2009. For more information, you can go to http://www.printbuyersconference.com )

Margie Dana and I have had several discussions over that time and agree that the Print Buyer terminology needs to be re-branded to reflect the actual role & expertise of today's buyer. But the industry has yet to come to a consensus on such terms. "So," you ask, "what's the problem?" Well, many Print Buyers have taken up the challenge over the last year or two and educated themselves on the new, emerging technologies. They have sought to understand the concepts and terminologies of the various channels, to become experts, so that they can feel as comfortable deploying an email campaign as they do deploying a print campaign. In the end, the concepts and the skills needed to deliver quality results for any channel are essentially the same, but, in many cases, the "print buyers" have yet to be recognized in their organizations, as multi-media experts.

Maybe its misperceptions around the "print" aspect of their title or maybe its due to the fact that the industry is in flux due to the speed at which the technology has emerged, without definitive standards, roles and responsibilities being truly defined yet. Or maybe, it is both, with the use of the word "print" in the Print Buyer's title itself, creating a mental barrier for decision makers, who still have the perception that a Print Buyer 'only knows print' which ultimately has stagnated role and responsibility consensus around deployment of multi channel communications.

So, what kind of name change will emerge to supplant the "Print Buyer" term? Media Buyer? Multi Channel Buyer? Channel Communications Buyer? Multi Media Buyers????? Without consensus, I fear many current Print Buyers will be pigeon-holed because of the apparent perception that they are only experts in print that is still out there. Hopefully, events like PBI's 2009 Print Buyers Conference will help to build momentum and exposure for today's Print Buyers, who still hold the key for a smooth transition and adoption of multi channel practices for many organizations. Somehow, a fresher, accepted terminology must catch up to the actual technology and associated practices and roles. And in the case of the "Print Buyer," not only a change in terminology, but a global understanding of their new expertise and new role in today's multiple channel environment!

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