Exploring six popular consumer-engagement trends that are driving the wide-format business Keywords: omni-channel marketing, marketing, enriched retail experience, environmental sustainability, customization, brand activation events, interactivity, printing companies, wide-format printing, consumer engagement, Victoria Gaitskell

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Exploring six popular consumer-
engagement trends that are
driving the wide-format business
By Victoria Gaitskell W
hether it’s an
event poster,
indoor or out-
door signage,
vehicle wrap,
storefront dec-
al, tradeshow
graphic, wall
mural or architectural drawing – to name a
few – we can find wide-format printing all
around us. Also known as large-format
printing, it is a print application that re-
mains a top marketing solution. In this
report, Simpson Print and PNH Solutions
explain how printing companies can lever-
agewide-format technologies to keep pace
with six top marketing trends.
#1: Omni-channel marketing
“Marketing is becoming increasingly com-
plex, and you must become fluent in
omni-channel marketing to be able to
explain to clients how they benefit from
print,” Carla Johanns, President at Simp-
son Print of Bloomingdale, Ont., says.
“Our company understands that today’s
brands are aiming to attract shoppers to
both their online and physical retail en-
vironments.Recent studies show consum-
ers who shop both online and in-store
have a 30-percent higher lifetime value
than those who shop using only one chan-
nel. This concept has prompted our ac-
quisition decisions over the last 12
months.”
In February 2018 the company in-
stalled a new swissQprint Nyala 2 LED
wide-format inkjet system and just 12
months later in February 2019, a Nyala 3
to complement its arsenal of screen print-
ing presses, a 40-inch Komori LS640 UV
press, and digital presses, including a
6-colour HP Indigo. The range of prod-
ucts currently coming off the Nyalas in-
THE WIDE-FORMAT
EXPERIENCE
COVER STORY
PNH Solutions
supplied thousands
of wall-mounted
Silicone Edge (SEG)
fabric frames and
lightboxes for
Swatch stores
across North,
Central and South
America, from 2013
to 2015.

3. 16 PRINTACTION · March 2019 PRINTACTION.COM
cludes displays, temporary and perma-
nent signage for retail environments,
packaging, hoarding (temporary fencing
used on construction sites), and custom
installation work.
“For 50 years we were strictly a sheetfed
environment,so it is quite a dramatic shift
for us to be exploiting the new equip-
ment’s option of printing roll to roll,” Jo-
hanns says.“In my opinion,brand owners
will still want to align themselves with a
traditional screen printer for their evolv-
ing wide-format requirements. Screen
printing will remain a viable production
method for at least another five to 10 years
and is still more cost-effective for quanti-
ties above 250 pieces.”
#2: Enriched retail experience
Johanns observes that new trends in retail-
ing are leading to shorter, higher-priced
runs more suited to digital wide-format
equipment. “In 2012 customers were
coming with a plethora of brick-and-mor-
tar stores andwould place an order for 300
T-stands and 300 banners or 1,500 kits
sent to 1,500 stores, but now retail is
changing. There is more customization
and interest in enhancing the retail experi-
ence for consumers. Retailers are spend-
ing more money on fewer locations, as
major brands like Lululemon and Under
Armour enter the pop-up space.”
Pop-up retail is the trend of temporary
sales establishments that emerge for a few
hours, days or weeks, creating a new
touchpoint for brands to engage with
customers. This opportunity allows busi-
nesses to experiment with short-term
sales strategies without having to invest in
a permanent location.
Johanns says the other feature that at-
tracted her to digital wide-format technol-
ogy is its ability to print on a virtually
unlimited number of substrates,including
plastics, metals, fabrics and composite
materials. Additionally, digital col-
our-management systems enable 100-per-
cent matching of Pantones to meet the
exacting requirements of major brand
owners, she adds. Inks for
digital wide-format applica-
tions have also improved
substantially; Johanns says
the most robust digital inks
are now better for outdoor
applications because of their
sun-fast properties. She ex-
plains Simpson Print is “very
much a coatings company,”
so she was attracted to the
fact that special effects, such
as deep glitter, lenticular or
raised UV, can be accom-
plished through prepress
manipulations on her
swissQprint equipment.
#3: Environmental
sustainability
“From an ecology perspective,
UV LED is important because the pro-
cess is highly efficient and generates half
the energy footprint of screen printing,
while still mimicking the same high-qual-
ity ink saturation as screen,”Johanns says.
“Environmental sustainability is where
you need to be now.You need to show how
much you care about your green footprint.
Brands are telling us it’s important, and
when players like Carlsberg are eliminat-
ing beer six-pack rings to tackle plastic
pollution, you need to be concerned as a
vendor.”
In particular, it is the younger genera-
tions of consumers who have or are now
growing up in a scary world with a strug-
gling economy, and tend to prefer environ-
mentally or socially responsible businesses
that make the world a better place.
#4: Customization
PNH Solutions supplies wide-format
print and custom hardware for events, re-
tail stores, museum exhibits and trade-
shows.Itspastjobsincludescenicelements
forToronto’s 2015 Pan American Games;
the 2016 and 2017 Invictus Games; the
2016,2017 and 2018Toronto Honda Indy;
the 2017 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show;
and the 2018 and 2019 Super Bowl.
The last two years have been especially
big years for PNH with the expansion of
both its Dorval, Que., and Concord, Ont.,
production facilities to serve bigger con-
tracts and more complex custom work.
The expansion included the introduction
of three new departments – metalwork,
woodwork and electrical – in its Dorval
location.
“Our business is moving toward more
custom work.We want to fill the demand
for customers who want more unique
displays that are different from what have
been done before,” Katherine Hudon,
PNH Solutions Marketing Coordinator,
says. “We’re not the cheapest.We’re well
aware of that,but we market our products
as high quality — not a single-use tent
frame with plastic parts that you can buy
cheaply. Our other value-added propos-
ition is that we can be a lot more flexible
in what we offer, and we are able to cus-
tomize products fully in-house.”
She adds that customized printed
flooring is a product that has boomed
lately. “It used to be popular to print on
carpet, but the disadvantages are that it is
heavy to transport and relatively hard to
clean, so it’s not the most practical thing
— especially in Canada where people
come inside wearing slushy boots in the
winter. Polymer flooring has become
really popular because it is lightweight,
cleans easily, and lasts for long durations
of time.For example,we covered the floor
of a big lounge in Montreal’s Saputo
Stadium with the branding of the com-
pany that sponsored the lounge. The
flooring stood up to frequent cleaning and
the foot traffic of everyone attending
games twice a week for a full season and
is still in really good condition.”
#5: Brand activation events
Hudon says it is becoming increasingly
common for agencies to organize pop-up
brand activation events in shopping malls
and in other public areas as a way to at-
tract customers. “People say retail is in
decline because of online shopping, so
brands are trying to encourage customers
with interesting types of promotions and
incentives to come back into physical re-
tail environments.” Accordingly, PNH’s
projects in the recent past have included
booths for pop-up brand activation events
for Money Mart,Polly Pocket,Pizza Pizza,
McDonald’s,Tropicana and Hyundai.
#6: Interactivity
Another goal of today’s approach to mar-
keting is not just to place information in
front of consumers, but rather to inspire
them or provoke their thoughts and feel-
ings to the point that they will engage with
or share the brand’s content.The resulting
two-way communication is regarded as
crucial for building trust,genuine relation-
ships, and enhanced experiences that to-
day’s consumers are thought to be seeking.
“One booth we did last year was for a
video game company introducing a new
game in Las Vegas. The interior of the
boothhadscreensbuiltintoitthatbrought
visitors inside the booth to test the game.
The exhibit left a much stronger impres-
sion on people because they had that ex-
perience,” Hudon recounts.
She says 3D installations are also huge
for promoting interactive consumer ex-
periences. Last year for Cineplex, PNH
built two giant 3D pieces – a soda can and
popcorn bag – that were installed in malls
across Ontario and used enthusiastically
by moviegoers as selfie props. Another of
its past successes for Emporio Armani
involved creating a huge 3D backdrop
with part of a car emerging from it. Con-
sumers could take photos with stylish
brand ambassadors in front of the back-
drop to share on social media.
“We want
to fill the
demand for
customers
who want
more unique
displays
that are
different
from what
have been
done
before.”
PNH Solutions
supplied dye-
sublimated fabric
banners for the
stage backdrops
used in both the
opening and
closing ceremonies
of the 2016 Invictus
Games in Florida.