Quick Printing is the resource for the Commercial printing, visual and graphic arts industries. Since 1977, Quick Printing has focused on improving efficiency and increasing sales and profits in the print shop. Industry experts share their ideas and
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16 Quick Printing | January 2015 MyPRINTResource.com nization, for example) to develop an effective ad specialties campaign, using their knowledge and expe- rience of what products tend to be effective and which don't. It's not far removed from planning an ad campaign; indeed, ad specialties are often included as part of a much larger marketing and promotion program. They are one channel in the overall media mix. This is really the value the dis- tributor brings to the model. The role of the distributor is not just to fnd a product at the cheapest price and handle the logistics. In this traditional model, the distributor plays a much more consultative role for the end user. For a long time, there was kind of a gentlemen's agree- ment that suppliers would not "cut in line." "If suppliers tried to pull an end run and try to sell to the end user di- rectly, that would be a black mark on them," said Mittica. Although that has been a moderate problem for decades, the advent of the Web has exacerbated the problem. "Sup- pliers can be much more visible," he said. "Anyone can do a Google search for a product. It is a concern." For more information, visit MyPRINTResource.com/10067843 Ad Specialties Institute (ASI) breakdown of distributor revenues by client market: health care, education, and fnancial/insurance are the top three markets for ad specialty items. Source: "State of the Industry 2014," ASI/Counselor magazine. State of the Indus try Mark et Mak eup Wondering which client sectors garner the most distributor revenues? Here's the complete breakdown – shown as the percentage of distributor revenues that each one represented in 2013. The health-care sector alone accounted for more than $2.5 billion in distributor revenues in 2013. 12.4 Health Care 11.4 Education Revenues from schools and universities have remained relatively flat over the past few years. 10.0 Financial/ Insurance 8.4 Manufacturing 5.9 Technology 5.3 Associations 4.5 Automotive 4.3 Nonprofit 4.3 Professional Services Distributor sales to professional services totaled $882 million last year. 4.0 Construction 3.8 Retail 3.6 Ad/ Marketing Agencies 3.4 Consumer Products Ad agencies and marketing companies are solid partners for distributors: sales to this sector exceeded $700 million last year. 2.8 U tilities 2.7 Government 3.2 Hospitality Energy is a growing market for distributors, as revenues from this sector have nearly doubled since 2010. 2.4 Real Estate 1.8 Pharmaceutical The real estate market has rebounded nicely for distributors – it now accounts for about $500 million in annual sales. 0.5 Elections/Political Events 5.3 Other After taking a hit during the economic downturn, sales from the financial sector have rebounded from 8.2% of the market in 2011 to 10% in 2013. After reaching a height of 8.7% of the market in 2009, sales to associations and clubs have dropped steadily over the past five years. Revenues from retail clients dropped by 7.3% in 2013. The odd-year election drop was extreme in 2013 – falling from 3% of the market in 2012 to less than 1% last year. Mark et Matrix % of Total Industry Revenue Then there is the technology. If you have seen any of the Roland DGA or Mimaki USA desktop fatbed UV printers in action, the killer app for these machines is, in fact, doing things like printing specialty items such as pens, golf balls, or—today's su- per-hot specialty printed items—smartphone cases. Companies such as 4Over4, Zoo Printing, and even Vi- staprint offer business-to-business specialty item printing. Sites such as CafePress and Zazzle also offer short-run specialty items direct to consumers. "They are on the fringe of things in terms of promotional products used for business and marketing," said Mittica. "The are geared toward the dabbler, not necessarily someone who has a business and is trying to initiate a marketing campaign. Those [companies] aren't so much threat."