Forum DIGGING BELOW THE SURFACE WITH INDUSTRY MOLE


Comments please to industrymole@imagereportsmag.co.uk


Diversify or die. I can’t remember the first time I heard that cliche but it must have been decades at one of those workshops Mole Senior sent me to in the naive hope that they might make me a better manager when I finally inherited the business. It was nonsense then and, even though it has since been reiterated by a succession of consultants, it remains nonsense today. Nothing oversimplifies life quite as badly as a false binary. When I grew up in the 1970s, you could like the Beatles or Elvis but not both, even though the Fab Four were all inspired by the King. In the same vein, it is entirely possible for a print service provider not to diversify and avoid death. Worse still, if there is such a thing, diversify or die is a false false binary in that it is entirely possible, as many former competitors discovered, to diversify and die. We’ve seen this with wide-format printers being urged to move into cardboard engineering, textiles or, this year, packaging and labels because that’s where the action


is. Unfortunately, new markets take longer to be born than experts suggest while older markets take longer to die and, even in terminal decline, can generate decent revenue and margins for many years. I understand, with reservations, the logic


of diversify or die if you are an enormous multinational. If you already have 45% of market x, why not explore markets y and z? That challenge certainly does not apply to Mole Graphics. And, let’s be honest, acquiring new customers is more excruciating than ever. Buyers are now less experienced, busier and, inevitably, more inclined to play safe. My advice on diversification is - follow your customers. If they diversify, you can, assuming they like you, do the same. I don’t remember much of my O level physics but Sir Isaac Newton saId that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The same applies to management mantras. For every ‘diversify or die’ there is a ‘stick to the knitting’. Take either axiom too literally and you’re asking for trouble.


THE PRINT SHOW When? 17 - 19 September, 2024


Where? NEC, Birmingham


Cost? Free


WRAPFEST When?


3 - 4 October, 2024 Where?


Silverstone Race Circuit


Cost? Various- see event website


SDUK 2024


When? 23 - 25 February, 2025


Where? NEC, Birmingham


Cost? Free


FESPA GLOBAL 2025


When? 6 - 9 May, 2025


Where? Berlin, Germany


Cost? TBA


Who will be there?


A range of suppliers from across the print spectrum.


Who will be there?


A wide range of suppliers of vinyls and other relevant media, print and finishing kit, software etc. will be on the show floor - and of course you can see the wrappers in action.


Who will be there?


Expect the usual cross-section of suppliers to the large-format print and general sign industry. And of course sister show Printwear and Promotion Live! is accessible too.


Who will be there?


The show continues to be the ‘must- attend’ event for those in the wide- format print space, and it will again be co-located with the European Sign Expo and Personalisation Experience.


Should you go?


If you are in the area and want a broad brush view.


Should you go? Yes, if you are interested in vehicle wrapping.


Should you go? Usually worth a look-see.


Should you go? Yes.


24 | August/September 2024


EVENTS


Rating 9/10


Rating 5/10


Rating 6/10


Rating 9/10


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