Business | IPIA Conference The auditorium was packed out for the speaker sessions


BEYOND THE MARGIN IR MANAGING EDITOR, MELANIE


ATTLESEY, ATTENDED THE INDEPENDENT PRINT INDUSTRIES


ASSOCIATION’S ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, WHERE THE AIM OF THE DAY WAS TO PROVIDE PSPS WITH THE KNOWLEDGE


REQUIRED TO CHART NEW TERRITORY FOR GROWTH AND TO THINK BEYOND THE MARGIN.


Do you ever feel like you are stuck in a rut? Doing the same things over and over again and not making any headway? That’s the line of thinking the IPIA was trying to


disrupt with its latest annual conference held at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry. As an association the IPIA is committed to


supporting its members and the UK print industry. Month in month out, it aims to help PSPs adapt to ever evolving market forces, enabling them to thrive. The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Beyond the Margin’. More often than not, success in today’s print industry is measured by the margins. Speakers from across the print community took to the conference stage to explore what happens when you look beyond the margin. Because according to the IPIA, real transformation happens when businesses look beyond these immediate pressures.


PRINT MADE THIS


Opening the conference was Brendan Perring, general manager of the IPIA, with an update on the association’s Print Made This campaign. Launched at the 2024 annual conference, the campaign aims to transform any negative perceptions the end-user may have about print by showcasing the emotion and the feelings behind the print. The IPIA has partnered with global insight agency Madano and various industry partners to analyse


12 | October/November 2025


THE POWER OF BEING PERSONAL Just before lunch, Gemma Mitchell, managing director of Paragon Dagenham, explored how physical marketing such as print offers a powerful antidote. Her key objective was to get attendees to think about attention and how to keep the viewer engaged. Although the talk mainly focused on direct mail,


there were some points that Gemma raised which are transferrable to wide-format printers who produce


more than 12,000 online conversations to uncover how print is perceived across key buying markets. Using this data, the IPIA, along with Carey Trevill from Mission Element, have approached influential voices from outside the sector – across fashion, photography, marketing and beyond – to build relationships and widen the conversation surrounding print. “It’s about the effect print has with the end-user – the smile, the emotion. That’s the message we are trying to convey,” explained Brendan. He was right. Print is so much more than a product. Print is tangible and if the message is right, just think about the last time a sign or billboard made you smile.


This talk equipped attendees with the knowledge and the tools required to turn the IPIA’s insights into action and to strengthen the effect print can have on the end-user.


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