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CONTENTS Volume 51, Number 9 Features

The Fountain Solution Leveraging years of experience in digitizing industrial liquids, Metafix of Lachine, Quebec, offers a modern dampening-solution approach for creating stable press emulsion

Technology Report: Graph Expo Must See ’Ems The close proximity of drupa and Graph Expo 2012, two of the world’s largest printing exhibitions, provides for a robust list of 27 Must See ’Em products

AGFA GRAPHICS

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M2540 FB

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NEWS JB Deschamps and Simpson Print invest in new 40-inch iron, Fujifilm spends $390 million for Australian BPO, and Webcom upgrades to a T360

CALENDAR October 2012 RockTenn speaks at SuperCorrExpo 2012, Graph Expo begins in Chicago, and the Canadian Printing Awards prepares to celebrate print

LABELS Fifty Years of Deco The Ford family celebrates a milestone for their printing company with an outdoor bash in Etobicoke

OLYMPICS London’s Ethereal Olympic Legacy Even when he is supposed to be on vacation, Zac Bolan can’t help but be drawn into the world of print – very large print

Columns

JONATHAN WEBSTER London Olympic Printing Bonanza Executives from LOCOG, McDonald’s, Random House and two printing houses provide an analogue view of the 2012 Summer Games

VICTORIA GAITSKELL The Prospering World of Temporary Tattoos How a promotional products manufacturer from Tuscan became the world’s largest printer of a unique and growing niche

Archive

September 1982 Family Ties debuts on NBC, USA Today hits newstands for the first time, and Canada Life spends hundreds of thousands on in-house typesetting

Resources 21 Services to the Trade Cover photo: Clive Chan

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29 Marketplace SEPTEMBER 2012 • PRINTACTION • 3

PERSPECTIVE

Print Celebration rintAction magazine is proud to be running the 7th annual Canadian Printing Awards, which is to be celebrated on November 29 at the Palais Royale in Toronto. We realize the program Pannouncement has come later this year, after a hectic summer, but anticipate another successful event celebrating the Canadian printing industry. The CBC’s Dianne Buckner, who is an awardwinning business journalist and host of the hit television show about entrepreneurialism, Dragon’s Den, will again lead this year’s gala, featuring a sit-down dinner. The structure of this year’s printing awards program has changed little, beyond some finetuning of the categories. We have introduced three categories in a new business development section, which we hope to grow in future years. Much like PrintAction’s preceding Environmental Printing Awards program, we have included these new business categories in an effort to better understand the direction of printing companies in the age of integrated graphic communications. PrintAction, as part of the awards program, will also determine three key industry influencers in the categories of Printing Leader of the Year, Emerging Leader of the Year (under the age of 35), and the John A. Young Lifetime Achievement Award. Please refer to the list of this year’s Canadian Printing Awards categories below and let us know if you have any questions about participating at cpa@printaction.com. Entry forms can be obtained at printaction.com/CPA. INDUSTRY ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES • Printing Leader of the Year • Emerging Leader of the Year (under age 35) • John A. Young Lifetime Achievement Award ENVIRONMENTAL PRINTING CATEGORIES • Most Environmentally Progressive Printer in Canada • Most Environmentally Progressive Vendor • Most Environmentally Progressive Printing Technology • Most Environmentally Progressive Printing Project • Most Environmentally Progressive Packaging Project BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CATEGORIES • Best Online Presence, printing company • Best Online Presence, vendor • Best Community Program

QUALITY PRINTING CATEGORIES • Best of Show • Self Promotion • Brochures & booklets • Business & Annual Reports • Direct Mail • Magazines • Catalogues • Newspapers • Books (digital & offset) • Calendars • Packaging (all processes) • Labels • Stationery • Finishing

Jon Robinson, Editor

Canada’s Graphic Communications Magazine. Proudly published for two generations. Editor Jon Robinson • 416.665.7333 ext. 30 • jon@printaction.com Associate Editor Clive Chan • 416.665.7333 ext. 25 • clive@printaction.com Contributing Writers Zac Bolan, Clint Bolte, Peter Ebner, Chris Fraser, Victoria Gaitskell, Dr. Martin Habekost, Nick Howard, Thad McIlroy, Gordon Pritchard, Josh Ramsbottom, Nicole Rycroft, Andrew Tribute, Trish Witkowski Publisher Sara Young • 416.665.7333 ext. 31 • sara@printaction.com Associate Publisher Stephen Longmire • 416.665.7333 ext. 26 • stephen@printaction.com Production Manager Anders Kohler • 416.665.7333 ext. 37 • anders@printaction.com Intern Tiffany Kay Garcia • 416.665.7333 ext. 34 • tiffany@printaction.com Advertising Sales Sara Young • 416.665.7333 ext. 31 • sara@printaction.com Stephen Longmire • 416.665.7333 ext. 26 • stephen@printaction.com Circulation ADPIC Subscription Services • 800.363.3261 • subscriptions@printaction.com PrintAction is published by Youngblood Publishing Limited and is Canada’s only national monthly publication serving the graphic arts industry. ISSN 1481-9287. Annual Subscriptions: Canada: $31.15 ($27.57 + $3.58 HST) United States: CN$69.99; Other Foreign: CN$139.99

Notice: PrintAction, Youngblood Publishing Limited, their staff, officers, directors and shareholders (hence known as the “Publisher”) assume no liability, obligations, or responsibility for claims arising from advertised products. The Publisher also reserves the right to limit liability for editorial errors, omissions and oversights to a printed correction in a subsequent issue.

PrintAction is printed by Sina Printing on Starbrite Plus 70lb Velvet Text and 80lb Gloss Text available from Unisource Canada, Inc. Youngblood Publishing Ltd. 610 Alden Rd., Suite 100, Markham, ON L3R 9Z1 Tel: 416.665.7333 • Fax: 905.752.1441 www.printaction.com Publications Mail Agreement Number 40010868 • ISSN 1481-9287 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to subscriptions@printaction.com We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage. 4 • PRINTACTION • SEPTEMBER 2012

Photographed with the new Komori, George Mazzaferro, President, and at the console, Brian Auty, Plant Manager (right) and Borge Peterson, Lead Press Operator

OUR FAITH IN KOMORI CONTINUES

PRINT NEWS WEBCOM of Markham, Ontario, upgraded its HP T350 inkjet web press to the T360 model, which will see its capacity for book printing increase by 33 percent. “An increasing number of our customers are turning to inkjet printing through our BookFWD program for its flexibility and short-run cost efficiencies,” said Webcom President and CEO, Mike Collinge. Webcom installed its first T-Series press in Fall 2010 (the first in Canada). The company added its second machine six months ago JB DESCHAMPS‘ Christian Deschamps, VP as part of its BookFWD Production iniof Administration; Jean Deschamps, Pres- tiative. The T360 inkjet press prints at up ident and COO; and Francis Deschamps, to 600 feet per minute in colour and 800 VP of Purchasing and R&D, oversaw the feet per minute in monochrome at a web installation of a new Heidelberg Speed- width of up to 30 inches. master CX 102-5+L press – with Inpress Control – into their Quebec City plant. This move follows the February 2010 installation of a Heidelberg CD102 press at its Montreal location. The Quebec City location also installed another Polar 115 cutter. JB Deschamps was founded in 1926 by Jean-Baptiste Deschamps and is now a third-generation company, recognized as one of Quebec’s leading commercial and security printers. REPROART IMAGING of Toronto installed a new HP Scitex FB7600 system, as celebrated by Mike Duggan, High Volume Sales Manager with HP, Zohrab Tatikian, President of ReproArt, and Hrair Izmirian, Press Operator at ReproArt. This installation comes after ReproArt’s move to a new facility, which also holds a recently installed HP Scitex FB700 inkjet printer. The two new installations bring the company’s total number of HP machines to four. ReproArt also operates a HP Scitex LX600 and an HP Designjet Z6100. “We have significantly increased our ability to respond to backlit orders through our installation of the HP Scitex FB7600 Printer,” said Tatikian. “What used to take us a full day can now be completed in as little as 20 minutes.” ReproArt was founded in 1983 and produces signage on a variety of substrates, including metal, glass and plastic.

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY’s in-house printing facility, called Document Solutions, installed an HP Indigo 7500 press. Docsol, as the operation is referred to on campus, is described as the main source for marketing collateral and printed materials for faculty, admissions and student services. The HP Indigo 7500 can print up to 120 A4 pages per minute in full-colour or 240 pages per minute in either monochrome or two colours. The press is available with up to seven ink stations, allowing for 4-, 6-, and 7-colour PANTONE emulation – matching FUJIFILM HOLDINGS of Tokyo signed a deup to 97 percent of PANTONE colours. finitive agreement with Salmat Limited, described as Australia’s largest business SIMPSON PRINT of Bloomingdale, On- service provider, to acquire Salmat’s Busitario, purchased a new Komori LS640 ness Process Outsourcing (BPO) divipress, with coater. Getting ready to cele- sion. The pending AU$375 million brate its 50th year of operation in 2013, acquisition ($387 million in Canadian dolSimpson Print now occupies over 70,000 lars) covers all the shares of Salmat Docusquare feet of production space. The ment Management Solutions Pty. Limited company currently runs two 40-inch (SDMS), which holds 11 subsidiaries, as sheetfed presses in addition to a large UV well as Salmat Asia Limited. The consoliscreen-printing department with six dated sales and underlying EBITA of presses up to 48 x 96 inches. The new 40- SDMS and Salmat Asia were AU$316 milinch Komori LS640, purchased through lion and AU$49.5 million, respectively, for Mississauga-based K-North Inc. (Komori the June 2012 term. This BPO business indealer in Ontario and Western Canada), cludes printing and delivering electricity, includes features like AMR-Automatic gas, water, and communications invoices Make-Ready, fully automatic plate chang- and bank account statements to end users, ers, and closed-loop colour control. The as well as efforts to digitize invoicing to repress will also be equipped with UV dry- duce costs, delivering information by ing capability. In March 2011, Simpson email, and as compiling a database of Print also upgraded its toner production scanned paper documents and their manwith an HP Indigo 5500. agement/storage. 6 • PRINTACTION • SEPTEMBER 2012

DAN QUENZER becomes National Sales Manager for Diversified Graphic Machinery, headquartered in New Jersey. He is to focus on what the company refers to as its line-up of print-enhancement equipment, including the Foildex in-line cold foil system, Cast and Cure holographic effect system, hot-foil stamping and die-cutting equipment. Quenzer joins DGM following stints as Western Regional Sales Director for Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses, District Sales Manger for Komori America and GM of Western Regional Sales and Service for MAN Roland. He will be located in DGM’s regional offices in Henderson, Nevada.

PRESSTEK of Hudson, New Hampshire, announced its sale to MAI Holdings, an entity affiliated with American Industrial Partners (AIP) Capital Fund. AIP’s portfolio includes flexographic machinery manufacturer Mark Andy. Unanimously approved by Presstek’s board, the deal (at press time) still needed approval from shareholders, who receive $0.50 in cash for each share of the company’s common stock – a premium of 16.3 percent over the closing share price on August 22. Presstek was founded in 1987 based upon its direct imaging laser applications. Since then the technology has found its place in presses from Ryobi, Heidelberg, Xerox, KBA and Kodak. The company also developed and released its “chemistry-free” CTP devices. In 2004, Presstek acquired ABDick and Precision Lithograining. Today the company holds over 400 patents relating to the printing industry.

ANTONIO PEREZ, CEO of Eastman Kodak, announced new measures to emerge from Chapter 11 reorganization, which will see Kodak sell its Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging businesses. This consists of its Retail Systems Solutions (RSS), Paper & Output Systems (P&OS) and Event Imaging Solutions (EIS) divisions. RSS contains the company’s retail print solutions for its 105,000 Kodak Picture Kiosks; P&OS is the company’s portfolio of photographic paper and still camera film products; EIS provides souvenir photoproducts at theme parks and other venues. The Document Imaging business produces scanners, capture software and services to enterprise customers. Kodak plans to continue operating in packaging and functional printing businesses, as well as consumer inkjet, entertainment imaging, commercial film and specialty chemicals businesses.

SCOTT BARKER, owner of Big Bark Graphics in Bolton, Ontario, purchased a Morgana CardXtra Plus system for the short-run production of applications like business cards, postcards and greeting cards. Purchased through Sydney Stone, the Morgana CardXtra Plus, with the ability to trim, cut and crease in multiple positions, feeds sheets of up to 12 x 19 inches. The system, with functions to memorize key templates, can process up to 140 cards per minute. Morgana trumpets the versatility of the CardXtra Plus, with an ability to take 12 x 19-inch sheets, trim them to 11 x 17 inches and then crease them to produce finished 8.5 x 11 4-page brochures. The system can also finish the job to 8.5 x 11 inches, which can then be creased to make 4-page 5.5 x EDMONTON JOURNAL announced plans to 8.5-inch leaflets, or multiple creases for a outsource its printing production, which wide variety of applications. would eliminate 70 full-time positions when the Eastgate plant closes at the start PRINTOLOGY INC. of Richmond Hill, On- of 2013. The move, according to the Pubtario, closed its doors after filing for lisher, is largely based on the newspaper bankruptcy on July 18, with the company providing more colour pages, while imhaving close to $2.8 million in creditor li- proving quality. The newspaper will be abilities. Of the $2.765 million that Print- printed at new facilities built by Great West ology (formerly Carlton Taylor Graphics) Newspapers, publisher of the St. Albert owes to creditors, only $248,000 of it is Gazette, in St. Albert, a suburb just northsecured, while $2.485 million of the com- west of the city. The Edmonton Journal was pany’s outstanding liabilities lie with un- founded in 1903 and became part of the secured creditors. According to its Southam family in 1912 before changing Statement of Affairs, Printology holds as- hands in 1996 to Hollinger International. sets of $450,000, including $350,000 with With a circulation of just over 100,000 six machinery and equipment. An auction days per week, the Edmonton Journal is was scheduled for mid-September. now owned by the Postmedia Network.

KOMORI, during the Touch Taiwan exhibition in Taipei, launched a new gravure press line designed for the production of printed electronics. The PEPIO F20 is a flatbed gravure offset press designed for producing touch-panels on both glass and film. The PEPIO R20 is a roll-to-roll offset gravure device aimed at fine-line electronics production on film. “Komori is an expert in precision manufacturing and the entry into the printed electronics marketplace reinforces Komori’s message at drupa 2012 that we are expanding into new markets,” said Kosh Miyao, President and COO of Komori America Corporation.

also recently announced that its production mills are the first in Indonesia to achieve SVLK certification, which is the country’s new wood legality standard. STAPLES CANADA is now carrying a brand of straw-based paper, called Step Forward Paper, that uses 80 percent less forest fibre than traditional paper. Designed by Prairie Pulp and Paper Inc., Step Forward Paper is created from 80 percent straw left over as a byproduct of harvest wheat crops. The re-

maining 20 percent is sourced from Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood fibre. The paper is currently manufactured in India, but the company plans to build a new state-of-the-art facility in Manitoba to further reduce the product’s carbon footprint. RICOH made what it describes as a significant investment in PTI Marketing Technologies, which develops Web-to-print and marketing personalization applications for both enterprise users and print-service

providers. PTI develops technologies such as MarcomCentral and FusionPro. The two companies have a history of technological cooperation: In 2011, Ricoh announced it would offer cloud-based software that supports a multitude of output delivery formats for print and other mediums, including PDF, AFP and HTML email based on PTI’s SaaS software, MarcomCentral. With the new investment, Ricoh and PTI plan to codevelop completely new technologies for the communications sector.

L’ACADIE NOUVELLE, New Brunswick’s only French language daily newspaper, will outsource its production to Brunswick News out of Moncton. According to a report by CBC News, this action will lead to the loss of 20 jobs, five prepress jobs at l’Acadie Nouvelle’s distribution and prepress section, and 15 from Caraquet-based Acadie Presse. Acadie Presse was founded in 1988 and provides both web and sheetfed printing to the region, including Maritime universities. L’Acadie Nouvelle has a circulation of approximately 16,000. According to the CBC, the newspaper will print its last edition in Caraquet on September 8, with printing continuing in Moncton two days later. LEXMARK INTERNATIONAL announced restructuring actions that will see the elimination of 1,700 jobs worldwide, as well as the end of its inkjet hardware production. The company will instead focus on “higher value imaging and software.” Lexmark will close its Cebu, Philippines, inkjet supplies manufacturing facility by the end of 2015. Inkjet development will also cease by the end of 2013 and its inkjet technology holdings will be put on sale. According to Lexmark, these cuts are expected to generate $85 million in savings in 2013, growing to annualized savings of $95 million by 2015. PRESSDOWN SERVICES becomes the Canadian master distributor for the Rapid X1 label printer and the Eclipse finishing system. The Rapid X1, which employs Memjet print-head technology, features a top printing speed of 60 feet per minute, while producing a 1,600 x 1,600-dpi resolution. The 5-colour roll-to-roll system has an 8.5-inch printing width and a 12-inch OD unwind and rewind capacity. It also includes an optical sensor for pre-cut and stripped labels. PDS is now carrying the Eclipse finishing system, which can be integrated with the Rapid X1 printer. The Eclipse features lamination, contour cutting, waste removal and a slitter in a single device. ASIA PULP & PAPER GROUP has made a pledge to source 100 percent of its fibre from tree plantations by 2015, adding to several environmentally focused announcements made by the company over 2012. The new pledge is to be part of APP’s Sustainability Roadmap for 2020 and Beyond initiative. According to APP, if it fulfills this 2015 plantation pledge, it will be 10 years ahead of the publicly stated goals of other global paper industry players. APP

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SEPTEMBER 2012 • PRINTACTION • 7

PRINT CALENDAR

OCTOBER

GraphExpo 2012 begins at McCormick Place in Chicago under the theme of Print Integrated. The 2012 version of North America’s largest printing tradeshow features Marketing and Newspaper Pavilions, as well as specialized events like Executive Outlook, Xplor Seminars and the ING Conference.

SuperCorrExpo 2012, an exhibition and conference for corrugated professionals, begins in Atlanta. The event kicks off with a keynote from James Porter of RockTenn and closes with the 2012 Corrugated Classic Golf Tournament at Bear’s Best golf course. $1,525*

Canadian Marketing Association hosts a daylong seminar in Toronto about Onboarding, referring to mechanisms through which new employees acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviours to become effective team members and build customer loyalty. $745*

DMA2012, a conference and exhibition program described as an event for real-time marketers, kicks off at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Event themes include optimizing content across channels, monetizing social media, integrating media according to customer preference, and leveraging real-time analytics.

One month from today, the inaugural edition of PACKEX Montreal begins, highlighting the sector’s newest technologies, equipment, and resources, several of which are to be showcased in the event’s Innovation Briefs Theater.

National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers hosts the annual NPIRI Technical Conference at the Eaglewood Resort and Spa in Itasca, Illinois, in conjunction with The Print Suppliers Group that was formed in 2001 as a consortium of independent ink companies.

Printing Industries of America hosts Extreme Offset: Troubleshoot, Control, Optimize at its headquarters near Pittsburgh, which allows attendees to learn about workflow management in a live pressroom environment. $1195*

SGIA 2013, focusing on wide-format, graphic applications, installation, garment decoration, and screenprinting, begins at the Las Vegas Convention Center. For the first time, the event is co-located with the Printed Electronics and Membrane Switch Symposium. $375*

The Canadian Marketing Association hosts Digital Day Conference 2012, The New Digital Path to Purchase. The daylong event focuses on how emerging technologies, new platforms and evolving tools are changing the way audiences consume media, connect with brands and ultimately make purchase decisions. $699

8 • PRINTACTION • SEPTEMBER 2012

The Sustainable Packaging Coalition, in conjunction with The Packaging Association, hosts a 1-day seminar called The Essentials of Sustainable Packaging. Event sessions focus on balancing tradeoffs, sourcing and recovering materials, measurement tools and reporting, communicating sustainable initiatives, and understanding health impacts. $995*

PACK EXPO International 2012, with an expanded focus on processing and integrated processing-packaging systems, begins in Chicago. Conference tracks look at food safety, product security, sustainability, pharmaceutical, trends and innovations, beverage, manufacturing, transportation and logistics.

Atlanta is home to CNN’s worldwide headquarters, among many other multinational corporations. An estimated 75 percent of the Fortune 1000 companies have a presence within the Atlanta metropolitan area. As a result, the city has the eighth largest economy in the U.S., 17th globally. It has also been historically a transport hub, first for rail and later adding air travel, with Delta Air Lines being the city’s largest single employer.

One month from today, PrintAction magazine hosts the 7th annual Canadian Printing Awards (formerly Environmental Printing Awards) gala at the Palais Royale in Toronto. The event is to be hosted by Dianne Buckner, award-winning journalist for the CBC and host of Dragon’s Den. $150*

Pricing listed at standard rates, with * denoting the availability of member of early bird discounts.

PRINT LABELS

Fifty Years of Deco n August 24, Deco Labels and Tags held a celebration for 50 years of its operation. Founded by Douglas B. Ford in 1962, the company today is managed by his son Randy, the youngest of the three Ford brothers, and assisted by siblings Rob and Doug Jr., who have also followed in their father’s footsteps as politicians, with the two serving as Mayor and Councillor of Toronto, respectively. During the outdoor celebration, matriarch Diane Ford recounted the first year of the company’s founding, which saw the Ford family juggle infant daughter Kathy, the arrival of eldest son Doug and an uncertain future of self-employment. Douglas Ford’s decision to go into business for himself proved fruitful and company has since grown to two buildings in Etobicoke as well as a satellite operations in Illinois and New Jersey. People on hand to celebrate included: Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday; Etobicoke MPs

Kirsty Duncan and Ted Opitz, who presented the company with a plaque of congratulations on behalf of the Federal government; and Etobicoke MPP Donna Hensfield, who gave a short speech celebrating the Fords’ efforts in building such a successful business. – Clive Chan

Top middle photo: Councillor Doug Ford Jr., MPP Donna Hensfield, Diane Ford, Randy Ford, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, MP Ted Opitz and Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday. 10 • PRINTACTION • SEPTEMBER 2012

PRINT OLYMPICS

London Olympic Printing Bonanza Commonwealth Games in 2002, before becoming Head of PR & Media for the t a challenging and difficult time for UK Olympic Committee’s 2012 bid. After the printing industry, international London won the bid, she was promoted to sporting events can provide a real the Director’s job. boost to company earnings and the Olympic Games have been the largest of Webster: Is there a specific company that all sporting events on the planet for the last designed your traditional printed matter? 100 years. London 2012 featured no less Brock Doyle: Oh no, it was much more than 36 sports and 17,000 athletes, and by extensive than that. LOCOG appointed a its conclusion will have been watched by roster of more than 20 agencies to deliver millions of spectators attending live events, London 2012 materials. These were a selecas well as more than 4-billion people tion of designers, copywriters and printers. around the globe who watched the What range of printed matter was Olympics and Paralympics on TV and produced for London 2012? over the Internet. I can tell you that over 2,000 different kinds Communicating this huge amount of of publications, both printed and online, sporting activity has been a massive task. were designed and produced, from millions To better understand printing’s role at the of spectator guides to small, bespoke train2012 Summer Games, I spoke with key ing materials. contributors from the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic How were winning production Games (LOCOG), publishers, sponsors, companies chosen? and printing house executives. The roster was procured using the OJEU process established in 2008. The LOCOG view Agencies were first asked to presJackie Brock Doyle, Director ent their credentials and experiof Communications and ence, as well as evidence of Public Affairs for LOCOG, compliance with LOCOG polibegan working with internacies around health and safety, sustional sporting events during tainability and diversity. Out of the Sydney Olympic Games thousands of applicants a group in 2000. She then spent a year of just 20 were subsequently as Director of Communicaasked to respond to a cost matrix tions for the Manchester for the London 2012 work. By Jonathan Webster

Random House’s Time Out imprint worked with China’s C & C Printing to produce Olympic Games Through a Lens, on a Heidelberg press.

How important was online communications and design? Where possible we have tried to produce materials electronically only, both for sustainability and budget reasons. We only printed hard copies of brochures and guides if we were sure there was a definite need for it. Obviously, when we did not actually have to produce printed hard copy Did the chosen companies have materials, we simply asked our design impressive track records with huge agencies to produce a PDF. However, I can events like the Olympics? tell you that all of the five aforementioned It was varied. We wanted to give smaller publishing companies had their Olympic design houses an opportunity, so while book titles printed in the traditional way. some of the companies had big event exContinued on page 12 perience, others were new to this field.

How many publishing companies have been licensed to produce Olympic book titles? For printed materials and book publishing, we chose five official London 2012 publishing licensees, which were: Carlton Books, Time Out Guides, John Wiley & Sons, Geographers’ A-Z, and Haymarket Media.

London’s Ethereal Olympic Legacy

By Zac Bolan

IN STARK CONTRAST to recent host cities such as Beijing, Sydney and Athens, a significant portion of London’s Olympic infrastructure will vanish following the games. This transformation, made possible through the use of temporary structures and very large format inkjet printing, ensures the London games will be devoid of expensive white elephant projects that haunt many former host cities. Of London’s 34 Olympic venues, only eight are new structures purpose-built for the games – with most of these downsizing post-Olympics. The Athletics Stadium used for the opening and closing ceremonies will have seating reduced from 80,000 to 25,000. The remaining venues were either temporary structures or existing sites bedecked with VLF inkjet signage for Olympic events (such as Wembley Stadium). Even construction sites such as those found on London’s exclusive Regent Street were masked with inkjet façades. SEPTEMBER 2012 • PRINTACTION • 11

Webster Has more material been produced online or in print for this Olympics? For this Olympics many more materials – around 50 percent – were electronic. Although in the immediate lead-up to the Games, and for their actual duration, the balance was redressed, and there was a big amount of more traditional printed materials, such as official programs, brochures, and, of course, the millions of tickets. Were the chosen printing companies British or from other countries? Many of the London 2012 printers for our publication materials were UK based – as you would expect. However, our partner book publishers used a wide variety of printers, including some from Europe and even further away.

Digital Printing

Data Services & List Management

Continued from page 11

e-tools

Variable Imaging

www.andrewsdm.com tel: 416.798.7557 email: info@andrewsdm.com 226 Industrial Parkway North, Aurora, ON Est. 1951 12 • PRINTACTION • SEPTEMBER 2012

Random House relied on England’s Butler, Tanner and Dennis to print city guides, on a KBA perfecting press.

outsourced to another continent. At a time when the British economy is struggling, this contract would have provided a much-needed boost.” Steve Sibbald of the large British trade union Unite was more vitriolic: “This is a slap in the face! A kick in the teeth! And a two-finger salute to print workers and print What about all those millions of tickets? businesses in the UK.” He continued to say, The main contract to print and fulfill the “The British commercial print industry has majority of tickets for London 2012 was been struggling… for the last four years, awarded following a thorough, competiand this contract would have been a huge tive and open procurement process in boost to many UK print businesses and 2010. The key criteria in the tender was their workers.” the ability to manage very complex data Despite the deep frustration surroundfiles, secure printing capacity, and the ing the loss of the ticketing print contract ability to provide complex manual fulfillto the United States, however, several UK ment with 99.99 percent error-free guarand European companies benefited sigantee. Finally we assessed value for nificantly. money. Although British and European comBig Mac, big print panies were involved in all stages of the McDonald’s has been an Olympic suptendering process, including the shortporter since 1976, and this year the fastlist, the American-based company which food giant was one of 11 worldwide actually won the bid – to produce the sponsors of the London Olympic Games. bulk of the London 2012 Olympic tickets McDonald’s, to its credit, was the only – had worked on several previous company prepared to break out of the Olympic Games, and they met all of our commercial secrecy surrounding its criteria around security, scale and Olympics involvement, which included a budget. This company also has specialist big printing boost. systems in place to manage the complex I spoke with Alistair Macrow, VP of process of personalizing, printing, packMarketing at McDonald’s in the UK, who aging tickets and integrating security notes the company built four restaurants at aspects to the scale we required. London’s Olympic Park and served approximately 1.75-million meals to spectators during the Olympics and Paralympics. In keeping with the obsessive secrecy surrounding many aspects of the London 2012 Games, Brock Doyle would not be drawn on which particular American printing company produced the great majority of tickets. With some detective work, however, I discovered the lucky recipient of the Olympic Ticket print contract to be Weldon, Williams & Lick of Fort Smith, Arkansas. The company reputedly earned a cool $25 million out of the deal to supply a total of 11-million tickets. Several leading British print industry figures were unhappy with this decision. Nicholas Green, Founder of printed.com, is on the record as saying: “What a great shame that, following on from the recent news that 91 percent of London 2012 souvenirs were being made abroad, this huge quantity of printed tickets was also [being]

Webster: How does your sponsorship activity involve printed materials? Macrow: Our Olympic advertising campaign – ‘We All Make The Games’ [WAMTG] – had some major printed elements. And our in-store materials also provided another key use of the print medium. Our WAMTG outdoor print ads were created by our advertising agency Leo Burnett. Then all of those 1.75 million meals sold during the Olympics were served in containers and bags containing our Olympic sponsor logo. Finally, all of our four huge, purpose-built restaurants had bespoke menu boards and translates. These were designed and created by The Marketing Store and printed by our longstanding print partners: Linney Print. Continued on page 24

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