noelward
Well-known member
drupa has little to do with print
Don’t drink the KoolAid. It’s just a trade show. They don’t matter.
by Noel Ward, Editor@Large
I recently ran a story here about the illusion being perpetrated about the end of printing. Among the detractors of print are those who point to the decline of print trade shows as a harbinger of print’s demise. Unfortunately, they conflate the decline of two entirely different industries as being indicative of a drop in either of them.
Some claim a poster boy for this is drupa, the quadrennial orgy of print that recently ended its 2024 run in Dusseldorf, Germany. So here’s the thing: drupa is just a big trade show (trade fair in global parlance) that happens to be about print. Its present home is Messe (pronounced ‘mess-ah’) Dusseldorf, one of Germany’s largest trade fair venues. Home to more than 40 different trade events each year Messe Dusseldorf also brands its own trade fairs in multiple countries, including China.
Follow the money
Drupa is big because its size serves the needs of the 3.3 million square foot, 17-building Dusseldorf complex. Its recurrent heft has hooked vendors so thoroughly that some product cycles have become aligned with drupa. As interesting as a few parts of drupa may be, to Messe Dusseldorf it is just a big trade fair that happens to be about print—and brings in money—like the boat, car and fashion shows that also take place at the sprawling venue.
The 2024 iteration of this addiction to print-related revenue ended with about 170,000 people showing up in Dusseldorf for 10 days instead of the usual 14. That’s a lot of bratwurst but pales in comparison to 264,000 tire-kickers in 2016; 314,000 in 2012; 390,000 in 2008; 395,000 in 2004; and more than 429,000 in 2000. It’s nearly a 40% decline over 24 years. Having endured it in person in those years (I did not go this year), I know drupa is a fun (if pricey) way to write off a trip to Germany and have good beer and brats for lunch. Although the show is a branding opportunity for vendors, in over two decades of asking I’m yet to have a vendor from the U.S. branch of a company explain how it was a positive expenditure for them. After all, no one attending a trade fair buys a million-dollar-plus device on the spur-of-the moment. As you know, the ‘sold’ signs affixed to equipment on show floors are for deals made before the show opened.
Is there less print being done? Yes. Are there fewer print trade shows? Yes again. Are they related? Sure, but it is a logical assumption and neither is a direct cause of the other. Maybe, just maybe, there were (or are) too many trade shows. These events are expensive for vendors so fewer is a good thing. So is shorter. While drupa was slowing down and getting shorter, attendance climbed at Printing UNITED, a 3-day event that currently alternates between the west and east coasts of the U.S. More than a few vendors and attendees refer to it as “the American drupa.”
What shows should be
Shows like drupa should be about showing off technology in terms of how it makes a print provider money. Yet few vendors do this well at shows or even on their websites. They have found creating an Instagram, TikTok or YouTube moment is far easier than showing something useful or profitable. Cheaper too, because the trivia level of these mediums fits shrinking marketing budgets. Despite my urgings, about half of the video I once shot at shows such as drupa rarely talked about the value of vendors’ offerings and how they could help a print provider make money. Online video in its present form is less than relevant but telling a story that resonates with print providers is not. Drupa and most of the big print trade shows, do not do a good job of this, and it hurts the industry.
Many print industry followers agree that one big annual show per geographic region is probably enough, especially if they showcase new machines that offer a tangible business benefit. Not for nothing has Printing UNITED (a show that understands our industry) grown to the point where it is the biggest print show for North (and even South) America. Meanwhile, on the far side of the planet, Print China pulls people from all over Asia and Oceania, an area where “regional” has a rather broad meaning.
In my opinion, such industry-centric dog-and-pony shows are 20th century phenoms struggling to stay relevant in the 21st century. If events like drupa are indicative of anything it is that trade shows themselves are in decline. In the case of print, both are happening at the same time and the decline of print is evidence of print trade shows having outlived their usefulness and relevance. I predict that most trade shows are well on the way to being increasingly regional, if they exist at all. It is not the health of an industry but whether they help businesses in a meaningful way.
Aim at the target
Meanwhile, hyper-targeted shows on specific topics like mail and IT will remain for a while, as will small events and conferences with narrow audiences. Equipment and software vendors have repeatedly told me such small venues are far more effective for connecting with decision-makers. Print providers tell me such events are important places for learning about options, addressing problems and finding potential solutions. They also say they gain useful information from visiting a company that already uses the equipment or software they are considering. This is how print business owners can learn if a new device or software is likely to help increase efficiency and/or profitability.
The key to surviving and even thriving in print is using technology that helps you work smarter and keep pace with—or stay ahead of—customer needs. Talk one-on-one with vendors, visit other shops, and ask detailed questions. These are much better investments than going to a trade show.
Don’t drink the KoolAid. It’s just a trade show. They don’t matter.
by Noel Ward, Editor@Large
I recently ran a story here about the illusion being perpetrated about the end of printing. Among the detractors of print are those who point to the decline of print trade shows as a harbinger of print’s demise. Unfortunately, they conflate the decline of two entirely different industries as being indicative of a drop in either of them.
Some claim a poster boy for this is drupa, the quadrennial orgy of print that recently ended its 2024 run in Dusseldorf, Germany. So here’s the thing: drupa is just a big trade show (trade fair in global parlance) that happens to be about print. Its present home is Messe (pronounced ‘mess-ah’) Dusseldorf, one of Germany’s largest trade fair venues. Home to more than 40 different trade events each year Messe Dusseldorf also brands its own trade fairs in multiple countries, including China.
Follow the money
Drupa is big because its size serves the needs of the 3.3 million square foot, 17-building Dusseldorf complex. Its recurrent heft has hooked vendors so thoroughly that some product cycles have become aligned with drupa. As interesting as a few parts of drupa may be, to Messe Dusseldorf it is just a big trade fair that happens to be about print—and brings in money—like the boat, car and fashion shows that also take place at the sprawling venue.
The 2024 iteration of this addiction to print-related revenue ended with about 170,000 people showing up in Dusseldorf for 10 days instead of the usual 14. That’s a lot of bratwurst but pales in comparison to 264,000 tire-kickers in 2016; 314,000 in 2012; 390,000 in 2008; 395,000 in 2004; and more than 429,000 in 2000. It’s nearly a 40% decline over 24 years. Having endured it in person in those years (I did not go this year), I know drupa is a fun (if pricey) way to write off a trip to Germany and have good beer and brats for lunch. Although the show is a branding opportunity for vendors, in over two decades of asking I’m yet to have a vendor from the U.S. branch of a company explain how it was a positive expenditure for them. After all, no one attending a trade fair buys a million-dollar-plus device on the spur-of-the moment. As you know, the ‘sold’ signs affixed to equipment on show floors are for deals made before the show opened.
Is there less print being done? Yes. Are there fewer print trade shows? Yes again. Are they related? Sure, but it is a logical assumption and neither is a direct cause of the other. Maybe, just maybe, there were (or are) too many trade shows. These events are expensive for vendors so fewer is a good thing. So is shorter. While drupa was slowing down and getting shorter, attendance climbed at Printing UNITED, a 3-day event that currently alternates between the west and east coasts of the U.S. More than a few vendors and attendees refer to it as “the American drupa.”
What shows should be
Shows like drupa should be about showing off technology in terms of how it makes a print provider money. Yet few vendors do this well at shows or even on their websites. They have found creating an Instagram, TikTok or YouTube moment is far easier than showing something useful or profitable. Cheaper too, because the trivia level of these mediums fits shrinking marketing budgets. Despite my urgings, about half of the video I once shot at shows such as drupa rarely talked about the value of vendors’ offerings and how they could help a print provider make money. Online video in its present form is less than relevant but telling a story that resonates with print providers is not. Drupa and most of the big print trade shows, do not do a good job of this, and it hurts the industry.
Many print industry followers agree that one big annual show per geographic region is probably enough, especially if they showcase new machines that offer a tangible business benefit. Not for nothing has Printing UNITED (a show that understands our industry) grown to the point where it is the biggest print show for North (and even South) America. Meanwhile, on the far side of the planet, Print China pulls people from all over Asia and Oceania, an area where “regional” has a rather broad meaning.
In my opinion, such industry-centric dog-and-pony shows are 20th century phenoms struggling to stay relevant in the 21st century. If events like drupa are indicative of anything it is that trade shows themselves are in decline. In the case of print, both are happening at the same time and the decline of print is evidence of print trade shows having outlived their usefulness and relevance. I predict that most trade shows are well on the way to being increasingly regional, if they exist at all. It is not the health of an industry but whether they help businesses in a meaningful way.
Aim at the target
Meanwhile, hyper-targeted shows on specific topics like mail and IT will remain for a while, as will small events and conferences with narrow audiences. Equipment and software vendors have repeatedly told me such small venues are far more effective for connecting with decision-makers. Print providers tell me such events are important places for learning about options, addressing problems and finding potential solutions. They also say they gain useful information from visiting a company that already uses the equipment or software they are considering. This is how print business owners can learn if a new device or software is likely to help increase efficiency and/or profitability.
The key to surviving and even thriving in print is using technology that helps you work smarter and keep pace with—or stay ahead of—customer needs. Talk one-on-one with vendors, visit other shops, and ask detailed questions. These are much better investments than going to a trade show.
